One of the principles a lot of investment advisors and money managers point to when they talk about risk management is diversification. Diversification means spreading your investing dollars across multiple different opportunities. The general idea is that the greater your diversification, the less exposed you are to risk in any one stock. More →
Introduction
I recently listened to an interview with Nobel Prize winner Robert J. Shiller on the topic of finding the perfect portfolio. It’s a very interesting subject, so I’ll summarize the interview and discuss the key concepts.
Before we dig deeper, let me first describe a few interesting interview intros. Shiller didn’t get the Nobel Prize for nothing as he correctly identified that stocks were in a bubble in the 1990s, and that real estate was in a bubble in the 2000s. More →
Introduction
Two and a half years ago, I took out a mortgage with a fixed interest rate (3.55%) even though my friend from the Dutch National Bank was telling me to take the lower variable interest rate (2.5%) because the probability that interest rates would rise was very small and I could always change the variable rate to a fixed rate if necessary. More →
I recently wrote about how gold is an essential part of a portfolio. However, today I want to dig deeper into what kind of gold investments could be the best fit your portfolio because it’s all about your personal preferences and every gold miner is different.
Let’s start with the basis of gold in an all-weather strategy.
Gold As Part Of An All-Weather Strategy
There are two macroeconomic environments where gold as a hedge does well: when there is inflation, and especially when there is an economic slowdown and inflation. More →
Introduction
There are millions of investing opportunities, from real estate, to stocks, bonds, options, derivatives, various funds, commodities, stamps, antiques, cars, and who knows what else. This makes all investors, from beginners to professional investors, very confused on what to invest in. In today’s article, I’ll give a perspective on how many positions one should have in their portfolio that you haven’t heard before. More →
Introduction
I often get a question from people that have a decent amount of money about where to put that money as they know I specialize in investing, and especially the stock market.
They’re often surprised when I tell them to invest in real estate and to leave the stock market to those who can take advantage of the volatility and greater risks especially now that stock valuations are extremely high, or to do both as an excellent diversification strategy. More →
Introduction
Some investment gurus advocate spreading your portfolio across various asset classes in order to limit your risks for the same return. On the other hand, others say diversification is for idiots and for those who don’t know what they’re doing. I’ll analyze their arguments and see what the best option is for you. More →
Introduction
Our greatest treasure is, of course, our kids. I’m a proud father for six months now and I must say that every day since my child was born has been the most beautiful day of my life.
In that spirit, I want to provide the best possible environment for my kid to grow up, but also to enable him to do everything he wants when he is older. This has me, and probably many other parents or grandparents, already thinking about college tuition money, start-up capital for a business venture, helping with the down payment for a house, or simply paying for a wedding or a honey-moon. The notion that you can build a substantial nest-egg with small monthly payments is very attractive to me and will also provide a great educational experience to my kid as it will show him how small actions over a long period of time can bring huge results. More →
Introduction
We’ll continue with the analysis of Seth Klarman’s book Margin of Safety. Today we’ll discuss chapter 13, Portfolio Management and Trading. More →
Introduction
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) recently released its 2017 market outlook. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the outlook is positive. It’s in their interest for stocks and the economy to continue to thrive as GS makes its money from IPO commissions, asset management fees, etc.
Despite the conflict of interest, their positive outlook will most probably be correct at the end of 2017, but there is something more important than being right or wrong on a yearly forecast.
Today we’ll discuss Goldman’s view and analyze the possible impacts on our portfolios. More →