Thing One The Market Doesn't Send Invitations One of the strongest arguments for long-term investing isn't based on optimism. It's based on mathematics. Every year, countless investors convince themselves they can avoid the market's inevitable downturns by moving to cash and then jumping back in once conditions "feel safer." It sounds sensible. Why ride the declines if you can simply step aside and return when the storm has passed? The problem is that the market doesn't

Thing One A Sobering What If Back 2005, President George W. Bush proposed allowing workers to put $1,000 worth of their payroll taxes per year into an S&P 500 fund. Predictably, his opponents in Congress came out against the idea as a scheme for the rich to get richer and it failed to gain any traction. The following excerpt from the Wall Street Journal provides the details on what would’ve happened had his idea been allowed to be implemented. “…But what if Congress h

Thing One Has Bundling Your Home and Auto Insurance Finally Run Its Course? For decades, insurance consumers have been told the same thing: bundle your home and auto policies and save money. The pitch is simple. Put both policies with the same company and receive a "multi-policy discount." The insurance company wins. The agent wins. And supposedly, you win too. But in today's insurance environment, consumers should be asking a different question: Am I actually saving mo