Family Money and Inherited Wealth

We Americans tend to fear and diminish family money.  We also confuse it with inherited wealth, two terms that I like to keep separate.  “Old money”, “Trust fund baby”, “Rich snob”, “Spoiled rotten”, “Bum.  These are all things we’ve heard people with inherited money called.  In other parts of the world, particularly European countries, society… Continue reading Family Money and Inherited Wealth

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All Money is Family Money

The debate over whether to merge finances or not after a couple commits to a long-term relationship continues to rage.  Seemingly every week, another article in a financial publication pops up discussing the merits of “to merge or not to merge.”  For me and my family, the question was never open for debate.  All money… Continue reading All Money is Family Money

Short Duration, Asset Backed Lending: A Primer

Disclaimer: I have no connection to or investments currently with any of the companies mentioned in this article, although I may in the future.  Do your own due diligence before making an investment decision.  It’s your money; you’re the best person to judge what is best to do with it.

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Making Loans: Asset-Backed vs. Cash-Flow Lending

Disclaimer: I have no connection to or investments currently with any of the companies mentioned in this article, although I may in the future.  Do your own due diligence before making an investment decision.  It’s your money; you’re the best person to decide what is best to do with it.

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Demonstrations in Optionality: Real Estate

Building optionality into a portfolio is key to generating solid returns while limiting drawdown risk.  Obviously this sounds very attractive, but remember that there is always a cost to these options.  Understanding what the costs are and finding the least costly and most efficient way to gain access to these options is important.

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The Endowment Model: Why It Needs to Change & How to Incorporate Parts into Your Portfolio

In Part 1, I discussed the core tenets of the Endowment Model and how successful it has been for a few institutions (though not all by any stretch).  In Part 2, I’m going to discuss why the Endowment Model will likely disappoint in the future, ways it can be changed and how to incorporate certain… Continue reading The Endowment Model: Why It Needs to Change & How to Incorporate Parts into Your Portfolio

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Mental Accounting: Use Buckets to Your Advantage

The idea behind mental accounting is that people naturally separate money that has different intents from each other.  For some reason, economists consider this a bad idea.  From the website Investopedia (emphasis mine): “According to the theory, individuals assign different functions to each asset group, which has an often irrational and detrimental effect on their… Continue reading Mental Accounting: Use Buckets to Your Advantage

The Real Risk to Your Portfolio: Drawdown

Much of today’s investment advice is built on a concept of Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), one pioneered by Harry Markowitz.  Markowitz was an economist trained at the University of Chicago with the likes of Milton Friedman and won a Nobel Prize in Economics for his work.

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