“World stock markets have rounded off a wild and difficult year,” the article began, pointing to multiple uncertainties in a polarised US political system, a crisis–ridden Eurozone and a rapidly slowing Chinese economy. Does that sound familiar? That was from a calendar year wrap–up of markets published by BBC News on 30 December 2011, more […]

Global equity markets posted their worst performance in seven years in 2018, although most of the damage was done in the fourth quarter. The step-up in volatility towards year–end was variously attributed in the media to US–China trade tensions, signs of a global economic slowdown and concerns about the US Federal Reserve’s plans for further […]

Volatility is back. Just as many people were starting to think markets only ever move in one direction, the pendulum has swung back the other way. Anxiety is a completely natural response to these events. Acting on those emotions, though, can end up doing us more harm than good. There are several explanations from economists […]

With the level of consumer debt skyrocketing and the cost of housing, education, and health care increasing at double-digit rates, younger generations are facing unprecedented challenges to achieving economic security and financial independence.  Therefore, helping our youth to learn effective money management skills, and to adopt good financial habits and attitudes, is more important than […]

Satisfaction Satisfaction describes a feeling of fulfillment or contentment. Its meaning is relative and often dependent on one’s definition of success as applied to specific areas of life.  In our financial lives, “satisfaction” is as much (if not more) an emotional issue as a practical one. That is because a sense of satisfaction is highly […]

In the Happiness Hypothesis, psychologist Jonathan Haidt wrote that long ago he developed a metaphor to help him make sense of his often self-sabotaging behaviors: The image that I came up with for myself, as I marveled at my weakness, was that I was a Rider on the back on an Elephant.  I’m holding the […]

For many years, the prevailing theory was that individuals have a genetically determined happiness set point. In other words, scientists believed that each person could temporarily experience more happiness (depending on circumstances, relationships, and life events), but would then slide back to his or her “pre-programmed” set point.  In fact, less than two decades ago, […]

In the past, the transition to retirement has been viewed solely as an economic event. As a result, the focus of retirement planning has primarily been on building a nest egg. In The Late-Start Investor, author John Wasik recommends discarding this obsolete view in favor of a “flexible life plan that provides for financial, vocational, […]