Steve's Investing Insights
Before You Decide: How Do You Know If You Made a Good Financial Decision?
A good financial decision can produce a poor result, while a poorly reasoned decision can make money. Learn how outcome bias affects investors and why the quality of your process matters more than any single outcome.
Why Does the Stock Market Rise When the News Looks Bad?
Short answer: stock prices reflect what investors expect to happen in the future, not what the headlines are reporting today. Markets rise when outcomes turn out
The Problem with Alternative Investments
Alternative investments are often marketed as sophisticated, stable, and higher returning. In reality, they are complex, illiquid, and difficult to evaluate. Here is why most investors should avoid them.
Should You Invest in Gold?
Should You Invest in Gold? For most investors, no. Gold does not produce income, has delivered inconsistent long-term returns, and is not a reliable hedge
2025 Investment Year in Review and 2026 Outlook
As we close out 2025, investors find themselves in the kind of environment we all hope for but rarely experience. Global equity markets delivered exceptionally strong results while fixed income preserved capital and reduced volatility exactly as intended. From a long-term planning perspective, this is ideal—strong returns spread across diversified portfolios create exactly the environment disciplined investors are positioned to benefit from.
This year’s success reinforces a fundamental truth: strong markets reveal whether your investment philosophy is sound, while weak markets reveal whether you truly believe it. Markets spent considerable time at all-time highs, reminding us that this is precisely what we should expect from asset classes with positive long-term returns. The question isn’t “how long will this last?” but rather “is my portfolio still aligned with my goals?”—and for disciplined investors, the answer continues to point toward staying the course.
Looking Back: 2025 Financial Insights Year-End Recap
As we close out 2025, it’s worth pausing to reflect on the financial principles that matter most. This year’s insights focused on investment philosophy, retirement planning options, and helping you avoid strategies that look appealing but rarely deliver results. The most important lesson? Your only meaningful benchmark is whether you’re on track to fund the life you’ve planned for—everything else is just comparison that pulls you off course.
Perhaps the most striking revelation came from research analyzing over 4,000 Canadian financial advisors who systematically underperformed simple, evidence-based strategies by approximately 3% annually. Not because of conflicts of interest, but because of genuinely misguided beliefs about investing. The lesson is clear: wealth isn’t built through excitement, complexity, or trying to outsmart markets. It’s built through discipline, diversification, low costs, tax efficiency, and staying committed to a well-crafted strategy even when markets are volatile.