We Are Not Afraid. (A Reply to Recent Headlines)
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There are strategies to achieve a better inner calm.

Zero Steps To Take Before Contacting a Financial Advisor
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Don’t delay getting your finances in order until you get your finances in order. Ask for help today and see what wisdom a financial advisor has to share.

Becoming an Informed Consumer of Investment Media
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Evaluate the source. Question the melodrama. Examine the tone. Consider the motive. Check the facts.

If You Are Tempted to Stay Out of the Markets, Read This First
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Gil Weinriech, Senior Editor for Seeking Alpha, wrote recently about investors whose personalities tempt them to stay on the sidelines of investing at times.

Investing Advice from Michael W. Sonnenfeldt for Entrepreneurs
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The same grit that drives entrepreneurs to success can drive their investments to failure.

How To Double Your Money As Quickly As Possible
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When the client asked my mother, “What is the quickest way to double my money?” she did not hesitate before she answered.

Beware the Two-Pocket Theory of Money
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If you budget well according to your values, a one-pocket theory of money enriches your life, prioritizing your financial dreams above your impulses.

Examples of the Narrative Fallacy
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To illustrate this principle, I analyzed a week’s worth of “Morning and Midday Market Views” provided by the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

The Narrative Fallacy
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No one would click on the headline, “Stocks went up today and we have no clue why.”

Recouping Losses Is Not As Hard As You Think
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Many advisors and most investors don’t really understand the math on how to compute investment returns.

Changing Your Financial Behavior Is Difficult
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Our minds are wired to quickly generalize on perceived trends and react to them.

One Powerful Method To Achieve Higher Investment Returns
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Long term investing does not require making quick emotional responses.

You Want An Advisor Who Keeps You From “The Big Mistake”
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Real financial advisors stand between you and the Big Mistake.

Inflation Illustrated
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We tracked the price of a first class stamp over the last 130 years, noting the changes, to show the steady erosion in buying power during that time.

Dimensional On: Staying in the Market
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“It is always a difficult experience for investors to stay in markets.”

Investing Mistake: Forgetting About Inflation
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Taking inflation into account changes nearly everything about financial planning.

Investors Want Non-Correlated Assets Until They Experience Non-Correlation
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While many investors say they want a low-correlation portfolio, they don’t want to actually experience a low-correlation portfolio.

Is There A Christmas Rally In the Markets?
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While Santa Claus usually brings something positive for the markets, it isn’t enough to worry about jumping in and out of your investments.

Don’t Mistake Volatility For Loss
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“Nothing has provided greater risk control over the long term than equities, which are historically without principal risk over 30-year periods…”

What Games Can’t Teach You About Investing
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Many people are first exposed to investing in grade school through a very simple game. Unfortunately, this game teaches all the wrong lessons.

How to Help Clients Cope With Scary Markets
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Staying the course when an index investment is down is very uncomfortable in the short-term but usually the best course of action in the long run.

Do The Opposite of Wall Street Consensus?
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Contrarian indicators have paid off historically.

The Crowd Is Usually Wrong
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Stocks less frequently traded have better returns.

Nobel Prize Worthy Advice On Investing
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Here’s how a good advisor should respond when you call about losses in your account.

Does Past Performance Have Anything To Do With Future Results?
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Is there a correlation which would justify talking about “the momentum of the markets”?

Does Market Volatility Cause Post-Traumatic Stress?
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The best antidote to the stress of market volatility is to understand that the markets are inherently volatile.

What Investors Really Want
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“In reflecting on our experiences as advisers and investors, we’ve come up with what we believe are the key and often unspoken wants and needs of our investors.”

Bogle’s Best Advice: Don’t Peek
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When it comes to finances, just shut your eyes and keep them closed.

If You Wouldn’t Buy It, Why Keep It?
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The stock market is one of the few places that when things go on sale we are less likely to want to buy.

Advisors Focus On Panic Prevention In Volatile Market
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Our brains are not wired well for handling the fluctuations in the stock market. Could a financial advisor help?

Driving Emotions From Your Investment Process: A 12-Step Program
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Don’t let short term volatility ruin a brilliant long term investment strategy.

Don’t Do Something. Just Stand There!
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You learn a lot by the discipline of reading old news.

How To Save Wealthy Clients From Themselves
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“Emotion can undo the best-laid financial plans.”

Advisors Must Stop Client Self-Destruction
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Sometimes the best advice is when a competent advisor tells you that you are wrong.

The Driver of Future Behavior
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Investments consistently outperform investors.

The Optimist’s Antidote
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Behavioral psychology research suggests that you should send your best ideas to the grave.

Recent Market Advances Fail to Overcome Mental Accounting
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The S&P 500 has nearly doubled in the last four years. Yet many investors are left feeling more disillusioned with their investments than ever before. Some of this discontent can be combated by understanding the psychological effects of market volatility.

Four Reasons You Are Afraid of Investing
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This kitten isn’t afraid of the markets. Be more like this kitten.

The Smart Money Philosophy of Doug Lennick
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Follow a philosophy so that there is always a smart place to get money

Financially Savvy Kittens on the Definition of Success
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This kitten measures success from the bottom not the top. Be more like this kitten.

Marshmallows and Investing?
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Parents take note: Research on delayed gratification shows connections from children through adulthood.

How are Foreign Stocks Doing Compared to Stocks in the United States? Fall 2012
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Sometimes the medium term trend seems to weigh more heavily in our minds than the long or short term trends.

Suddenly Wealthy
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Studies show that onetime windfalls can actually impoverish you. They make you feel rich, which inevitably leads to overspending. But wealth is what you save, not what you spend.

Why Investors Don’t Rebalance
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“Perfectly rational individuals exhibit changing risk aversion that makes it hard for them to rebalance into high-return assets that have had steep price declines.”

A Grown-Up Discussion on Income and Wealth Inequality in America
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Most work toward equality of results impoverishes everyone.

Stress Is Not Your Enemy
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How often do you intentionally push yourself to discomfort? Do you think the best retirement is relaxing and recreating? Think again.

Women Are More Afraid of Becoming “Bag Ladies” Than Men
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Women are more afraid of becoming “bag ladies” than men, and it makes them approach investing and saving for retirement differently, assuming they have managed to tackle either of those chores.

Countering Resistance
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Client resistance is an inevitable part of the financial planning process. It’s a sign the advisor is doing his or her job.

Radio: Grow Rich Slowly: The Four Secrets of an Automatic Millionaire
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Listen to David John Marotta’s interview on growing rich slowly: the four secrets of an automatic millionaire

Best Marketing for a Small Business
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For a small business, marketing and advertising seeks an answer to the question “How will prospective customers find me?” Most small businesses would benefit from enhancing their website presence by blogging and social media connections.

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