Asset ownership or debt reduction? A common question considered, yet a question frequently simplified down to determination by simple interest rate differentials (the separation between interest charged on debt and the rate of return expected on your investment portfolio). Life, especially the interrelationships of economics and the underlying mathematics, is not so simple.
Domestic large and mid-sized companies led total returns in the last twelve months and through the initial two quarters of 2024 (although emerging markets were about 1.6% higher than mid-sized companies on a year-to-date basis). Large companies generated a positive total return in the second quarter with mid-size and small companies contracting a couple percent, but on a year-to-date basis all three categories have generated positive total returns...
Every profession has unique facts, concepts, theories, methods, and advancements. However, what is common between excelling in professions is the requirement of a broad and deep understanding of all the elements involved in determining results. The CFA Institute is the industry leader in providing a broad and deep financial education for investment professionals.
Procrastination is a quiet yet effective enemy to all of our ambitions - especially our most meaningful and rewarding ambitions that require a long period of sustained thought, discipline, and effort to convert from pure mental desires into physical realities. Furthermore, it is essentially impossible to avoid procrastinating on the necessary actions/decisions that contribute to accomplishing a pleasant desire while lacking awareness of the cause-effect relationships that enable the realization of the desire. Although someone may not be seemingly procrastinating in the general sense while engaging in unnecessary (unproductive) actions to achieve a desire - they are unknowingly procrastinating on the necessary (productive) actions by lacking awareness of such actions (causes) involved in the cause-effect relationships.
People frequently refer to the stock market as a “casino”, as if they have zero influence over the financial result of their decision(s). However, there are at least two important differences between gambling on slot machines and investing in an actual business, or a collection (portfolio) of businesses: Entitlement and predictability.