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Mike's Weekly Investor Guidance
June 18, 2009 -
Common Sense in Today’s Markets
Written by Lathigee, Mike
So far I’ve written five articles that cover some basics that underlay my investing philosophy. If you haven’t had a chance to review those articles, I suggest you do that as soon as you can. The topics I’ve discussed so far include:
Proper Diversification: What It Is and What It Is Not. Proper Diversification is at the core of my investing philosophy, yet this strategy has mutated over the decades and is practiced today to benefit financial institutions more than investors. This article describes this mutation and revisits the original concept of diversification as practiced by Warren Buffet.
What is Your Investing Behavior? As a culture we’ve been trained to spend and invest in ways that do not support a sustainable financial future. This article provides an overview of some of these practices and how to recognize them in your own investing behavior.
Most Investors Have Unrealistic Expectations. Historically most people investing today have never seen a market that wasn’t going up. As a result, the current Bear Market brings up a lot of fear and uncertainty and many people are clinging to “Wishful Investing.” This article addresses some of these understandable fears and outmoded beliefs and provides guidance on how to disarm their power over our financial decisions.
Common Myth: You Can Trust Your Bank. Most people have been trained to rely on banks as the best source of financial information and as a one-stop-shop for financial products. This article is a heads-up on how the sale of these products benefits banks more than you.
Resetting Your Financial Goals. This article is a short reality check on where you are with regard to your current financial expectations and your plan to reach those goals. In the midst of the huge changes most of us are facing, I’ve provided some ideas to help you rethink and redefine those goals so you can still build a satisfying financial future for yourself and your loved ones.
Mike's Weekly Investor Guidance
June 18, 2009 -
Resetting Your Financial Goals
Written by Lathigee, Mike
In these troubling times it is important to review your current financial goals and adjust them to meet realistic expectations.
- Those of you nearing retirement age are likely to find yourselves working for a few more years.
- If you are still raising a family you may need to adjust your expectations about how you can meet their needs for education.
- As jobs disappear you may find yourself reinventing your career or starting a new business.
- Those just entering the workplace can expect a lower standard of living that the previous generation.
- And everyone must do their best to maintain good health as medical care becomes more expensive.
Mike's Weekly Investor Guidance
May 22, 2009 -
Most Investors Have Unrealistic Expectations
Written by Lathigee, Mike
Most investors today never saw the crash of 1929 and the subsequent Depression. Instead, their benchmark memory is the dotcom bubble of 1990, which saw some stocks increase 200 and 300 percent over a span of days. Unfortunately, time has faded the pain a lot of people felt when that bubble popped and they just remember the heady rush of that glorious ride.
With that kind of memory, many of today’s investors are hanging out in false hope for the next magic ride. I call this “wishful investing.” We wish the market would have another rush that we could ride and that would give us high double-digit returns and solve all our financial woes.
Mike's Weekly Investor Guidance
May 22, 2009 -
Common Myth: You Can Trust Your Bank
Written by Lathigee, Mike
Until very recently, most investors believed their bank was the safest place to go for financial advice. That is because they were taught to believe that. Think about it. Our parents went to the bank to get their mortgage loan. They went to the bank to get retirement planning advice. In their era, there wasn’t a lot of financial information available to the average person and they had to rely on banks.
But now we have the Internet, books and an entire industry of financial advisors eager to provide advice. Now, we can access more timely information than the local bank can provide. Even so, the majority of people who go to the bank for financial advice do it because they’ve been trained to think of banks as these big safe institutions with friendly clerks who help them look after their money.
Mike's Weekly Investor Guidance
May 8, 2009 -
What is Your Investing Behavior?
Written by Lathigee, Mike
In the current economic climate, it is easy to blame Wall Street and lazy regulators for all our financial troubles, but blame doesn’t solve the problem. If investors want to improve their financial situation, they must be honest with themselves about how they make financial decisions.
In my travels around the world I’ve talked with thousands of investors and observed investment patterns that deeply disturb me. As a society North Americans have been taught poor financial habits and been left untrained in even basic investing skills.
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