On Wall Street, no one ever says “okay, enough is enough.” The mentality is always “if a little bit is good then a lot is better. And if a lot is better then way more is great!” Usually, people have to lose a lot of money before this wears off. Read more
I listened to a podcast where a financial advisor walked through his Goal Based Investing philosophy with a real case. The details were refreshingly specific: a couple, 300k saved, one kid headed to university in 15 years, and a retirement target of 5,500/month at age 60. His recommendation? A 90/10 Read more
Two weeks ago, I was orphaned by the weekend reading list from BankerOnWheels. But thankfully, Monevator’s list threw me a lifeline: two posts, both interesting, and together they fill in the blanks. Here’s why they hit differently: they almost complete each other. First up, White Coat Investor drops a spicy Read more
If you spend enough time watching the way people interact with their brokerage accounts, you eventually realize that they aren’t actually looking for “total return.” That’s a lie they tell themselves to feel smart at dinner parties. What the average person is actually hunting for is a feeling. Specifically, the Read more
Three years ago, I moved into this incredibly well-placed and reasonably priced apartment in Zurich. Then I started this podcast nonsense, which brought a problem along: it made me crave a home office…while I also need a bed. In the physical world, we’re constrained by the floor space. If I Read more
In the world of finance, we are largely taught to worship at the altar of the Law of Large Numbers. The theory is simple: over a long enough time horizon, your investment outcomes will eventually converge toward the historical average. But there’s a problem. You aren’t an “average.” You aren’t Read more
I created the Model Portfolio to turn the complex theories on this blog into a tangible, easy-to-follow roadmap. It’s the definitive answer to the “So, what do I do now?” dilemma. But I don’t just talk the talk, I walk the walk. My private portfolio follows the exact same DNA Read more
Roger Nusbaum recently published an excellent piece. And, in the spirit of efficient markets, I’ve decided to steal his title as well. While Roger focused on how to size alternative assets, I believe that’s a secondary concern. The data suggests that the most critical decision isn’t the weight: it’s the Read more
Someone recently wrote the following on my podcast SubReddit (I will just report an extract of the relevant part): I set myself a clear goal: to reach around €1 million in assets within 12–13 years. The million is not a random number, but a threshold that would allow me—if I Read more
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 explanation of what I think is the most common question related to it, i.e. why Read more