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9 Science-Backed Tips For Your 2023 Finances - E46

January 29, 2024 / 46:18

This episode covers New Year’s resolutions, financial predictions for 2023, the unique challenges of 2022 in investing, and scientific insights on habit formation.

Host Jesse Kramer discusses the importance of understanding the psychological aspects of investing, especially during tough years like 2022, which saw both stocks and bonds decline significantly. He emphasizes that a balanced portfolio can help mitigate risks.

Kramer shares insights from his articles on market performance, highlighting how 2022 was particularly challenging for investors. He notes that both stocks and bonds faced unprecedented declines, making it crucial for investors to stay the course.

The episode also includes practical advice for setting financial resolutions, focusing on habit formation and the benefits of education in personal finance. Kramer presents nine scientific facts that can help listeners improve their financial habits in the new year.

Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their financial goals and consider the psychological aspects of investing as they plan for 2023.

TL;DR

Jesse Kramer discusses 2022's unique investing challenges and offers tips for achieving financial resolutions in 2023.

Video

00:00:01
welcome to the best interest podcast
00:00:04
where we believe Benjamin Franklin's
00:00:06
advice that an investment in knowledge
00:00:08
pays the best interest both in finances
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and in your life every episode teaches
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you personal finance and investing in
00:00:16
simple terms now here's your host Jesse
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[Music]
00:00:23
Kramer hello everybody and welcome to
00:00:27
best interest podcast this is episode
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number 47 my name is Jesse Kramer got a
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pretty good one for you today I'm
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recording this on Friday December 30th
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2022 right before the new year and okay
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I know it's a little bit cliche there's
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a lot of content coming out right now
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that is 2022 year in review or 2023 look
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ahead 2023 predictions all that kind of
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stuff I'm not going to give you too many
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predictions about 2023 just because I'll
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be honest I think it's a little
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irresponsible to make Financial or
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invested predictions about 2023 but I am
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going to share with you some scientific
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facts some cool ideas that have to do
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with the way our brains work and
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specifically when it comes to stuff like
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habit formation and and sticking with
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our New Year's resolutions because a lot
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of New Year's resolutions are Financial
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related I wrote an article that had some
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cool ideas in it so I'm going to share
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those ideas with you today in case your
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New Year's resolution has a financial
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twist to it and I'm also going to share
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a couple unique things about 2022 it's
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not going to be the boring stuff at
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least I don't think it's too boring
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because a lot of you you've seen
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inflation in the headlines we know that
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you know the stock market was down but
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there are some pretty unique things
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about the way 2022 worked out behind us
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and at the same time there are
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definitely some Silver Linings at least
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that I'm taking from the market
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performance investing performance even
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the way my portfolio performed in 2022
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and these Silver Linings are keeping me
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optimistic about the way 2023 and really
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much further Beyond 2023 the way the
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future is going to unfold before us so
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without further Ado let's dive into
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today's
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episode all right so this first little
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bit of information comes from an article
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I wrote back in October the article is
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called nowhere to hide why 2022 is a
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uniquely bad investing year and there
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will be a link to this article in the
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show notes and I recommend you look at
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this article and also the next article
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because there are some important charts
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some visuals in these articles that
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really will help you understand what I'm
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talking about I'll do my best to
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describe the charts to help you
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understand what they look like but I I
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recommend you know when you have time
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take a look at these articles so that
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you can see the charts for
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themselves so bare markets are nothing
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new right bare markets are when a market
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is down 20% or more from its all-time
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high generally when people say bare
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markets they're referring to the stock
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market so bare markets and the stock
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market are nothing new friend of the
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best interest Ben Carlson he's been
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having a field day in 2022 covering bare
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Market history and then another friend
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of the blog Nick muli he wrote a great
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data packed bare Market article back in
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March that has been frequently
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referenced since I've been writing about
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bare markets all year investing experts
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they know a lot about bare markets
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history has been a great guide and we
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aren't really freaking out over the fact
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that the stock market is down 22% 20%
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18% depends on which index you're
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measuring and depends on which part of
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the year you were looking at the stock
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market that is a known risk and then
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this is a good lesson for anybody out
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there who's newer to stock market
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investing who's Unsure how to think
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about 2022 bare markets are a known risk
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they always happen they always will
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happen years like 2022 when it comes to
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the stock market are going to happen for
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the remainder of your investing career
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it's a known risk so to some extent I'm
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saying get used to it it's part of being
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a stock investor that said 2022 is a
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little different we've never seen a year
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we've never seen a bare market like this
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in both stocks and bonds okay the fact
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that it's happening to stocks and bonds
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in the same year the fact that both
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those asset classes are down as much as
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they are in the same year that is
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uniquely bad bonds are meant to be a
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lower risk and lower reward asset
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compared to stocks but most importantly
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bonds are quote unquote supposed to have
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little correlation to stocks so that's
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the mathematical underpinning to
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diversification Theory and portfolio
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design we don't expect and we don't want
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stocks and bonds to behave in the same
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manner over the same time period
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traditionally they they haven't been
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very correlated
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what that means so so just in case
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you're curious if you're if you're a bit
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nerdy right positive correlation means
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two things behave in the same manner at
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the same time negative correlation means
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that they behave in opposite manners and
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no correlation means really that one
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going up has no sort of influence on
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what the other one does so what we're
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used to seeing in general is that stocks
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and bonds have little to no correlation
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and there's a good chart in the in the
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article showing that and so I went back
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and I pulled stock and bond data from
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1950 to today I wanted to walk through
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history to see normal years so a normal
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year would just be I suppose an average
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year of stock and bond performance we're
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just how stocks and bonds performed in
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different years since 1950 and then
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compare them against 2022 but first an
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important point we should always
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remember we should never forget that
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stocks are inherently riskier than bonds
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and that stock investor demand higher
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returns because of that that's simple
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risk and reward and it ties back to the
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fact that Bond returns are generally
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lower risk and come with a guarantee
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right if you buy say a treasury bond
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from the US government right now you
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know Bond rates are somewhere three or
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4% you're guaranteed that 3 or 4% return
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that's pretty low risk that guarantee is
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low risk and so if you were to go out
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and invest in stocks right now you're
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taking a real risk that you could lose
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your money that a company might go out
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of business underneath you you need to
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demand a higher reward than that 3 or 4%
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so that's again it's getting into some
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of the nitty-gritty of investing but
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it's a good thing to keep in mind so
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since 1950 stocks have returned 11% per
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year bonds have only returned 6% per
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year and when we compound those returns
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over 72 years we do see an enormous
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difference so $1 invested in the S&P 500
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1950 has grown to
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$2,180 today $1 grows to over 2,000 that
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same $1 in bonds has grown to about $70
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so would you rather have $2,000 or $70
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it's not a trick question so then a good
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question should come up in your head why
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would we own any bonds then right why
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own any bonds if they've underperformed
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stocks so much well there's actually a
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pretty simple answer so I quote Howard
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Marks here Howard marks very famous
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investor quote we have to practice
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defensive investing since many of the
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outcomes are likely to go against us
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it's more important to ensure survival
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under negative outcomes than it is to
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guarantee maximum returns under
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favorable ones end of quote so we want
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to avoid fearful scenarios where we're
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forced to sell to survive we want to
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avoid those scenarios stocks do provide
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long-term returns and bonds bonds
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provide some balast so that our
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portfolio is never in some dire
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situation where we feel forced to sell
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okay so a balance of the two a balance
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of stocks and bonds can provide you with
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enough long-term returns to meet your
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financial goals but also enough
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stability so that you won't puke along
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the way so now I'm going to take a look
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at some individual years so 1966 for
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example and this is going back again
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there are some charts in the article to
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show you what I'm talking about here
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1966 shows how a conservative portfolio
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prevents large draw Downs so if you had
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held 100% stocks in 1966 you would have
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lost about 10% of your money but if you
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had held a 6040 portfolio you only would
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have lost about 5% of your money if You'
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held all bonds well Bonds were had about
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a 0% return that year so the stocks lost
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10% bonds lost zero and then in 2008
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great financial crisis so the stock
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market dropped about 363 37% in 2008
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very bad bonds actually went up bonds
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gained about 8% if you had had a 6040
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portfolio 60% stocks 40% bonds your
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portfolio would have dropped 18 or 19%
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it's not great no one wants to drop 18
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or 19% but that's better than losing 37%
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which is what the all stock portfolio
00:09:20
did however let's face facts most years
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the stock market is up and bonds tend to
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drag portfolio performance during those
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years so again I just picked a few years
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in our timeline 1996 stocks were up 22
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23% Bonds were only up 4% so if you had
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a 6040 portfolio you would have gained
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15% that's nice but your friends at all
00:09:44
stocks they gained 23% that's even nicer
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2017 is another example stocks were up
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21% Bonds were only up about
00:09:52
6% then again we've seen some years with
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both stocks and bonds down right that's
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the big thing that we're seeing this
00:09:59
year in 2022 but it doesn't happen too
00:10:01
often nor is it too severe it happened
00:10:03
for example in 1969 and again in 2018
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but in each of those years a balanced
00:10:08
6040 portfolio was only down about 5%
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it's not that bad okay losing money is
00:10:15
never fun but being down 5% in a
00:10:17
balanced portfolio isn't that bad 2022
00:10:21
however this year was disturbingly
00:10:24
different not only has there been no
00:10:26
place to hide but it's been pouring rain
00:10:29
on us so even conservative investors are
00:10:32
getting soaked across the risk Spectrum
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from all stocks to all bonds portfolios
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are down somewhere from 15 to
00:10:39
25% that fact is unprecedented that
00:10:43
makes 2022 a very different and a very
00:10:46
unique year so again as of the the
00:10:48
writing of this article stocks were down
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about 22% Bonds were down
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167% and then a great reference and if
00:10:56
you're going to go to this article to
00:10:57
find one chart I would recommend the
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chart about 3/4 2/3 of the way down that
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shows all these different years I've
00:11:04
talked about all laid out on the same
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graph and one year is going to stick out
00:11:09
like a sore Thum because not only does
00:11:11
it have some negative returns but it has
00:11:14
very negative returns all across the
00:11:16
risk Spectrum so 2022 by far the worst
00:11:20
year for stock Bond portfolio since 1950
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we know as we talked about before that
00:11:25
stocks can and will drop 20% or more in
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year but the fact that bonds are also
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down 15% is different and then a friend
00:11:34
of the blog sha from fighting fire with
00:11:36
fire he sent me a great graphic from
00:11:39
Vanguard that shows this data in in a
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slightly different form about just how
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unique and bad 2022 is so now the real
00:11:46
question is what should you do about it
00:11:48
what should you do about the fact that
00:11:49
2022 was such a bad year question one
00:11:52
should you stop investing since stocks
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and bonds are both down should you just
00:11:56
jump ship Al together answer no
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definitely not remember the true cost of
00:12:03
long-term investing is
00:12:04
psychological think about that again the
00:12:07
true cost of long-term investing is
00:12:10
psychological it hurts to see your
00:12:12
portfolio drop I totally get that my
00:12:15
portfolio is down a lot this year but
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long-term success comes from enduring
00:12:20
that psychological pain if you can
00:12:22
leaning into it and invest more if you
00:12:24
can what we've seen historically over
00:12:28
the long run that is a phenomenal idea
00:12:30
to do it's a phenomenal tactic a great
00:12:32
strategy But first you have to deal with
00:12:35
the short-term psychological
00:12:38
pain next question should you sell your
00:12:41
bonds it's an interesting question right
00:12:44
the idea is well if bonds aren't doing
00:12:45
their job why do I even own them well it
00:12:48
is a good question the answer though is
00:12:50
no you shouldn't sell your bonds to be
00:12:52
honest with you it's too late for that
00:12:53
anyway if you had a time machine and you
00:12:55
could go back to the beginning of the
00:12:57
year yes you should have sold your bonds
00:13:00
but predicting the future is really hard
00:13:03
and it's irresponsible usually for
00:13:06
investing professionals even try to
00:13:08
predict the future I know many people do
00:13:10
but I'm not in favor of predicting the
00:13:12
future instead I'm in favor of building
00:13:14
a durable diverse portfolio that can
00:13:16
survive any
00:13:18
circumstance you know the leading
00:13:19
indicator for future Bond returns is
00:13:22
whatever the current interest rate is
00:13:25
and if you understand bonds are very
00:13:27
mathematical in nature right pay $1,000
00:13:29
to buy a bond the bond is yielding 4%
00:13:33
you're going to receive $40 per year
00:13:35
because that's 4% of a th from now until
00:13:38
the bond expires when the bond expires
00:13:41
you're going to get your $ th000 back
00:13:42
it's a very basic guaranteed
00:13:45
mathematical
00:13:47
calculation so having Bond rates right
00:13:49
now at 4% is a strong signal that you'll
00:13:52
achieve 4% Returns on near future bonds
00:13:56
4% returns over the next few years
00:13:57
that's not too bad I mean this year we
00:13:59
lost what 15% but bonds over the coming
00:14:03
years are expected mathematically to
00:14:05
perform better than they did in 2022 so
00:14:07
next question so Jesse you're telling me
00:14:10
I should just sit here and just take it
00:14:12
I mean that's not really advice is it oh
00:14:15
it's a good question again but here's my
00:14:16
answer remember what John Bowell
00:14:18
famously said quote my rule and it's
00:14:22
only good about 99% of the time so I
00:14:24
have to be careful here when these
00:14:25
crises come along the best rule you can
00:14:28
possibly follow is not don't stand there
00:14:31
do something but instead don't do
00:14:34
something stand there end quote that's
00:14:38
right you heard him right don't do
00:14:40
something stand there that's the right
00:14:43
advice it feels almost inhuman I know
00:14:46
because we are biologically wired for
00:14:48
Action when something goes wrong in our
00:14:50
lives we want to do something right
00:14:53
adrenaline starts pumping fight or
00:14:55
flight you either stand there and fight
00:14:57
or you run either way you're doing
00:15:00
something but what John bille is saying
00:15:02
is that in times of trouble actually you
00:15:04
want to not do anything at all you want
00:15:06
to just stand there and let the trouble
00:15:08
pass you by it's actually now that I
00:15:10
think about it it's kind of like that
00:15:11
one quote from Dune if you if you know
00:15:13
what I'm talking about there's this
00:15:15
famous quote about letting the fear flow
00:15:17
through you when the fear is gone you'll
00:15:20
remain standing there that's basically
00:15:22
what you want to do with your Investment
00:15:23
Portfolio so you can consider doing
00:15:26
something before you file your taxes
00:15:27
like tax loss harvesting or rebalancing
00:15:30
your portfolio but you should not
00:15:32
consider abandoning your long-term
00:15:34
investing plan that's the difference
00:15:36
between an emotional investor who reacts
00:15:38
their gut and a rational investor who
00:15:40
follows logical rules your gut wants to
00:15:43
end the pain to do something it's
00:15:45
totally understandable but logic
00:15:49
intelligence that suggests that you do
00:15:51
something otherwise so will you succumb
00:15:54
to your gut or will you listen to the
00:15:56
combined logic of many investors far
00:15:59
wiser than me or you personally I'm
00:16:01
listening to those Wise Guys so 22 it
00:16:04
was a uniquely bad year it's
00:16:07
understandable to feel glum about it but
00:16:09
you don't need a uniquely special
00:16:11
reaction stay the course just keep
00:16:13
buying let the markets in your portfolio
00:16:15
recover in the long
00:16:17
[Music]
00:16:24
run okay let's make 2022 feel a little
00:16:28
bit better but first in order to get
00:16:31
there we do have to start with some some
00:16:33
more unfortunate news if you started
00:16:35
investing in the S&P 500 five years ago
00:16:39
so that would be what at the beginning
00:16:42
of
00:16:43
2018 2018 2019 2020 21 and 22 if you had
00:16:47
started investing in the S&P 500 at the
00:16:50
beginning of
00:16:51
2018 this year 2022 has erased all of
00:16:56
the gains you've ever earned okay
00:16:58
there's an article Link in the show
00:17:00
notes you know the deal there's a chart
00:17:02
in the article that shows a portfolio
00:17:04
that's been dollar cost averaging into
00:17:06
the S&P 500 since the beginning of
00:17:09
2018 covid caused a small speed bump in
00:17:12
this portfolio's performance but the
00:17:14
market quickly Shrugged Co off by late
00:17:17
2021 after four years of investing this
00:17:20
particular investor would have been up
00:17:22
80% over four years or about a
00:17:25
16% compound average growth rate
00:17:28
internal rate of return however you want
00:17:30
to think about it 16% per year over four
00:17:32
years that's awesome but one year later
00:17:35
today they've lost all their returns
00:17:38
right maybe the money they've invested
00:17:40
in 2018 was still up the money from 2019
00:17:43
was still probably up but a lot of the
00:17:45
money they invested in 2020 or 2021 and
00:17:48
all the money they invested in 2022 is
00:17:50
now negative on total so their portfolio
00:17:52
has returned essentially 0% for five
00:17:55
straight years stocks 0% % five straight
00:17:59
years ouch and yes zero return is a lame
00:18:03
result and it's especially painful after
00:18:06
tasting that sweet sweet nectar of 80%
00:18:09
returns just one year ago everything is
00:18:12
relative especially in our minds and
00:18:15
humans innately compare current
00:18:17
conditions against the past that's just
00:18:19
how we roll but now it's time to learn
00:18:21
an important lesson you know one of the
00:18:23
maxims here on the best interest is when
00:18:26
in doubt zoom out hard as zooming out
00:18:29
might be and the lesson here is that
00:18:31
stocks are not a five-year
00:18:35
investment okay stocks are not a
00:18:38
fiveyear investment preferably stocks
00:18:41
are a
00:18:42
multi-decade investment we need to zoom
00:18:45
out to that time scale and sure
00:18:48
sometimes even multiple decades fall
00:18:50
short of expectations you know we've
00:18:51
seen multiple 20year periods in stock
00:18:54
market history so this is going back to
00:18:56
1871 now in the S&P 500 we've seen
00:18:59
multiple 20-year periods of zero return
00:19:03
they're not common but they happen Okay
00:19:06
when we go out to 30 and 40-year periods
00:19:09
that's where we start to see a more
00:19:11
steady far from guaranteed nothing's
00:19:14
ever guaranteed in the stock market but
00:19:16
a more steady reliable rate of return
00:19:18
that might be 5% 6% seven or even 8% per
00:19:22
year 10 years 5 years is not a long
00:19:26
enough period to see those returns on a
00:19:28
regular basis so personally I'm still
00:19:31
buying stocks as part of my retirement
00:19:34
portfolio because I have more than 23
00:19:37
years to age 55 before I can possibly
00:19:40
sell a single stock from one of my
00:19:42
retirement portfolios over that period
00:19:45
of 23 years the historical odds are
00:19:48
definitely in my favor and when I turn
00:19:50
55 or more likely 59 a half I'll only
00:19:54
sell a portion of the stocks in my
00:19:56
portfolio right most of the stocks I'll
00:19:59
continue to own I'll only sell the
00:20:01
stocks that I need to fund that year of
00:20:04
retirement so really I'm sitting here at
00:20:07
age 32 today most of the stocks I own
00:20:10
I'll be selling after age 62 some of
00:20:13
them even after age 72 and for that
00:20:16
reason the stocks I own today will be
00:20:18
held for 30 40 50 years that's the
00:20:20
period that I'm thinking about and the
00:20:23
historical data over that period looks
00:20:25
phenomenal and again there are a series
00:20:28
of charts in this article showing the
00:20:31
S&P 500 rolling 20year returns 30 40 and
00:20:35
50e returns
00:20:37
annualized and yeah you see on some
00:20:39
20-year periods you see some near zero
00:20:42
returns but once you go out to 40 30 50
00:20:46
year periods you see no such thing as a
00:20:49
negative return so here you might be
00:20:53
listening to this podcast sitting in
00:20:55
2022 you're a younger investor or maybe
00:20:57
a newer investor or maybe you are an
00:21:00
experienced investor but your investment
00:21:02
gains have been crushed by 2022 if
00:21:05
you're a younger investor I mean there's
00:21:07
a very good chance that your Investment
00:21:08
Portfolio is now underwater you might
00:21:11
have less money in your portfolio than
00:21:14
if you had just put your money in a bank
00:21:15
account for the last three or four years
00:21:17
I see you I hear you I know that it
00:21:20
stinks it it really does stink that said
00:21:23
I'm zooming out and I'm actually feeling
00:21:25
good about zooming out because I know
00:21:28
when I zoom out to that multi- deade
00:21:30
timeline that the data that history is
00:21:33
on my side so I'm feeling pretty good
00:21:35
about
00:21:36
[Music]
00:21:43
it okay guys next idea this is a cold
00:21:46
lesson coming in from the Buffalo
00:21:48
blizzard I I'd love to know if you find
00:21:50
this interesting because part of this is
00:21:52
a little scientific and nerdy and
00:21:53
doesn't quite have to do with Finance
00:21:55
but there's definitely an interesting
00:21:57
investment idea in here my wife's family
00:22:00
they live in Clarence New York which is
00:22:02
about 10 miles east of downtown Buffalo
00:22:04
I mean it is Suburban Buffalo we sat in
00:22:07
their house over Christmas weekend as
00:22:09
four feet of snow and consistent 50 to
00:22:12
70 m per hour winds turned the world
00:22:14
around us into a snow globe I mean
00:22:16
literally Buffalo got crushed by the
00:22:18
storm but maybe not in the way that you
00:22:21
guys are thinking because many of you
00:22:23
are probably thinking well it's the snow
00:22:25
right the snow is the problem for fet of
00:22:28
snow sounds unimaginable how can Society
00:22:31
function under 4T of snow it's a totally
00:22:34
fair question but we're used to deep
00:22:36
snow in Upstate New York we've always
00:22:38
had these Lake Effect snowstorms it's a
00:22:41
pretty unique weather phenomenon
00:22:42
actually but long story short these
00:22:44
snowstorms blow in from Lake Erie and
00:22:46
Lake Ontario they tend to be very
00:22:48
isolated narrow bands of weather but
00:22:51
we're used to these Lake Effect
00:22:52
snowstorms that can dump multiple feet
00:22:54
of snow overnight and we've built
00:22:57
infrastructure to de deal with it we
00:22:58
have plows to clean the roads salt to
00:23:00
melt the ice snowblowers snow shovels
00:23:03
commercial snow clearing businesses to
00:23:06
keep our homes sidewalks driveways clear
00:23:09
so don't get me wrong fouret of snow is
00:23:11
still a ton but give us a day to clean
00:23:13
up and we'll be back to business as
00:23:15
usual that's just living in Upstate New
00:23:17
York but the substantial difference in
00:23:20
this Christmas blizzard of 2022 was the
00:23:23
wind weather stations All Over Buffalo
00:23:26
recorded hurricane force winds during
00:23:28
this storm and that wind changed
00:23:30
everything I've got a video I'll link to
00:23:32
this article in the show notes and you
00:23:34
can see a video maybe I'll just link the
00:23:36
video too because it's on YouTube I took
00:23:38
a video from my in-law's front yard just
00:23:40
a 30- second video on December 23rd so
00:23:42
you can see what the snow was like
00:23:45
because wind blown snow especially at
00:23:48
high wind speeds it turns visibility to
00:23:51
near zero so for hours we sat in my
00:23:54
in-law's living room we couldn't see the
00:23:56
house across the street from us it's
00:23:58
only 200t away we couldn't see the house
00:24:01
and maybe you're asking well what's the
00:24:03
problem with not seeing your neighbor's
00:24:04
house fair question the problem is roads
00:24:07
zero visibility cripples roads and in
00:24:10
turn cripples the community imagine
00:24:13
driving with this white frigid blanket
00:24:16
blindfold over your windshield and what
00:24:19
if that blindfold keeps up for hours or
00:24:21
days you can't keep driving in that
00:24:23
right it is so dangerous but you can't
00:24:26
stop driving either if you stop you'll
00:24:29
block the road for other drivers
00:24:31
assuming they even see your car in the
00:24:33
white out and it really is a white out
00:24:36
we couldn't see our neighbor's house 200
00:24:38
feet away from us sometimes visibility
00:24:40
got down to less than 10t it seemed and
00:24:44
when you're driving and your car has
00:24:46
speed as you're going into that white
00:24:48
out it is such a scary feeling so you're
00:24:50
crawling down the road you're barely
00:24:52
seeing anything as a snow depth grows
00:24:54
around you and unless you have a
00:24:56
powerful car or truck with snow tires
00:24:59
yes if you're not aware snow tires are a
00:25:01
thing you'll eventually lose traction
00:25:03
and then your car will get stuck your
00:25:05
choices then are to stay inside your car
00:25:09
which is a very scary proposition in
00:25:11
near zero temperatures or to abandon the
00:25:13
car and venture out into the blizzard on
00:25:16
foot either way your life is now in
00:25:19
danger snowplows they can't see either
00:25:22
they stay home until the weather clears
00:25:24
and so the road conditions stay bad and
00:25:27
grow worse right plows are your
00:25:29
lifeblood during a snowstorm they keep
00:25:31
the roads clear well In This Storm the
00:25:34
plows weren't out for 36 plus hours
00:25:37
after the snow started because the plows
00:25:39
couldn't see if you can't see you can't
00:25:41
drive 99% of Buffalo's problems were
00:25:44
directly tied to those Road issues even
00:25:46
the most important Vehicles ambulances
00:25:48
fire trucks utility trucks they couldn't
00:25:51
drive for the same reasons talked about
00:25:52
before too snowy zero visibility many
00:25:56
buffalonians including me to some extent
00:25:58
learned this face punching reminder of
00:26:01
the importance of functioning roads the
00:26:03
Romans it turns out we're on to
00:26:05
something I take roads for granted you
00:26:07
might take roads for granted too so I
00:26:09
implore you to learn this quick lesson
00:26:11
don't take roads for granted give them
00:26:13
the respect they deserve they're really
00:26:15
important for our society for our
00:26:17
communities but let's say you weren't on
00:26:19
the roads in Buffalo let's say you were
00:26:20
just snowed in at home you don't really
00:26:23
care about the roads you're warm wellfed
00:26:25
you got a 24 pack of Buffalo's favorite
00:26:27
La Bat Blue sitting in the garage well
00:26:30
despite your relative luxury you still
00:26:33
have major concerns what if the power
00:26:35
goes out it was really windy remember
00:26:38
utility trucks they can't reach your
00:26:39
house until the roads are clear my
00:26:41
in-laws their street wasn't plowed until
00:26:43
Sunday at 700 p.m. the storm started
00:26:46
Friday morning that's 60 hours are you
00:26:49
prepared for days of no electricity and
00:26:51
what if your home heat is all electric
00:26:54
what are you going to do when the when
00:26:55
the house temperature drops will you be
00:26:57
safe in that cold what about the pipes
00:27:00
in your house they'll freeze if you're
00:27:01
not careful it got down into the single
00:27:04
digits Fahrenheit on Friday and Saturday
00:27:06
that's really cold well what if your
00:27:08
medical needs require electricity right
00:27:11
what if you have a dialysis machine or
00:27:12
something to help you breathe and it
00:27:14
can't work because you don't have any
00:27:15
electricity what if you run out of food
00:27:18
all the stores are closed right Walmart
00:27:20
Wegman's are grocery store all the
00:27:22
stores are closed and even if they were
00:27:24
open how are you going to get there what
00:27:26
if you have a medical emercy
00:27:28
right some of the deaths as sad as they
00:27:30
are some of the deaths involved people
00:27:32
having medical emergencies a stroke a
00:27:34
heart attack and then the ambulances
00:27:36
simply could not reach them they
00:27:37
couldn't drive down the roads Erie
00:27:39
County which is where Buffalo sits they
00:27:41
announced during the worst of the storm
00:27:43
that emergency services were inoperable
00:27:46
you call 911 they say we're really sorry
00:27:49
we can't help no police no fire no
00:27:52
ambulance it was too unsafe for them to
00:27:54
drive I mean have you ever experienced
00:27:56
that kind of situation ation I
00:27:58
personally have not maybe I'm just lucky
00:28:00
but it's kind of scary so this blizzard
00:28:03
reminded all of Western New York how our
00:28:05
societal infrastructure is delicately
00:28:07
interlined we saw to borrow an investing
00:28:10
phrase the correlation of outcomes going
00:28:13
to one correlation what does that mean
00:28:16
well it's easiest to explain this idea
00:28:17
through examples so under normal
00:28:19
conditions the following ideas would
00:28:21
have nothing in common right they would
00:28:23
be completely unrelated ideas number one
00:28:26
the efficiency of a Wegman Supermarket
00:28:29
number two your great uncle's heart
00:28:31
condition number three the worn tires on
00:28:33
your Toyota number four the near empty
00:28:36
gas canister in your garage and number
00:28:38
five the old maple tree on the side of
00:28:40
the house what do those ideas have
00:28:42
anything to do with one another but when
00:28:44
a blizzard chokes out society's
00:28:45
infrastructure for 3 Days formerly
00:28:48
uncorrelated ideas can suddenly share a
00:28:51
remarkably similar and bad outcome a
00:28:54
tree branch falls in the wind knocks out
00:28:56
your power without power your fridge
00:28:58
dies and the food spoils just when you
00:29:01
need food most the local grocery store
00:29:03
shuts down you need to go find food so
00:29:05
you start to clear out your driveway of
00:29:07
all the snow well you run out of gas for
00:29:09
the snowblower you start shoveling then
00:29:11
your great uncle comes over to help he
00:29:13
has a heart attack while helping you
00:29:14
it's all too common 911 isn't even
00:29:17
responding so you drive your uncle great
00:29:19
uncle to the hospital but your car
00:29:22
doesn't come close to gripping the roads
00:29:24
things only get worse from there
00:29:26
everything go bad all at once and it's
00:29:29
all tied back or correlated to the same
00:29:31
blizzardy root cause financial markets
00:29:34
have a similar idea it's long been said
00:29:36
during times of Crisis correlations go
00:29:38
to one we saw it for example in March
00:29:40
2020 Co created an uncertain future and
00:29:43
investors everywhere ran for the exits
00:29:45
sell sell sell stocks bonds Commodities
00:29:48
everything fell in price all at once
00:29:51
driven lower by panicky selling pressure
00:29:54
why would weak Futures ever behave in
00:29:56
lockstep with Nvidia stock I mean
00:29:58
there's no causal relationship between
00:30:01
the two except for the cases where
00:30:03
there's a global crisis that Global
00:30:06
crisis by definition right it's Global
00:30:09
it ties everything together now some of
00:30:12
you might be thinking but Jesse this
00:30:14
Buffalo Blizzard or covid or any other
00:30:16
example you want to use these are Black
00:30:17
Swan events right nobody could have seen
00:30:20
them coming well I disagree you know
00:30:23
guys you can't plan for an alien
00:30:25
invasion that in my opinion is a true W
00:30:28
but a blizzard in Buffalo New York you
00:30:30
can plan and prepare for it now your
00:30:33
preparations might fall short right at a
00:30:35
certain storm intensity there's only so
00:30:37
much puny humans can do you can't keep
00:30:40
your street clear personally you can't
00:30:42
prevent a tree from falling on the power
00:30:44
lines down the street from you there's
00:30:46
only so much you can do to prepare but
00:30:48
you can do things like stockpile a
00:30:50
little extra gas for your snow plower
00:30:52
own a generator for emergency
00:30:54
electricity own a wood stove for
00:30:55
emergency warmth you can fill the pantry
00:30:58
with enough non- perishable Goods to
00:30:59
survive for a few days you can keep your
00:31:01
body reasonably fit just in case you
00:31:04
have to shovel snow for an afternoon
00:31:06
none of these things are easy some of
00:31:08
them are expensive but they are possible
00:31:10
to do you can plan a little more margin
00:31:13
than you typically need just in case
00:31:16
your storms are a little worse than
00:31:17
you're typically used to correlations
00:31:20
don't go to One Forever the snow and
00:31:23
wind will stop the roads will clear and
00:31:26
normal un correlated life will resume
00:31:29
but only if you survive to see it okay
00:31:32
margin helps you survive similarly you
00:31:35
can plan for Market crashes or even for
00:31:38
natural disasters that rattle entire
00:31:41
economies a constant theme over my past
00:31:43
four years on the best interests is that
00:31:46
diversification is the simplest and most
00:31:48
effective measure for preparing and
00:31:50
planning arket downturns yes there have
00:31:53
been periods in Market history where
00:31:54
correlations went to one and all Assets
00:31:57
in a diverse portfolio decreased at the
00:31:59
same time but much like a blizzard those
00:32:02
correlations eventually break now if you
00:32:05
have a concentrated portfolio or a
00:32:07
levered portfolio those portfolios die
00:32:11
in those kind of drastic scary scenarios
00:32:14
they don't live to see the other side
00:32:16
there's no recovery there's no thaw the
00:32:18
fact that the correlation eventually
00:32:20
breaks doesn't matter to them because
00:32:22
their portfolio is dead diverse
00:32:24
portfolios however bounce back even if
00:32:27
the diversification briefly breaks
00:32:29
during the worst of the disaster now
00:32:32
practically speaking the Buffalo
00:32:33
blizzard reminded me to beef up my
00:32:35
emergency prep at home to respect our
00:32:38
roads and to remember that mother nature
00:32:40
still calls the shots but for my
00:32:42
investing brain the blizzard was another
00:32:44
reminder about the power of
00:32:46
diversification preparing for bad times
00:32:48
before they inevitably occur that next
00:32:51
storm is always
00:32:56
coming
00:32:58
[Music]
00:33:01
all right last little stanza here guys
00:33:03
let's talk about 2023 let's look ahead
00:33:06
and specifically if you have a personal
00:33:08
finance related resolution i' I'd love
00:33:10
to hear about it actually feel free to
00:33:11
write in and share with me what your
00:33:13
resolution is let me know if there's
00:33:15
something I can do to help but in the
00:33:16
meantime here are nine I think
00:33:18
interesting cool scientific facts
00:33:20
scientific truths about the way our
00:33:22
brains work to help you improve your
00:33:24
finances and reach that personal finance
00:33:27
resolution I was listening to a recent
00:33:29
episode of Freakonomics where author
00:33:31
youv all knowah Harari said I he was
00:33:34
talking about other stuff but he said
00:33:35
quote viruses exist whether we believe
00:33:38
in them or not even if you don't accept
00:33:40
the stories about viruses they can still
00:33:43
kill you now okay guys this is not a
00:33:45
podcast about viruses but it is about
00:33:47
science or at least this section is
00:33:49
about science and namely I want to
00:33:50
describe these nine scientific facts
00:33:52
that can help you achieve your personal
00:33:54
finance goals whether in 2023 or or
00:33:57
Beyond so I hope you employ these ideas
00:33:59
because the science is true whether you
00:34:01
believe in it or not but the sooner you
00:34:03
believe in it the sooner you internalize
00:34:05
it the better off your personal finance
00:34:08
outcomes will be so the first one the
00:34:10
science says that stress is a killer and
00:34:13
finances are one of if not the greatest
00:34:16
causes of stress in our lives so the tip
00:34:18
here is simple do what you can to reduce
00:34:21
your financial stress and the remainder
00:34:23
of this list will help you do that
00:34:26
number two
00:34:27
invest in knowledge right the science
00:34:29
says that ongoing education is a gold
00:34:31
mine not only does new knowledge help
00:34:33
you make smarter decisions but education
00:34:36
provides the confidence you need to take
00:34:38
action so how do you educate yourself on
00:34:41
personal finance and investing well
00:34:43
here's my method every week I read
00:34:44
dozens of financial articles I listen to
00:34:46
10 plus Financial podcasts granted I'm a
00:34:49
nerd for this stuff I do it
00:34:51
professionally right I write about it I
00:34:53
podcast about it I work in wealth
00:34:55
management 40 hours a week I read books
00:34:58
I've written a book you don't have to be
00:35:00
as nerdy as me though guys okay and
00:35:02
again one quick example no pressure I
00:35:04
mean I share the best content I find
00:35:07
every week in my quick weekly email one
00:35:09
email about 6,000 people read it every
00:35:12
week I've got six seven links per email
00:35:15
of good information that I've learned
00:35:17
it's not a bad way I mean I think my
00:35:19
readers appreciate learning that way
00:35:21
there are other lists that do similar
00:35:23
things or other ways that people take a
00:35:25
bunch of info for around the internet
00:35:27
and still it down into quick little
00:35:29
emails I think that's a great way to
00:35:31
learn and i' I'd recommend you start if
00:35:32
you haven't started yet number three
00:35:35
measure first so the science says that
00:35:38
data-backed and datadriven decisions
00:35:41
lead to better outcomes than simple gut
00:35:43
feel so I don't write or talk about
00:35:46
budgeting that much anymore I spend most
00:35:48
of my time talking about investing but I
00:35:49
still maintain my budget on a weekly
00:35:51
basis measuring my spending measuring my
00:35:54
earning measuring how my accounts are
00:35:56
changing over time why well because you
00:35:59
can't manage what you don't measure the
00:36:02
best way to measure your personal
00:36:03
finances is with a budget personally I
00:36:06
use wab for my budgeting and if you go
00:36:08
to this article there's a link to wab
00:36:11
that you're more than welcome to use and
00:36:13
it helps you get two free months of the
00:36:16
app if you want to give it a shot but
00:36:18
there's also some counter science here
00:36:20
because whatever budgeting method you
00:36:22
use make sure it's simple enough that
00:36:24
you can maintain the habit of budgeting
00:36:27
it's better to be dedicated to a 90%
00:36:30
solution than it is to burn out on a
00:36:32
100% solution why AB is admittedly more
00:36:36
detailed than Some people prefer so
00:36:39
other ideas include mint.com using a
00:36:41
simple spreadsheet using a spreadsheet
00:36:43
that maybe someone else created there
00:36:45
are lots of budgeting spreadsheets
00:36:46
online some free some paid you could
00:36:49
probably use your Banks budgeting
00:36:51
solution a lot of banks have one or you
00:36:53
might just record stuff with pen and
00:36:54
paper tip number four is be smart SM SM
00:36:59
a t because the science says that if you
00:37:02
choose to set goals you're more likely
00:37:04
to reach them when you make them smart
00:37:07
goals and then if you don't set goals
00:37:09
instead you should focus on habits and
00:37:11
we'll get to that next but first let's
00:37:12
talk about smart goals the smart acronym
00:37:15
stands for specific measurable
00:37:18
attainable relevant and time based your
00:37:22
goals should tick each of those five
00:37:24
ideas so if your resolution is I want to
00:37:28
be better with my money well that's not
00:37:30
a smart goal it's not specific it's not
00:37:33
measurable and it's not time based same
00:37:37
goes to resolutions like I want to save
00:37:39
more or I want a budget those aren't
00:37:42
smart goals but if instead you said I
00:37:45
want to save $6,000 in my IRA in
00:37:48
2023 that is a smart goal or maybe your
00:37:52
goal could be I want to update my budget
00:37:54
on the second and fourth Sunday every
00:37:56
month in 2023 that's a smart goal next
00:38:01
number five has to do with habit
00:38:02
formation this one isn't super specific
00:38:05
but I do have some links to some
00:38:07
fantastic content if you want to learn
00:38:09
more right habits make or break us it is
00:38:12
almost scary the more you learn about it
00:38:15
how much we are lifted by our good
00:38:17
habits and how much we are dragged down
00:38:20
by our bad habits so I linked to a quick
00:38:23
article from farum street that covers
00:38:26
the Bas basics of habit formation really
00:38:28
really well now personal finance like
00:38:31
many New Year's resolution behaviors
00:38:33
they're largely a function of stopping
00:38:35
bad habits and forming good habits I
00:38:37
mean just think about health related
00:38:39
resolutions I want to stop eating like
00:38:41
crap and I want to start going to the
00:38:43
gym stop the bad habit begin a good one
00:38:46
now perhaps the most hyped book of 2021
00:38:50
was James clear's Atomic habits and it
00:38:53
was so hyped in fact that it turned me
00:38:55
off honestly I avoided the book I very
00:38:58
intentionally did not buy the book I
00:39:00
didn't read reviews about it only
00:39:02
because it was so over marketed in my
00:39:05
opinion that I just I just knew the book
00:39:07
would let me down but then a a good
00:39:10
friend a friend of the blog Craig gave
00:39:12
me the book I think it was for my
00:39:14
birthday and so now I have a copy and
00:39:16
I'm not going to not read it so of
00:39:17
course I read it and it was really good
00:39:20
it lived up to the hype so I think
00:39:22
Atomic habits is a great resource to
00:39:25
help you improve your habits
00:39:26
and then there's a good video podcast
00:39:28
from hubman Lab that again he's a a
00:39:31
neuroscientist and an opthalmologist and
00:39:34
he talks about the the science the the
00:39:36
biophysiology or whatever the term is of
00:39:39
habit formation so that's a good one
00:39:41
okay number six the next tip is to
00:39:43
understand the Fulfillment curve because
00:39:45
the science the psychological science
00:39:47
says that our happiness per dollar if
00:39:50
you want to think of that as a metric
00:39:52
our happiness per dollar eventually
00:39:54
plateaus more money doesn't doesn't make
00:39:56
us any happier and our happiness per
00:39:59
stuff eventually decreases meaning that
00:40:03
filling our lives with more and more
00:40:04
material Goods eventually makes us
00:40:07
actively unhappy this idea is called the
00:40:10
Fulfillment curve once I internalized
00:40:13
this idea I began viewing Personal
00:40:16
Finance in a completely different light
00:40:17
my goals are not make the most money nor
00:40:20
buy the most stuff I mean heck those
00:40:22
aren't smart goals anyway but instead my
00:40:25
goals are main maintain a lifestyle at x
00:40:28
per year because I believe that's where
00:40:30
my happiness plateaus I don't need any
00:40:32
more money to make me more happy and my
00:40:34
other goal is to actively avoid buying
00:40:37
too much stuff because I know that more
00:40:40
stuff leads to more stress so I try as
00:40:43
hard as I can to just avoid unnecessary
00:40:45
purchases and to regularly think about
00:40:47
what I'm surrounding myself with in my
00:40:49
house and if I need all that stuff so
00:40:52
the stress of buying too much stuff
00:40:54
where it's worth it usually presents
00:40:55
itself as thoughts like wow my house is
00:40:58
so messy or I've spent my hard-earned
00:41:01
money on this crap and I never even use
00:41:03
it what a waste those are stressful
00:41:05
thoughts so my recommendation to you
00:41:07
listening understand how the Fulfillment
00:41:10
curve fits into your
00:41:12
life number seven be automatic the
00:41:15
science says that the more decisions we
00:41:17
make the worst we are at decision making
00:41:20
our brains can only have so much
00:41:22
decision-making bandwidth this is called
00:41:24
decision fatigue so what do you do about
00:41:27
it you automate your financial decisions
00:41:29
set up automatic contributions to your
00:41:31
401k Ira brokerage account or any other
00:41:34
investing accounts set up automatic bill
00:41:36
pay although there is an exception in my
00:41:39
opinion you don't want to automate bills
00:41:41
where you might want or need to
00:41:42
negotiate or argue a Bill's amount in
00:41:45
the future because you don't want to end
00:41:47
up in a situation where you paid the
00:41:48
bill automatically and then you have to
00:41:50
turn around after the fact and say hey
00:41:53
wait a minute I actually paid you too
00:41:54
much okay so that's the exception but as
00:41:57
much as you can automate your finances
00:42:00
not only will you become a better saver
00:42:03
but automation helps prevent costly
00:42:05
mistakes like forgetting to pay your
00:42:07
power
00:42:08
bill number eight social media is
00:42:12
probably hurting you the science says
00:42:15
well the social media intentionally
00:42:17
plays with your emotions with the end
00:42:18
goal of serving you advertisements for
00:42:21
products it suspects you're interested
00:42:23
in some of you were probably saying
00:42:25
Jesse this is this advice is clearly
00:42:28
confirmation bias because you recently
00:42:30
quit social media maybe but I don't
00:42:33
think that necessarily means I'm wrong
00:42:35
right because question how does social
00:42:37
media companies make money answer
00:42:40
advertisers pay them okay well question
00:42:42
why do advertisers pay them answer
00:42:45
because they're serving ads to social
00:42:47
media
00:42:48
users okay next question how do the
00:42:51
advertisers make their money then answer
00:42:54
social media users that's people like me
00:42:56
and you buy those products and services
00:42:59
that they're selling ads for the whole
00:43:01
point of social media in other words is
00:43:04
to get people like you and me to spend
00:43:06
our money by showing us ads for things
00:43:09
that they suspect we want now I enjoy
00:43:13
spending my money right that's part of
00:43:15
the reason why I choose to earn money
00:43:16
and why I want to work hard but I don't
00:43:18
want my spending manipulated by social
00:43:21
media algorithms my brain isn't strong
00:43:23
enough to fight the alos no defense your
00:43:26
brain isn't strong enough either now I'm
00:43:29
not even touching the whole mental
00:43:30
health repercussion from social media
00:43:32
content like comparing your everyday
00:43:34
self to an influencer's doled up self
00:43:37
and the subsequent spending decisions we
00:43:39
make from that I mean social media is a
00:43:41
Cess
00:43:42
pool okay last one number nine know
00:43:45
yourself know your brain the science
00:43:47
says that your brain is different than
00:43:49
mine yes that's pretty simple one that's
00:43:52
duh I don't know if the science actually
00:43:54
says that but let's be honest the
00:43:56
science says that so my favorite example
00:43:58
of this though involves a friend of the
00:44:00
blog who I'm going to leave Anonymous
00:44:01
he's a good friend and our brains work
00:44:04
in polar opposite ways when it comes to
00:44:06
finance and diet which coincidentally is
00:44:08
the other most common New Year's
00:44:10
resolution so I'm this financial nerd
00:44:13
I've got strong financial habits but
00:44:15
I've never maintained a long-term
00:44:17
healthy diet in my life I've probably
00:44:19
gone through 20 iterations of different
00:44:22
two-e diets and I've always struggled to
00:44:25
cross that next herd of making it a
00:44:27
permanent part of my life but my friend
00:44:29
is the exact opposite he's been
00:44:31
dedicated to an incredible diet and
00:44:33
workout regimen for close to a decade
00:44:36
he's one of the most healthy fit people
00:44:37
I know right but he's always struggled
00:44:40
with overspending under saving bad
00:44:43
investing habits for his whole adult
00:44:45
life so his strength is my weakness my
00:44:48
strength is his weakness and it's funny
00:44:50
how can two people be so similar but
00:44:52
also so different and it's because our
00:44:54
brains are fickle funny your brain is
00:44:56
different than mine my brain is
00:44:58
different than his so my only
00:45:00
recommendation here is that you work
00:45:01
hard and trust me because it's hard work
00:45:05
you work hard to understand your brain's
00:45:07
strengths and weaknesses if it helps ask
00:45:10
some trusted friends or family for
00:45:12
feedback on how you operate knowing
00:45:14
yourself is a key factor in
00:45:16
self-improvement you know Socrates wise
00:45:19
guy said to know thyself is the
00:45:21
beginning of wisdom so if you have
00:45:22
financial goals for 2023 and Beyond I
00:45:25
hope he's nine IDE is help you achieve
00:45:26
everything you want and more happy New
00:45:29
Year guys thanks for listening to the
00:45:31
best interest
00:45:34
podcast thanks for tuning in to this
00:45:36
episode of the best interest podcast if
00:45:38
you have a question for Jesse to answer
00:45:40
on a future episode send him an email at
00:45:42
Jessie bestter interest. blog again
00:45:46
that's Jesse bestter interest. blog did
00:45:49
you enjoy the show subscribe rate and
00:45:51
review the podcast wherever you listen
00:45:54
this helps others find the show and
00:45:56
invest in knowledge themselves and we
00:45:58
really appreciate it we'll catch you on
00:46:00
the next episode of the best interest
00:46:03
[Music]
00:46:05
podcast the best interest podcast is a
00:46:08
personal podcast me for education and
00:46:10
entertainment it should not be taken as
00:46:12
Financial advice and is not prescriptive
00:46:14
of your financial situation

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 60
    Best performance

Episode Highlights

  • 2022 Year in Review
    Reflecting on the unique challenges and lessons from 2022 in investing.
    “2022 was a uniquely bad year.”
    @ 16m 04s
    January 29, 2024
  • The Importance of Long-Term Investing
    Stocks are not a five-year investment; they require a multi-decade perspective.
    @ 18m 38s
    January 29, 2024
  • Buffalo Blizzard Lessons
    The 2022 Buffalo blizzard highlighted the importance of infrastructure and preparedness.
    “This blizzard reminded all of Western New York how our societal infrastructure is delicately interlined.”
    @ 28m 03s
    January 29, 2024
  • Preparing for Financial Crises
    Diversification is key to surviving market downturns, just like preparing for a blizzard.
    “The blizzard was another reminder about the power of diversification.”
    @ 32m 44s
    January 29, 2024
  • The Fulfillment Curve
    Filling our lives with more material goods eventually makes us actively unhappy.
    “This idea is called the Fulfillment curve.”
    @ 40m 07s
    January 29, 2024
  • Automate Your Finances
    Automating financial decisions can help prevent costly mistakes and improve saving habits.
    “As much as you can automate your finances.”
    @ 41m 57s
    January 29, 2024
  • Understanding Your Brain
    Recognizing your brain's strengths and weaknesses is key to self-improvement.
    “Your brain is different than mine.”
    @ 44m 56s
    January 29, 2024

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • 2022 Review16:04
  • Long-Term Perspective18:38
  • Buffalo Blizzard21:43
  • Road Infrastructure26:01
  • Emergency Preparedness26:41
  • Fulfillment Curve40:07
  • Automate Finances41:57
  • Know Yourself45:19

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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