Archives: Chapter Meetings

In 1998, Charles Ellis in his book “Winning the Loser’s Game” presented evidence that while it is possible to generate alpha and win the game of active management, the odds of doing so are poor and it’s not prudent to try. Like taking chances at the craps table, roulette wheel, and slot machine, the surest way to win a loser’s game is to choose not to play. In investing, that means investing in the passively managed index funds. In his …

The Incredible Shrinking Alpha Read More »

Social Security is complicated. There are 2,700 regulations governing Social Security. Knowing which ones apply to you can make a big difference in the amount that you receive. Your claiming decision can greatly impact your income every month for the rest of your life. The average person receives $300,000 in lifetime Social Security benefits. Some couples will receive more than $2 million total. The average American household is losing out on an estimated $111,000. This presentation will focus on the …

Social Security Insecurity: Do you know your optimal claiming strategy Read More »

On June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a package of rulemakings and interpretations designed to enhance the quality and transparency of retail investors’ relationships with investment advisers and broker-dealers. This brings the legal requirements and mandated disclosures in line with reasonable investor expectations, while preserving access (in terms of choice and cost) to a variety of investment services and products. These actions are designed to enhance and clarify the standards of conduct applicable to broker-dealers and investment …

Regulatory Update from the SEC Read More »

Click this link to access the video of this meeting Bruce will review and compare his approach to income investing with other conventional income investing methods. Asset allocation with periodic rebalancing and annual safe withdrawals is a common method for generating long-term income. Another method is to allocate all or part of the household retirement savings to dividend-paying stocks; the dividends provide the necessary income. Bruce will review the latter approach in greater detail as the basis of the pure …

Understanding Pure Income Investing Read More »

For decades, the financial services industry has sold risky investments, claiming that greater risk was the only path to greater gains. But high-risk strategies are vulnerable to huge losses that can devastate your portfolio. The key to wealth is to keep your losses small during bear markets. This gives you outperformance of the S&P 500 over complete bear-bull market cycles. Brian Livingston’s new book Muscular Portfolios reveals the latest scientific evidence behind what experts call the Index Investing Revolution. The …

How to Make Your Portfolio Muscular Read More »

Note:  This meeting was not held in March and was rescheduled to an online meeting on July 18, 2020. Bruce will review and compare his approach to income investing with other conventional income investing methods. Asset allocation with periodic rebalancing and annual safe withdrawals is a common method for generating long-term income. Another method is to allocate all or part of the household retirement savings to dividend-paying stocks; the dividends provide the necessary income. Bruce will review the latter approach …

Understanding Pure Income Investing Read More »

John Chavez will present on the wealth management planning process that investors should follow to make thoughtful financial decisions. The core presentation will cover the tools we use to analyze and develop customized plans, which will lead to detailed conversations about how and why you should consider integrating planning goals, short-term and long-term tax consequences, insurance needs, and estate planning consequences in the financial decisions. The meeting framework is designed to include the key elements of developing and executing a …

Wealth Management Tools & How/Why You Should Use Them Read More »

Nearly 20 years ago, Chuck Jaffe wrote the first-ever book about hiring and working with all types of financial advisers, called “The Right Way to Hire Financial Help.” In those days, no one could foresee that many of the functions of financial counselors would be replaced by software, interactive online platforms and algorithms, but today “robo-advice” is the hot topic and individual investors need to decide on the need – if any – for maintaining a human touch, the importance …

The Right Way to Hire Financial Help Read More »

In June 2017, Paul Merriman had the honor of meeting one-on-one with John Bogle in an insightful discussion about how and why Vanguard builds portfolios the way it does. Bogle’s insights transformed Paul’s way of thinking about investing. In his presentation he will share the highlights of that meeting. He will detail two different approaches for designing an ultimate buy & hold portfolio, review investment decisions for a $12 million portfolio, and show how investors can meet their investment needs …

12 Investment Decisions Guaranteed to Change Your Financial Future Read More »

For investors trying to get cash flow from portfolios in today’s low-yield environment, the bucket approach may be a godsend. Structure the portfolio by spending horizons, set aside a cash component for near-term spending needs, and then spend through a long and happy retirement. Implementation can be a bit messy. However, the bucket approach will not guarantee that you won’t run out of money. There are no ironclad rules about how to manage and extract cash from a bucket portfolio …

Bucket Approach to Retirement Allocation: The Devil Is in the Details Read More »