Blog.
Current Observations
Happy New Year! I often get philosophical and reflective at the end of the year. I think about the past and reflect on the beautiful people I have known and those who are still in my life. I often miss and am saddened by memories of friends and family members who have lost their lives at relatively young ages. I also feel grateful to be alive in these exciting times. Each day seems to evolve and feel like a sort of “stay tuned for what’s next” drama.
How Do I Get on My Feet and Out Mom’s Door?
Question: I am 39 years old and want to find a nice boyfriend, eventually get married, and hopefully have a family. However, my finances are in bad shape: no debt, but no savings either. I have struggled with PTSD my entire adult life due to childhood trauma and have been unable to work for long periods of time. I am living with my mom, but I am trying very hard to get back on my feet. I am currently finishing up a course and hope to find a good permanent job and a decent place to live.
What if I Never Risk it All?
Question: I’m thinking about what I don’t want to regret in life and there’s one thing that keeps popping up. I’ve always been cautious. I’ve never risked it all. Should I give myself permission to just go for it? Or is that really being selfish or childish?
Why Trump is My Teacher & Guru
Question: When Donald Trump appeared on the political scene he seemed a joke, but now the joke is on us. He’s a wall builder and a hatemonger in a world that desperately needs to tear down walls and end hatred for our very survival. How did this happen? What do we do? Is evil taking over? Is love dead?
A Question of Being “Blessed”
Question: My old friend from college tells me he is “blessed” because he made a fortune. I’ll admit to being a bit envious, but the big problem isn’t his money: It’s that he really believes God has rewarded him and his “blessing” has made him self-righteous, greedy, and out of touch. What do you think about being blessed?
Finding Niches, Avoiding Valeants
FIM Group has long taken pride in our independent views. While we don’t necessarily set out to be contrarian, the nature of our value-focused investing often leaves us standing apart from the herd. This month we’d like to share some perspective about why we aim to avoid the herding instinct and how we go about keeping our thinking sharp and unbiased.
Wrestling with a Question of Inheritance
Question: I’m wrestling with an inheritance question: whether to pass my parents’ money to my kids. I don’t think I need it, and it could give them a good boost. It could go into a trust or something, though that seems controlling. I want my kids to be free. Down the road, I also don’t want to be worth too much more dead than alive. Any thoughts?
Stein's Law
Herbert Stein, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under the Nixon and Ford administrations, came up with a principle many years ago that has guided me over several decades of professional investing. Stein’s Law, as it is now known, is simply this: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” In other words, unsustainable trends are unsustainable.
A Turbulent Start to 2016
With many financial markets off to a volatile start in 2016, our team has been fielding an understandable increase in calls from concerned clients. We’ve aggregated some of the most frequent questions and our responses for this month’s investment strategy update.
A Few Predictions for the New Year (and Beyond)
Now that we are a couple weeks into the New Year, most economists, market strategists, bloggers and other prognosticators have already pushed the send buttons on their annual forecasts for stock market levels, interest rates, foreign exchange rates and the like. Most will be off the mark come year-end, but that never seems to stop them from gazing into their crystal balls and letting the world know what they see.