Successful Investing: Warren Buffett Wisdom

Every year tens of thousands of people make the pilgrimage to Omaha, Nebraska to listen to arguably the most successful investment manager of all time, Warren Buffett. The extremely popular event starts this Monday. Undoubtedly, some are hoping to glean some investment secret or word of wisdom that they can turn into investment gold. And who can blame them? In a world where we are constantly bombarded with hot investments, market forecasts, and pundit predictions it seems nearly impossible to ever be sure what to do with our money. Thankfully, Warren Buffett does dispense some great advice and it is actually much different than what you might expect.

Investing Lessons from the 2014 Sugar Bowl

I have a client who is a big OU Sooner fan.  I mentioned to him my hope that OU would stand a chance against the heavily favored Alabama Crimson Tide to which he responded in jest, "I hope you aren't putting MY money on an upset." After the game I could not help but see the parallel to this year's outcome and how people actually think about investing for retirement.

I went to cash because..

"I went to cash because..."  Fill in the blank.  This is a common phrase uttered by market pundits, advisors, and amateur investors everywhere.  And there always is a seemingly very smart reason to justify putting your investments in cash instead of the market.  However; what appears on the surface to be a good investing idea often stands in sharp contrast to the actual results.

Biased Brains and Bubble Talk

If you are a human and an investor there is good news and bad news.  The bad news first.  Your brain sucks.  It operates in almost every way possible to encourage you to make bad investing decisions.  It is also why you care a lot more about the Fed’s actions than you really should.

A test will easily demonstrate your faulty brain at work.

It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again: 1994

The volatility in the stock market AND bond market over the past few days has everyone concerned.  Forget that the US market is still up over 10% for the year. We all tend to get very myopic in our vision when the stock market starts to waiver.  Especially when bonds, which are supposed to protect us in down markets, are also losing money.  It can make the thought of just selling everything and going to cash seem appealing.  But as history reveals, that can be a very costly mistake.