Uncategorized Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Rightpath Investments & Financial Planning, Inc.

Value Investing and Skiing May be The Key to Living Longer

Peak Thoughts, Uncategorized / Steven Smith / September 20, 2019

A recent column entitled, Survivor Bias: Why Successful Value Investors Live Longer, mused on the apparent longevity of legendary value investors Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett. Today’s long suffering value investors, looking for a silver lining in the decade plus underperformance of value stocks, may find one in Munger’s quip that “professors, judges and value […]

Value Investing and Skiing May be The Key to Living Longer Read More »

The Stretch IRA is Dead. Or Maybe Just on Life Support

Peak Thoughts, Uncategorized / Steven Smith / September 10, 2019

If you are – or expect to be – the owner of a $500,000 or greater IRA or 401k, you’ll want to monitor the progress of the SECURE (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) Act, recently passed by the House, by an overwhelming 417 – 3 margin. Among its provisions is the elimination of

The Stretch IRA is Dead. Or Maybe Just on Life Support Read More »

2nd Quarter Client Note – The Raging Bull

Financial News, Money, Uncategorized, Waypoints / Steven Smith / July 12, 2019

By almost any measure, the past decade has been one of the best 10-year periods in history for the US stock market. Quarter after quarter, with just a few hiccups, the market has climbed steadily since the market bottomed in March of 2009. This past quarter was no exception, with the S&P 500 (total return)

2nd Quarter Client Note – The Raging Bull Read More »

1st Quarter Client Note – Just Wait a Minute

Uncategorized, Waypoints / Steven Smith / April 6, 2019

There is a saying about the weather here in Colorado: If you don’t like it, just wait a minute. When it comes to the stock market, one quarter is the equivalent of about a minute’s worth of weather. The S&P 500 (total return) Index rose 13.65% in the first quarter; the largest first quarter gain

1st Quarter Client Note – Just Wait a Minute Read More »

Book Review: Your Complete Guide to a Successful & Secure Retirement, Larry E. Swedroe & Kevin Grogan

Peak Thoughts, Uncategorized / Steven Smith / March 25, 2019

One of the great influences in my practice has been Larry Swedroe. (Another, of course, was the late John Bogle). Fifteen years ago, I started this practice by giving away copies of one of Larry’s first books, The Successful Investor Today, 14 Simple Truths You Must Know When You Invest (St. Martin’s Press 2003). (I

Book Review: Your Complete Guide to a Successful & Secure Retirement, Larry E. Swedroe & Kevin Grogan Read More »

Celebrating the Ten-Year Anniversary of the Market Bottom

Peak Thoughts, Uncategorized / Steven Smith / March 9, 2019

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs… Rudyard Kipling, from the poem If, circa 1895 We will forever be debating the causes of the 2008 financial crisis and the government’s attempts to minimize its effects. But the worst modern bear market other than the one caused by the Great

Celebrating the Ten-Year Anniversary of the Market Bottom Read More »

Index Funds: Good, But Not Perfect

Meanderings, Uncategorized / Steven Smith / March 4, 2019

It’s only been a few weeks since the passing of John Bogle, the inventor of the index fund. In memoriam, I – along with many others – was singing the praises of the index fund for its ultra-low-cost ability to track the broad market. One writer has even given credit to the index fund for

Index Funds: Good, But Not Perfect Read More »

Owed to Saint Jack. RIP

Meanderings, Uncategorized / Steven Smith / January 21, 2019

Millions of American investors – including yours truly – owe a debt of gratitude to John “Jack” Bogle, who died on January 16 at the age of 89. Adulations have been pouring in for the inventor of the index fund (dubbed “Bogle’s Folly by critics at the time) and founder of Vanguard. Even from the

Owed to Saint Jack. RIP Read More »

Lessons From the Madoff Fraud, 10 Years later

Investment Management, Meanderings, Uncategorized / Steven Smith / December 28, 2018

Has it really been ten years? One of the low lights indelibly associated with the Great Recession of 2008 was the discovery and unraveling of Bernie Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme. It feels like only yesterday that I wrote about that almost incomprehensible fiasco in real time. But the journalist Erin Arvedlund wrote the book on

Lessons From the Madoff Fraud, 10 Years later Read More »

$1 Million May Not be Enough to Retire in Denver – Or in Our Beloved Mountains

Meanderings, Mountain Lifestyle, Uncategorized / Steven Smith / December 12, 2018

As if planning to fund your retirement weren’t difficult enough. In a story in the Denver Post, we now learn of a study by SmartAssets that Denver – and by extension – our beloved Colorado mountains – is one of the country’s most expensive places to retire. This is largely because of the cost of

$1 Million May Not be Enough to Retire in Denver – Or in Our Beloved Mountains Read More »