Apparently, investors think markets are going to go up and pundits agree. Paul and Evan talk about how markets get priced, what you might expect from markets when the fear about the future drops, and why this kind of rhetoric is a major distraction from relaxing about money.

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Today, Paul and Evan have a great discussion about buying homes in a market with high home prices and interest rates. Paul encourages potential home buyers to be cautious and explains why the standard advice to “own at all costs” is actually an emotional trap. Listen along as Evan talks about the stigma of renting and why interest, property tax, sales commissions, and real estate markets make the decision to buy a home more complex than some would lead you to believe.

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Someone on CNBC is already saying, “If the market doesn’t rally in the next four days, that historically indicates a tough January for markets and that you may want to consider X, Y, Z strategy and staying up-to-date on what’s coming.” Paul and Evan try to count how many “weasel words” they said and discuss how pundits use “historical performance” to entice people into watching television and making emotional decisions about investing. The bottom line is this: Confident investors tune all of this out.

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Today, Paul opens the episode and answers a question about social security. Then, Evan and Paul talk about what passes as financial planning but just isn’t. Listen along as Paul talks about planners who only talk about taxes, planners without degrees, technical analysis and fundamental analysis, cap-weighted funds vs. equally-weighted funds, and how none of these things count as financial planning.

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Paul talks about what happens when someone overcommits to one factor of investment returns while ignoring most of the rest. Listen along as Paul shares a video where someone was able to accomplish incredibly low fees and expenses on their portfolio but they ended up with a risky investment that will have performance issues in the long run.

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Today, Paul walks through different kinds of investments and how you understand the risks and rewards each investment offers. Paul wants you to walk away feeling more confident about your money working for you and understand why certain things are called investments that either don’t deliver on their promises or don’t actually pay you to borrow your money.

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Cost is a factor that impacts the performance of your investments. However, it is not the only factor, yet low-cost products can be heavily marketed as the best ones. Today, Paul receives a video attempting to explain an analysis of specific funds and their costs. Unfortunately, the explanation falls short on a few key points about how these portfolios and markets work. Paul encourages you to really understand the claims this video makes so that you will feel confident when someone tries to push you away from your plan because of expenses.

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Today, Paul wants to educate investors about the most common topic he’s working with people on day-to-day: taking an income in retirement. Whether it’s CDs that have come to term, confusing annuity products, or understanding risk in your portfolio, there are many reasons people come to Paul looking for answers around taking an income. It’s also a topic that companies are constantly using to market their products to you. Listen along as Paul talks about a framework from income in retirement and some of the most common traps people fall into when setting up their investment to take an income.

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Today, Paul and Evan talk about a lot of work that goes on around the holidays to help people with end-of-the-year financial planning. Listen along as these advisors provide some helpful tips and some common traps around financial planning to help you relax about money around the holidays.

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The University of Michigan released the consumer sentiment survey this year with some new included information: political affiliation. This survey, along with others, is used as a factor to forecast the country’s overall economic outlook. Conservatives are largely optimistic and Liberals are largely pessimistic. Paul and Evan talk about how politics sneak into our financial systems and why it’s important to not respond to the movements of interest rates and markets because short-term outlooks are based on sentiment.

Start relaxing about investing by scheduling a 15-minute call with one of our advisors here.