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No one could have foreseen the events of 2020. It was a tumultuous year. The pandemic overshadowed everything. Fires, hurricanes, protests, and the election dominated headlines. So did Tiger King, toilet paper shortages, major events held over Zoom, and everyday heroes. For me, one of the biggest standout memories of 2020 has been the creative ways people and businesses have adapted in the pandemic. What moments from the last year stand out for you? Whatever they are—and whatever your verdict on last year may be—we can all agree 2020 has been disruptive and unforgettable. It’ll be fascinating to see how history looks back at 2020 and what big lessons future generations take away from the past year. As the year closes, here are some of the best life lessons we can take away from 2020 right now. Bringing these lessons with us into 2021 can help make life better and

Market corrections hurt. They can come out of nowhere. And when they do, they ignite fear, amplify worries, and set off alarm bells. It’s hard not to panic when that happens. And it’s tempting to react and want to pull back. Many people give in to that temptation. Informed investors don’t. Why? Because they know most market corrections are short. In fact, over the past 70 years, corrections have been getting shorter and shorter. These days, the average correction is over within four months. Those are just a couple of reasons why you shouldn’t panic over corrections. Below are more. If you know these facts about corrections, you can keep a level head and healthy perspective whenever the markets retreat. That can help you avoid overacting. It may even open your eyes to new opportunities. Below is an overview of some market correction facts, click here to view our monthly

About 4 out of 5 people say they are too smart to be scammed. Most also believe they’re better than others at spotting scams. Yet, scams work — and they’re more prevalent and profitable than ever before. In fact, every 15 seconds, someone’s getting scammed. Each year, that’s billions lost. Seniors alone lose at least $2.9 billion a year to con artists. And they aren’t even the most vulnerable marks. Millennials are. So, why are financial scams more rampant and lucrative than ever before? Technology and the internet have been key. They’ve given scammers a better smokescreen and a global reach. They’ve also made it easier to perpetrate mass fraud schemes. Beyond having better tools, scammers also have better prey these days. The uncertainties of the day have made it easier to manipulate and con people. After all, we’re naturally averse to uncertainty. It scares us. It makes us desperate

Would you choose to live right now? Objectively, things aren’t easy for most of us right now. We’re facing social, economic, health, and environmental crises. With all the chaos of today, it can be tempting to lean on nostalgia and believe previous generations had it better or easier. And it can make us long for what seem like simpler times. In our newsletter this week, we go over the "7 Reasons Life Is Actually the Best It's Ever Been". Take a look at a few below: 1. LIFE EXPECTANCY We're living longer than people have ever lived before. Worldwide, more than 3 in every 4 people live to be at least 65 years old. In the U.S., life expectancies for men and women have increased by more than 10 years since 1950. That's 10 more years the generations before us didn't have to enjoy retirement, spend time with family, and

Do you know what one of the number one causes of market losses during an election year is? Fear. In fact, the uncertainty of the elections can stoke your fears. It may even encourage you to make rash, emotional decisions. That can lead to losses, but it doesn’t have to. If you know the facts about the market during presidential election years, you can potentially avoid investing mistakes that so many others make. “Investing should be like watching paint dry or grass grow. If you want excitement… go to Las Vegas.” That’s what Paul Samuelson, a noted economist and Nobel Prize winner, says—and that’s not always easy to remember during presidential election years. Why? The frenzy of an election brings endless news cycles, high emotions, and stress. And if you feel that stress, you’re not alone. At least half of all Americans get stressed out by elections. You know the

In a perfect world, logic would always guide our financial decisions. Emotions wouldn’t come into play. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Far from it. That means our emotions impact our financial choices more than we realize. Shockingly as much as 95% of our purchase choices are made subconsciously, driven by our emotions—as little as 5% are based in logic (and that’s when we’re in a good headspace and feeling comfortable and secure). When we’re faced with uncertainty, fear and instinct can take over and push logic right out of the window. Your brain will make you want to react quickly to protect yourself and avoid the pain you anticipate from potential losses. Ironically, these instincts often make things worse. Emotional reactions can lead to poor choices and the losses you were trying to avoid in the first place. The best way to avoid letting your hardwired biases take

“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” – Zig Ziglar That’s true for most aspects of life, including our finances. Most of us realize that. It’s why we set New Year’s resolutions—and why more than half of all Americans set some type of financial goal as a resolution each year. As great as setting goals is, it won’t accomplish much for you if you can’t achieve them. And, maybe not so surprisingly, the vast majority of people (92% according to the research) don’t achieve their goals. Why? Why do we struggle so much to meet the goals we set for ourselves? Is it because we don’t want to? Because we lack commitment? Not so much. One big reason behind our failures is that most of us lack a clear connection between our present reality and the future we’d like to achieve. That vagueness can cut the

Life has changed; how do we adapt without losing sight of what we want to achieve? As you’ve heard us say before, no one knows how the future will play out, but we should still look ahead and think through the consequences of what’s happening. (More about this kind of second-order thinking ahead.) We believe that our society and our economy are experiencing a massive paradigm shift. We will never go back to the world we had before COVID-19, and the lens that we used to evaluate ideas, markets, economies, and personal choices over the last decade may not be sufficient for the next decade. Here are just a few things that we see changing as a result of what’s going on now: Social Support: 36.5 million Americans have become unemployed in two months, and the effects are rippling through families, communities, and the economy.1 The government has responded with trillions of

We are living in a strange time. No matter how you slice it, dealing with a pandemic is difficult. People are working remotely, staying home, and trying to navigate this new normal. There have been quite a few pandemics in our history. From smallpox to measles to cholera and so many others, market fluctuations are inevitable when it comes to the fallout of a pandemic. Falling into the trap of hysteria is easy to do while watching the news and reading friends’ opinions on social media. However, history has taught us that for every seemingly long economic recession has come an even longer economic expansion. In fact, while the average length of an economic recession is 15 months, the average length of an economic expansion is 48 months. So, what can we take away from this information? How should we ease our fears and concerns during this time of uncertainty?

The pandemic is here and we’ve found ourselves in bear country without enough toilet paper. When markets fall as rapidly as they have over the last few weeks and the country is going into lockdown, it’s reasonable to be worried about a situation that seems unprecedented. But let’s not panic. Because we’ve been here before. The last outbreak to achieve pandemic status was the H1N1 Swine flu, which hit U.S. soil in April 2009.1 You might hardly remember it because markets were on a tear after bottoming out in March 2009 and the outbreak barely registered on investors. But, some say that COVID-19 is nothing like recent epidemics.  So let’s take a look at one of history’s worst pandemics: The 1918 Spanish Flu. Nearly one-third of the world’s population contracted the disease and more than 50 million died in just 15 months.2 Despite the human toll, the Dow actually rose during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. Chart source: