Become a Patron! All the way back in 2020 I offered some speculative predictions about the future of so-called "direct indexing." This is the logical end point of the proposition, promoted by the tax-evasion industry, that by swapping between closely-correlated-but-not-identical securities, those with taxable investments can generate capital losses that can be used to offset … [Read more...] about Schwab’s forthcoming direct indexing platform might be worth a look for the merely affluent
investing
What’s the real story behind the zillionaire widow defrauded by her grandsons?
Become a Patron! Via TravelBloggerBuzz, last week I read a fascinating story about the resolution of a FINRA arbitration complaint against two JPMorgan financial advisors by their grandmother, whose money they had supposedly misallocated for the benefit of themselves and their employer. Unfortunately, for the usual reason (laziness) the business journalist was unable to … [Read more...] about What’s the real story behind the zillionaire widow defrauded by her grandsons?
The right and wrong lessons from the Gamestop trading fiasco
Become a Patron! Like everyone on the internet, for the last few days I've been following the fascinating and hilarious story of the little message board that made a small dent in the quarter-on-quarter performance of a few particularly poorly managed hedge funds. There are plenty of bad and a few good descriptions of the situation out there already, so I'll assume readers … [Read more...] about The right and wrong lessons from the Gamestop trading fiasco
Good reasons to own bonds
Become a Patron! For as long as I've been writing about money, I've been saying almost everybody owns too many bonds. My argument has nothing to do with "risk" or "volatility" or "rebalancing." It's much simpler than that: bonds don't pay enough in interest. If and when they start paying more in interest, I will like them more and start saying people should buy them. But … [Read more...] about Good reasons to own bonds
How big a deal is reinvestment risk?
Become a Patron! When financial professionals talk about investing, the conversation invariably turns to the question of "risks." This is a term of art only vaguely related to its everyday meaning. Ordinary people don't talk about "upside risk," for example. That's the possibility that your investment will perform better than anticipated — not a problem for an ordinary … [Read more...] about How big a deal is reinvestment risk?