Archive for September, 2010
One Powerful Characteristic of Highly Successful People
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“Patience and fortitude conquer all things.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Patience is one of those characteristics we admire in others. And hope we won’t need.
Yet, don’t we all hit roadblocks? We set out to accomplish something important. Saving for a nice retirement, writing a book, starting a business, building a great career. But inevitably setbacks hit us. And it seems like the greater the goals? The more road bumps. Life just never runs in a straight line to our extraordinary dreams. Guess that’s why they’re extraordinary.
Unfortunately, that’s when we’re tempted to give up. We tell ourselves, “It’s too much. It’s not worth it. It’s too hard. I guess it’s not meant to be.” Read More→
Characteristics of Great Investors–Fearlessness
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“I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.” Warren Buffett
We’re experiencing the third full-blown investment bubble since I became a financial adviser in 1997. In the late 90s we had the “tech bubble,” the early 2000s the “real estate bubble,” and now the “bond bubble.” Investors are so afraid of stocks they’ve pulled money out in record amounts over the last two years and sunk it into bonds, particularly US government.
I recently saw a chart which compared cash flows into investments. The chart was the mirror image of the late 90s. Then cash flowed into tech stocks in massive amounts with miniscule flows into bonds. Now the chart is the opposite with record flows into bonds and huge withdrawals from stocks. The bubbles look identical just the reverse investments. Read More→
One Essential Key to Retire in Style
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I was shocked when we collected the enrollment forms for a retirement plan I had just taken over. Most of the employees are young, make good incomes and have a tremendous opportunity to save significantly towards their retirement. The company even has a matching plan which gives the employees money if they save. We had conducted the enrollment meeting, explaining all of this carefully and outlined the benefits of long term investing. Yet several, elected not to participate.
I met with the controller at my office after she had received the forms. When I reviewed them I said, “What’s going on? Did they make a mistake?”
“No, they just felt they couldn’t afford to participate,” she responded.
“Really? How could they afford not to participate?”
I thought after our meeting, “What a missed opportunity. They can never get back the years they waste not saving.” Read More→
