1 in 4 Americans filled out an NCAA basketball bracket. Add in all the other sports and that’s a lot of Americans guessing on the outcome of sports they can’t control.

Picking winners is hard!

An informed approach improves your odds.

Good luck and good strategy are not the same thing.

The thrill of participating in a playoff bracket or pool.

You get a fresh start in a playoff bracket each year. Unfortunately, bad decisions this year can stick with you for several years when investing.

While there are certainly similarities between March Madness or other brackets and investing. It’s crucial to understand the key differences.

The Pain of Discipline is less than the Pain of Regret!

Article referenced: “Hoop Dreaming Is Fun in March. Investing Realities Apply across a Lifetime.” By David Booth Chairman and Founder of Dimensional.

#MoneyNotMath #Money #5StoneFinancialGroup #Retirement #RetirementPlanning #Investing #strategy #discipline

Disclaimer, this content is not legal, tax, or investment advice. You should always consult a qualified professional regarding your personal situation.

When Headlines Worry You, Bank on Investment Principles. Money Not Math 139

While every investor’s plan is a bit different, ignoring headlines and focusing on the following investment principles may help you avoid making shortsighted missteps that could cost you.

1)     Uncertainty is unavoidable.

2)     Market Timing is Futile.

3)     “Diversification is your buddy.” – Nobel laureate Merton Miller “When the unexpected happens, many investors feel like they should be doing something with their portfolios. Often, headlines and pundits stoke these sentiments with predictions of more doom and gloom. For the long-term investor, however, planning for what can happen is far more powerful than trying to predict what will happen.” – Article referenced: When Headlines Worry You, Bank on Investment Principles by Dimensional.

4)     Build your War Chest.

Disclaimer, this content is not legal, tax, or investment advice. You should always consult a qualified professional regarding your personal situation.

#MoneyNotMath #5StoneFinancialGroup #Money #Retirement #RetirementPlanning #Investment #uncertainty #Market #MarketTiming #Diversification #Warchest

What does it feel like to make over 9% annualized return on your money? Money Not Math 138

If you had a $300,000 on 3/1/18, here’s what that looked like next 5 years:

3/1/18: $300,000

3/1/19: $317,265 (Annualized S&P 500 Return with Dividends Reinvested= 5.755%)

3/1/20: $305,923 (-3.575%)

3/1/21: $458,951 (50.022%)

3/1/22: $522,364 (13.817%)

3/1/23: $472,119 (-9.619%)

Here’s what that felt like:

3/1/19 😄 “I made over $17k”

3/1/20 😢 “I lost over $11k and COVID is happening 😨”

3/1/21 🥳 “I made over $153k!!!”

3/1/22 😄 “I made over $63k!”

3/1/23 🤬 “I lost over $50k!!”

This was *roughly* a 9% annualized return including dividends re-invested over a 5-year period with a total return of about $172k… but the path to get there is clearly inconsistent… AND THAT’S OKAY.

The point? Rather than try to force returns by trying to time the market or letting short-term events affect your long-term investment strategy. Allocate your money so that you can afford to stomach the volatility (build a Warchest) … Don’t risk the money that you need in the short-term, stick to your long-term plan, don’t let the short-term volatility drive your emotions, and give it time.

Here’s a link to a 5-year chart of the S&P 500 for reference: https://www.google.com/finance/quote/.INX:INDEXSP?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3lvqckqX-AhVajIkEHTzTCGkQ3ecFegQIKxAg&window=5Y

#MoneyNotMath #money #retirement #RetirementPlanning #5StoneFinancialGroup #Emotions #Returns #Investing #Warchest

Disclaimer, this content is not legal, tax, or investment advice. You should always consult a qualified professional regarding your personal situation. These numbers are rounded and based on a hypothetical situation using data from https://dqydj.com/sp-500-return-calculator/ they DO NOT reflect an investor’s actual experience or predict future investor results.

How Are Our Funds Affected by the Banking Crisis? Money Not Math 137

Should we let short-term events affect our long-term strategies?

Is your portfolio diversified enough to weather the storms ahead?

Perspective is key when making any and all planning decisions.

#MoneyNotMath #Retirement #RetirementPlanning #5StoneFinancialGroup #BankingCrisis #Strategy #portfolio #diversified #perspective

Morningstar article referenced: https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1144598/how-are-my-funds-affected-by-the-banking-crisis?utm_source=eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_morningdigest&utm_content=43347

Disclaimer, this content is not legal, tax, or investment advice. You should always consult a qualified professional regarding your personal situation.

Want more success investing? Quit trying to make sense of investing.

Intuition usually fails us when it comes to investing. So

The arguments against Intuition

1)     Emotion clouds logic and is expensive.

2)     We seek reassurance or confirmation bias from

3)     We fail to consider what the market has already priced

4)     We fool ourselves without knowing it.

Article referenced: https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1142320/want-to-invest-successfully-quit-trying-to-make-sense-of-it?utm_source=eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_morningdigest&utm_content=42938

Disclaimer, this content is not legal, tax, or investment advice. You should always consult a qualified professional regarding your personal situation.

#MoneyNotMath #Money #5StoneFinancialGroup #Retirement

It’s BETTER to PLAN Than Predict! Money Not Math 135

Are you #planning for what you want to happen while #preparing for what can happen?

“Don’t focus on #predicting what will happen, plan for what can happen,” Co-CEO and CIO of Dimensional, Gerard O’Reilly said.

Do you have an appropriate balance of #stocks or #equities, #bonds, and other #/investments for your situation and goals?

Are you staying #disciplined and #focused on your long term #goals so short-term events don’t throw you off track?

Over-reacting to short term events could be the single worst thing you do to negatively impact your ability to reach your long term goals.

Did you know that simply missing the 25 best single days in the market from 1990-2021 would have decreased your annualized compound return by over 5% according to Dimensional?1 That’s LESS THAN 1 day a year!

No one knows that the markets will do in the future except the markets themselves. Anyone who says otherwise is either trying to sell you something or is full of …

#MoneyNotMath #Money #5StoneFinancialGroup #Retirement #RetirementPlanning #EmptyNesters

Disclaimer, this content is not legal, tax, or investment advice. You should always consult a qualified professional regarding your personal situation.

1 Assuming you were invested 100% into the S&P 500. Indices are not available for direct investment. Their performance does not reflect the expenses associated with the management of an actual portfolio. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. In US dollars. For illustrative purposes. The missed best day(s) examples assume that the hypothetical portfolio fully divested its holdings at the end of the day before the missed best day(s), held cash for the missed best day(s), and reinvested the entire portfolio in the S&P 500 at the end of the missed best day(s). Annualized returns for the missed best day(s) were calculated by substituting actual returns for the missed best day(s) with zero. S&P data © 2022 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global. All rights reserved. “One-Month US T- Bills” is the IA SBBI US 30 Day TBill TR USD, provided by Ibbotson Associates via Morningstar Direct. Data is calculated off rounded daily index values.

What is Your True Net Worth? Money Not Math 134

Are you #worth more than your #wealth?

What are your #goals? What are your most important #relationships? What are your #values? Have you found a way to integrate your wealth with your worth to reflect that?

Do you have a #financial #plan that helps lower your #anxiety and feel better about your #life right now so you can spend #MORE #time – and #BETTER time – with the people you care about most, and #focus on what you value?

What kind of #memories are you going to leave behind? Will you feel #comfortable or #excited with what you have #accomplished?

Article referenced: “What’s Your True Net Worth?” – by David Booth Chairman and Founder of Dimensional

#MoneyNotMath #Money #Retirement #RetirementPlanning #EmptyNesters #FinancialPlan

Disclaimer, this content is not legal, tax, or investment advice. You should always consult a qualified professional regarding your personal situation.

You are born based on your circumstances. You die based on your DECISIONS! Money Not Math 133

Either your passion will move a mountain, or your fear will create one.

Are you a buffalo or a cow?

Create the life you want rather than accepting the life you get.

Whose fault is it that our business, personal life, or financial situation is where it is today? (Ours and Ours Alone!)

Everybody is going to die. Not everybody is going to live. Are you living your best life?

The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is EXTRA. What extra effort are you giving or going to give to build the future you dream of one millimeter at a time?

It can take up 5 years for the probiotics in your stomach to recover after an antibiotic wipes them out. If it takes 5, 10 or 15 years to get into financial or physical trouble. Why do we give up working to fix the problem in 5 minutes, 5 days, or 5 months?

There is nothing wrong with the building of a bigger home as long as the building of a bigger home doesn’t become more important than the #family that lives in it. Are you letting #financial #stress overwhelm you and negatively affect the other parts of your life like your family, #faith, #fitness, #friends or #fun? Are you clear what your financial goals are and what your strategy is to achieve them?

Starting is #fun, but the #future belongs to #finishers. The biggest reason #goals aren’t accomplished is because of #overthinking. What goals are you self-sabotaging by overthinking them rather than acting on them?

Stop #Trying and start #TRAINING!

#MoneyNotMath #GrowthMindset #5StoneFinancialGroup #RetirementPlanning #Money #Retirement #Awaken #Love #Passion

Disclaimer, this content is not legal, tax, or investment advice. You should always consult a qualified professional regarding your personal situation.

What is your retirement income strategy? Money Not Math 132

What is your plan to make sure you don’t run out of money in retirement while enjoying retirement?

What is your plan to deal with sequence of returns risk?

Does your plan account for inflation and the rising costs of living before and during retirement?

Are you using the fixed safe withdrawal rate, 10% reduction, forgo inflation, guardrails, required minimum distribution (RMD), inflation haircut, or a different strategy?

The 5 biggest risks in retirement= Longevity, Market, Health, Family, and Policy risk.

Disclaimer, this content is not legal, tax, or investment advice. You should always consult a qualified professional regarding your personal situation.

#MoneyNotMath #Money #5StoneFinancialGroup #Retirement #RetirementPlanning #EmptyNesters #Investing #RetirementIncome

Workplace Retirement Plan, Financial Advisor, or Both? Money Not Math 131

Do you believe Financial Advisors have a larger role to play in your retirement planning?

“We saw that a remarkable 90% of employees are interested in the support of a financial advisor to guide them through their savings options. The report also found that an overwhelming majority of employees surveyed rank employer-sponsored retirement programs and employer matching as high priority,” said Schumm.

“Of the employers surveyed, 34% of them came to offer a retirement plan because of an advisor or accountant’s recommendation, and 47% of them said they believed advisors add the most value when educating employees about 401(k)s and investment decisions.”

Article Referenced: https://www.wealthmanagement.com/retirement-news/survey-financial-advisors-have-larger-role-play-clients-retirement-planning

Disclaimer, this content is not legal, tax, or investment advice. You should always consult a qualified professional regarding your personal situation.