You cannot watch a baseball game these days without hearing about a batter's launch angle. Launch angle is the measurement of a batted ball's vertical trajectory. Since 2015, hitters have begun optimizing their swings for the ideal launch angle (25-35 degrees). This...
Creating a portfolio without making an investment policy statement means failing to acknowledge that investing is an emotional endeavor. For those of you who don't know what an investment policy statement is, let me begin with a story: In Homer's epic, The Odyssey,...
If you were given you a map to get to a destination, would you follow it? In our world, the "destination" would often be retirement, or paying for college. According to Morningstar, the total return for the Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares (symbol VFINX,...
I had a conversation recently with a good friend of mine while playing golf. He explained to me that during his rounds of golf he's pretty good for most of it. Usually making par or bogey on 14-16 holes. The problem is there always seems to be 2-4 "blowup holes"...
Risk management is a topic we hear a lot about when it comes to investing. Its popularity tends to ebb and flow based on recent market performance. This seems intuitive to me because when the risk we're trying to manage doesn't occur, risk management often looks like...
I was reading Josh Brown's post over on thereformedbroker.com about "three edges" and (as Josh put it) "incorporating them into one’s practice and philosophy can lead to a great deal of job satisfaction and lifestyle improvement." There is so much more I can say on...
Our lives are a spectrum. From “good” to “bad”. From “high” to “low”. Life is kind of like Statistics 101. Your thoughts, feelings, words and actions are data points on the bell curve of your life. When you’re feeling “good” you don’t want it to end. You don’t want to...
A few months ago, I bought the book "The Daily Stoic" by Ryan Holiday. For each day of the year there is a passage from either Seneca, Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus. The teachings by these ancient philosophers are then explained in more modern language by Holiday. The...
You don't have all the answers. And neither do I. Asking for help is an underrated skill. First, we must know what we need help with. This requires reflection, humility and acceptance. We must admit to ourselves, "I don't know". The amount of information we have...
When I was younger, I didn't understand why my parents made me make my bed every morning. It didn't seem like a big deal to me. I thought it was tedious and pointless. After a while, I started to understand. Making your bed every morning ensures your day will start...
