Mindful Money Blog

The great companies of the US and the World are on sale. That sale may (or may not) get better. If it does get better, it won’t get that much better. There will be some point in the not-too-distant future where we look back at today – the September retest of the June low – and say, “I wish I would have invested then.”

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There is a lot of negative news out there right now. Inflation is the worst it has been in 4 decades, there may be a recession around the corner, supply chains are still problematic. When will it end? I don’t know, but I’d be careful about getting overly swept up in it.

Because our educational system teaches next to nothing practical about personal finance, there are usually two ways people come to the idea of personal financial education. Either they are in a crisis of a particular kind, or they are finally realizing that some general financial education would be helpful as they go about their regular lives.

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The best way to completely destroy any chance for lifetime investment success has historically been to sell one’s quality equity portfolios in a bear market. In Warren Buffet’s words, it is wise for investors to be “fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”

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Historically, it seems the primary function of financial journalism (perhaps all journalism) is to scare us out of our wits. We have been reminded of this almost hourly since the S&P 500 entered official “bear market territory” on Monday, June 13th by closing 20% below its previous all-time high set in January of 2022.

It is impossible to know where today’s 8.6% inflation will lead. If it hangs on for too long, it will begin hurting everyone’s retirement income plan. Our definitions of "money" and "wealth" hinge on successfully solving the retirement income problem.

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Yoda’s idea, “Difficult to see, Always in motion is the future,” turns out to be exactly right. There are too many variables at work on something so incomprehensible as “the economy” or “the market.” One small (perhaps even intentional) change in one variable (e.g. FED funds rate) unpredictably causes additional changes across other variables, which in turn, cause more changes and so on. Each change multiplies to create outcomes that are unknowable. The future… moves.

If you have recently begun investing –OR– if you have recently changed your investing philosophy and a bear market arrives, it is very easy to become scared out of your process. Because…

Michael Sherlock of the Shock Your Potential Podcast interviews Jonathan DeYoe, author of Mindful Money

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This is a really important distinction to know about. Whether you notice the storytelling or not… it is happening all the time. The more you notice it, the less you suffer.

With markets down into almost-bear-market-territory, nerves are fraying and questions are being asked. It is perhaps time for another reminder that, “This too shall pass.”

This is the working title of my 2nd book. It is based on my 40 years investing in stocks, 25 years in options, 20 years in real estate, and 15 years in private markets. If there is a tool that could be invested in, I have invested in it. At the end, I choose to invest 90% of my own and my family's investable assets in the simplest way possible.

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Wealth Coach Rocky Lalvani of the Richer Soul: Living a Life on Purpose Podcast interviews Jonathan DeYoe of Mindful Money

There are two ideas constantly competing for dominance in the world of investing advice – Active vs. Passive. Your outcomes, in terms of investment returns, will probably differ very little based on which side you choose to believe. Your outcomes, in terms of the time spent and anxiety provoked, will differ a great deal.