Posted on March 23, 2010 @ 5:49 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Had a wonderful conversation this morning with a very smart new client. She and her husband have recently come on board, and now have a Purposeful Plan, which has already been at least partially put into play. A good portion of their Plan will be executed via the wife’s self-directed IRA. They already own a rental property which is now on the market, with the intent to effect a tax deferred exchange (1031).
One of the things ‘Connie Marie’ wanted to do, was consult with a financial planner to see how much of her funds might be invested in stocks, mutual funds and the like, and how much in real estate. The point of this quest was to discover if diversification would be an issue. As I said already, Connie is one very smart lady, helped further by her occupation, which is banking. She’s no stranger to financial goings on to say the least.
Here’s the gist of our conversation. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on October 21, 2009 @ 2:26 pm - Written by BawldGuy
The human condition is one of constantly merging what we want with what we perceive — with what is in fact, reality. It sounds vanilla simple as ya read it, but we all know what a dangerous outlook human perception can be if it’s not aligned with the world’s merciless empirical truth.
I remember with a wincing smile the day I arrived at a friendly broker’s office to drop of an offer. It was way back in another life. I hadn’t seen this husband/wife team in over a year, so was lookin’ forward to the visit. When I arrived the wife happily remarked, “We were wondering who the chubby blond guy was.”
Ouch! Not exactly how I perceived myself. 
That was the inauspicious beginning of my marathon career, another post altogether. Suffice to say, the next year or so saw a loss of 40-something pounds and over 7 inches on the waistline. Ultimately it was the consequence of merging reality with perception. The whole ‘perception is reality’ concept is true enough, but the so-called reality is often nothin’ but a mirage, as was my laughable ‘lean and mean’ self image. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on October 7, 2009 @ 7:11 pm - Written by BawldGuy
First let’s all agree, or not, on what diversification is in the context of investing. ‘Course, even that’s a tall order as it’ll depend upon who’s talkin’. Is it the financial planner? Is it the ‘expert’ hired by your employer to guide you in the investments you choose for your 401(k)? Who is it, and more importantly what dogs if any do they have in the fight?
Far more often than most would imagine, my job requires me to tell folks they shouldn’t invest their money into real estate, or make that exchange. They’re the only dog I have in the fight. Any other way of doing business doesn’t make sense to me.
One of my favorite Warren Buffet quotes says exactly what he thinks about the ‘traditional’ concept of diversification from the investor’s perspective.
“Diversification is for those who don’t know what they’re doing.” Read the rest of this entry »