Good afternoon! Thank you for reading The Best Interest And listening to my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors From the blog... I’ve struggled with this concept. I’ve seen many others struggle with it, too. Step 1: We discover a new shiny idea (…Roth conversions! …Small-cap value investing! …Qualified charitable distributions!) Step 2: This idea’s shiny appeal pushes it to the top of our priority list. Step 3: Blinded by the light, we mistakenly overemphasize this new idea to...
13 days ago • 2 min read
Good afternoon! Thank you for reading The Best Interest And listening to my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors From the blog... The Adirondacks are a special place. Maeve and Kelly in the shallows of Heart Lake. Hiking, in particular, is my favorite part of visiting America’s largest park. The journey up one of the Adirondack “High Peaks” is grueling but rewarding. Sitting on the summit is a beautiful thing. You’ve never had a better peanut butter & jelly sandwich than when...
21 days ago • 2 min read
Good afternoon! Thank you for reading The Best Interest And listening to my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors From the blog... James Stockdale was a U.S. Navy aviator who eventually rose to the rank of admiral and even ran for U.S. vice president in the 1992 election (on Ross Perot's ticket). During the Vietnam War, Stockdale's fighter plane was shot down, and he spent seven years as a prisoner of war in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison camp. It was during these challenging...
28 days ago • 2 min read
Good afternoon! Thank you for reading The Best Interest And listening to my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors From the blog... As a new, green investor climbs the rungs of investment education, it won’t be long before they encounter the 60/40 portfolio. 60% stocks, 40% bonds. Tried and true and old as time…or, at least, that’s how it’s presented to us. But where did the 60/40 come from? Why those percentages? Why’s it good for retirement? In a world where we can prescribe an...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Good afternoon! Thank you for reading The Best Interest And listening to my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors From the blog... I saw someone post this image on LinkedIn this week. They commented on this picture: You want to risk-manage your hard-earned assets.Here are some rough estimates on the return you would need (in right) to break even again (regain) after taking a loss (on left). Returning to break-even isn’t a 1-for-1 process.Risk management is key. You might have seen...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Good afternoon! Thank you for reading The Best Interest And listening to my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors From the blog... Reader Jon: Jesse, I am not sure why people would buy traditional bonds if you can get a similar yield in a bond ETF (which is more liquid)? Lots of other readers: My bond funds took a beating in 2022, and some are still underwater. But individual government bonds always return to par! How could you ever want to own a bond fund that loses you money,...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Good afternoon! Thank you for reading The Best Interest And listening to my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors From the blog... Abe Lincoln, George Carlin, and Charlie Munger shared a common philosophy: Treat reality as it is. Many humans struggle with this idea. Usually, it's unintentional and subconscious. Munger would call it "torturing reality." We bend and twist the facts to make them fit our preconceived notions. This is a risky practice, and I see a few common places...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Good morning! Thank you for reading The Best Interest And listening to my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors From the blog... Two fun articles on the blog this week... Inspired by the five feet of snow that fell this week near my childhood home, I wanted to share with you how: Some short-term forecasting is vital (see: blizzard warnings) But other short-term forecasting is pure, unhelpful noise (ex, for all us investors) Click here to read the full post: As Simple As That Next,...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Happy 2026! Thank you for reading The Best Interest And listening to my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors From the blog... In Morgan Housel’s book Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes, Housel recommends that people, “Plan like a pessimist and dream like an optimist.” But pessimism and optimism are opposites, and feel like they shouldn’t coexist. Most people struggle to hold opposing views simultaneously. But Housel argues this is an important exception: “They seem like...
2 months ago • 1 min read