PFA Ponderings

The world of stocks and bonds has invaded the average household over the last 40 years, and the 401(k) is to blame.  Investing in the capital markets was long the territory of the Country Club set, but the shifting of investing responsibility onto the workers, largely in the form of…

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst" -William Penn Time is perhaps the most powerful force in money management. With enough of it, any of us can be the next Warren Buffett.  The “Oracle of Omaha” certainly has smarts to burn. But just as importantly, he’s…

Guest post written by Jeff Anttila. Original post HERE. There are two ways to own your home. Either you can pay cash upfront or you can pay little by little, year after year. For most us, monthly mortgage payments are the most feasible option. While we continue to chip away…

This one will leave the quant guys and gals scratching their heads: Jeff and Kathy are both in the same exact situation.  They both have two credit cards where they carry the exact same balances:   Jeff and Kathy have the same minimum required payment.  And, both of them have…

Never having had kids, I’ve sidestepped a pretty daunting financial obligation.  Obedience training for our one dog doesn’t come close, cost-wise, to raising and educating several children. I have a mild and manageable amount of guilt about this.  In the short term, my siblings have burdens I don’t.  But, in…

Going back a few decades, the idea that one could (or should) closely manage their credit report was not mainstream.  For the most part, the data in your file was accessible to companies who subscribed to reporting services.  People could, for a relatively robust outlay of money, purchase their report,…

Faced with uncertainty in markets and the economy, asset managers, when possible try to hedge away unwanted risk.  They… uh, WE… focus on areas where we can add value through smart decisions; using all of the analytical tools we have at our side.  Sure, we get paid to take risk,…

We’re getting down to ‘crunch time’… just a few weeks to go before April 15 (or for those of us in the states that recognize Patriots’ Day as a holiday, April 16.)  It’s around this time that advisors across America start to get a steady stream of calls that go…

“Like money in the bank.”  That phrase has become synonymous with the height of safety – as much of a sure thing as can be had in life.  Most people alive today have never experienced a ‘run on the bank’ and, as such, we look at banks as being the…