Personal Finance
The Economics of Trust
When I started my career, my company sent a PDF to a bank. That PDF essentially said, “This person is trustworthy.” The next day, I picked up the phone and called someone I’d never met Read more
Personal Finance
Retirement Spending Rules
“How much income can I count on from my retirement savings?” With traditional pensions, defined benefit plans, becoming as rare as a good plumber, most of us are stuck figuring this out on our own. Read more
Personal Finance
Model Portfolio Quarterly Update
In April 2022, I introduced on this blog The Italian Leather Sofa Model Portfolio. As a reminder, here is the portfolio composition: The idea behind the portfolio is stolen from here. The link offers the best Read more
Personal Finance
Why Your Brain Hates Good Investment Strategies
On social media, I read many critiques of managed futures strategies…also from people I consider intelligent. These posts got me thinking about a fundamental tension in investing: some of the strategies that work best mathematically Read more
Personal Finance
Pension Funds
Here’s what frustrates me about personal financial discourse: lads obsess over the flashy stuff while ignoring the issues that actually matter. Take this post, for example. It highlights a problem that should have everyone paying Read more
Personal Finance
FIRS – The FIRE Funds Wealth Builder ETF
I found this ETF reading Roger Nusbaum blog. When I first saw the name and website, I instantly dismissed it as a marketing stunt. But Roger continued to mention it, so one day I bit Read more
Personal Finance
Master of None
Four years ago, I wrote about something called the Family Office Strategy: basically, how to invest like you’re managing a university endowment or a billionaire’s money, even if you’re decidedly not a billionaire. The principles Read more
Personal Finance
The Italian Diaspora
There’s a story unfolding (mainly) across Europe that few want to talk about, but everyone can see if they look closely enough. It’s the story of educated young Italians packing their bags and leaving: not Read more
Personal Finance
Why the Math that looks Simple usually isn’t
We just got back from holidays, and I have a story that perfectly captures why so many of us make bad financial decisions while feeling completely rational about it. It’s about a rental car in Read more