Around this time last year, I shared some of my favorite excerpts from my 2016 investing advice posts. I published a similar summary the year before that. Let’s make three times a charm! Here’s my third-annual, five-minute recap of Lowrie Financial’s 2017 investing advice posts.
A year’s worth of investing advice in a five-minute read (January 2017)
“Start 2017 off on the right financial footing.”
Q&A: Stock markets are at all time highs … should we sell? (February 2017)
“Timing the markets when they’re at all-time highs is a nice, neat and simple story. Unfortunately it’s a fable; it doesn’t work.”
Trusting your financial instincts (March 2017)
“‘Trust your instincts.’ That’s what they always say, right? Sometimes, that’s good investing advice … but not when it comes to managing your money. Your behavioural biases get in the way.”
Big banks in big denial (April 2017)
“You can’t alter reality by denying it exists. That’s the lesson that Canada’s biggest banks should be learning this year … [But] even with the truth exposed, bank leaders seem more interested in denial, status quo and happy shareholders.”
On big banks, conflicting compensation and bad behaviour (May 2017)
“Instead of establishing misaligned compensation models and off-base focal points, wouldn’t everyone be better off if banks leveraged their customers’ fond feelings into solid, long-term success for one and all?”
Are you ready to remain upbeat during a market downturn? (June 2017)
“One way to stay upbeat when the markets head south is by remembering what we already know about periodic downturns.”
Advisor bias happens too (July 2017)
“As a financial advisor, I am biased. Not because of my profession, mind you, but because of my humanity. … So one of our best defences against advisor and investor biases alike is to adhere to the tenets of evidence-based investing.”
Summertime financial planning and time well-spent (August 2017)
“What gets your heart racing? Whatever that may be, are you making time for it as your physical stamina and financial abilities allow?”
Alternative investments: Feast or famine? (September 2017)
“While the purveyors of alternative investments may woo you with ‘champagne wishes and caviar dreams,’ a steady diet of evidence-based investing should be far more nourishing in the long run.”
Tune out distractions, tune in satisfaction (October 2017)
“By periodically tuning out the noise that has become so ingrained in your everyday life, you just may discover how loud it’s become – especially if you compare the volume to how little it’s expected to contribute to your financial best practices.”
Thaler thinking (November 2017)
“Do we follow Nobel laureate Eugene Fama’s evidence-based investment theory or Nobel laureate Richard Thaler’s investor behaviour insights? Yes, to both … which is why I’ve long covered both in my blog.”
Battle of the Brains: Market Portfolio 1, Fancy Hedge Fund 0 (December 2017)
“It’s not that hedge fund managers are unskilled or ill-informed. It’s that they’re competing against global markets that have historically offered decent long-run returns for those who simply sit tight for the ride.”
Speaking of sitting tight, I hope you’ll join me for another year of investing advice, insights, and ideas here on my blog. In fact, why not subscribe while you’re at it, so they come straight to your inbox? Personally, I can’t think of a better way to kick off the new year.
