I’m quick to admit that owning – and holding – stocks is not easy. I’ll never forget the moment a close family member (who shall remain nameless) told me in August 2011: “I never want to own stocks again. Get me out of stocks – completely.”
With this year's election just a month away, the temptation to [attempt to] time the market is as strong as ever. Our clients and friends are asking, "how will the stock market react to the election?"
This past weekend, my family and I did some post-summer/pre-fall outside work. We were digging through a bed of rocks that surrounds our house, which meant tearing through the lining underneath and burrowing 4-6 inches deep. My 13-year-old paused for a moment and asked, "Isn't there an easier way to do this?"
If you have spent any amount of time with me in one of our conference rooms, you know I am a big fan of a good story. However, while stories can be persuasive (and hopefully entertaining), statistics are much better guides for decision-making.
“Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with the 130 IQ. Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.” —Warren Buffett
Our family's Spring Break trip to Florida in 2000 took place during the infamous dot-com bubble burst. I can vividly remember my dad's reaction to the news of the bursting of the tech bubble. He had some of his portfolio (I'm not sure how much) invested in dot-com stocks via the Nasdaq Composite Index, which declined by 25% that week of our Spring Break. It ultimately took 15 years for the Nasdaq to get back to its high from the year 2000.
As we’re in the midst of the COVID-19 health and financial crisis, you likely have been watching the stock market decline and worrying, “what does this mean for me?”
When advising our clients to stay the course (i.e. stay fully invested), our advice is not based on wishful thinking about the markets. The advice is grounded in historical reality, and in a hope for the future.
These past few weeks have seen extreme stock market volatility, the WHO declaring a pandemic, and the U.S. implementing travel restrictions and many other measures (with more to come, assuredly) to help combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Our thoughts on the current stock market malaise -- and accompanying Coronavirus fears.
I won’t tell you that skipping lattes will make you a millionaire (because I don’t believe that). I’m not going to spend-shame anyone in this post. But I will forever maintain that frugality is a darn-near surefire way of building wealth. If you spend meaningfully less money than you make (that is, saving 15% or more of your income), it necessarily follows that you will build wealth. That’s not an opinion; it’s math. If you can only save 10%, then start there. But ultimately, work up toward a 20% savings rate…and then move higher from there. We have multiple clients saving more than 50% of their after-tax income.
Statements you will hear outside TWG’s walls, but not inside them: “Money is really cheap right now.” “I get a tax deduction on this, so it’s a good deal.” “The dealership is providing interest-free financing on the new model, so I’ll buy new.” “We refinanced and are saving $300/month on our payments.”
