A topic I haven’t covered in a long time (and, based on a comment left by someone yesterday, some people don’t get ) is risk adjusted return. We have been trained over our investing careers to obsess over portfolio performance when what we should be thinking about is outcomes. Forget the absolute number – will our portfolio do what we …
Cutting through the confusion
There are a lot of financial talk shows on the radio every weekend. My show is one of nine on KRLD each Saturday and Sunday, and if you consider all the other stations in the area, you can get an idea of the variety of voices and opinions that confront the average investor each week. If I were someone who …
On Randomness
One of the most fundamental and most difficult concepts for investors to wrap their brain around is the randomness of markets. This is most likely because, as Terry Burnham ably shows us, in Mean Markets and Lizard Brains, humans are just not wired to deal with probability and randomness. In the investing classic, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, Princeton …
Press Release: Kim Snider Delivers Keynote Speech on Maximizing Opportunities in Economic Crisis at National Speakers Association Convention
Snider Advisors, a leading provider of investment courses and investor education, congratulates its founder and CEO, Kim Snider, on the success of her Keynote Speech at the 2009 National Speakers Association Annual Convention. Snider’s topic, Don’t Waste This Crisis: The Economic Meltdown in America, was both timely and relevant to the nearly 1,100 professional speakers in the convention’s audience. Snider …
Sometimes the hardest thing to do is let go
I was talking with my husband, Jim, last night who just happens to be the smartest person I know – and I know a lot of really smart people. He reminded me of a story about the taxi driver who works every day until he collects $100 in fares and then he quits. When times are flush, he only has …
Myths and Misconceptions about Exchange Traded Options
There are a variety of long-standing myths about options that need to be dispelled. The most widely held are: 1) options are too risky; 2) they’re too complicated or you’re not smart enough to use them; 3) you cannot use options inside of an IRA account; and 4) options on General Electric, for example, are no different than the exotic, …
The mother of all reverse compounding problems
The only proven way to achieve a passive double-digit yield to replace your income is to own businesses – either directly or indirectly through common stock ownership. But this creates a challenge. The chart shows each of the bear market declines since the end of World War One. We are in the tenth decade and there have been twenty bear …
Can You Have Too Much Home Equity?
This article, originally published in 2008, continues to be one of our most popular posts. Please keep in mind that it is possible some of the facts offered have changed throughout the years, but our sentiments about this topic have not. To learn more about this subject, check out Are Reverse Mortgages Ever a Good Idea? The conventional wisdom used to …
Problems with Viatical and Life Settlements
UPDATED 2019: This article, originally published in 2008, continues to be one of our most popular posts. Please keep in mind that it is possible some of the facts offered have changed throughout the years, but our sentiments about this topic have not. I have received several questions in recent weeks asking for my opinion on a life settlements. Rather …
Know Your Greatest Risk
What is your most valuable asset? Your business? Your house? Your investment portfolio? The pile of gold buried in your backyard? What would you guess? If you guessed anything tangible, you guessed wrong. Your most valuable asset is what economists call your human capital. This is the sum total of the skills knowledge and wisdom you possess which you then …
