Category Investments

Mar 26 2022

THE 33-33-33 PORTFOLIO

For decades, a 60/40 (60 percent stock, 40 percent bond) investment portfolio has been encouraged by financial advisors. However, we live in a new world, so in recent years a 33/33/33 allocation has been suggested, with investments divided equally among stocks, bonds, and alternatives. This shift in portfolio strategy is the result of unsustainable stock prices, looming inflation, and expected higher interest rates.  

The alternative investments include assets such as venture capital, real estate, private equity, private debt, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. These asset categories offer investors enhanced diversification, and have a low correlation with stocks to provide an inflation hedge. 

Real estate offers an opportunity for an improved yield for investors with a lower risk tolerance. Venture capital and private equity are suggested for investors comfortable with more risk.

Recent J.P. Morgan research revealed that an allocation of 30 percent of these alternatives can substantially increase annual returns, while strengthening portfolio stability and decreasing risk. However, these illiquid assets can’t be quickly sold, or liquidated, so careful cash-flow planning is also necessary.

Remember, every portfolio must be personalized to the needs of the individual based on liquidity need, risk tolerance, and the time horizon of financial goals.

For additional information on the 33/33/33 portfolio, go to the following articles.

Article #1

Article #2

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students research alternative investments (venture capital, real estate, private equity, private debt, commodities, cryptocurrencies) to determine recent returns, risk, and suitability for their personal portfolio.
  • Have students create a visual proposal or video with a suggested investment portfolio for their current or future situation.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What factors should a person consider when planning an investment portfolio?
  2. Describe actions a person might take to determine if alternative investments are appropriate for their financial situation. 
Jan 15 2022

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing

An increasing number of investors are seeking a more ethical portfolio with an emphasis on socially responsible and sustainable investing. An emerging trend is environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, with these factors used to evaluate the financial return and overall impact. 

The ESG score measures how investments and companies perform in these categories:

  • Environmental – carbon emissions, air and water pollution, deforestation, green energy initiatives, waste management, water usage
  • Social – employee gender and diversity, data security, customer satisfaction, company sexual harassment policies, human rights at home and around the world, fair labor practices
  • Governance – diversity of board members, political contributions, executive pay, large-scale lawsuits, internal corruption, lobbying

Many view “sustainable” investing as very vague. The ESG criteria hopes to provide a grading of investments that clarifies what sustainable involves. ESG scores are calculated using different methods. Some ratings are created by using data collected from company disclosures and government, academic and NGO databases. Other scores are developed with self-reported data from participating companies.

Recent benefits of ESG investing include higher returns and a lower downside risk than traditional funds and conventional investments.  To start investing, you can search on your own to identify an ESG fund or an individual stock with a high ESG score that fits your investment beliefs and goals.  Investors can also use a robo-advisor to guide their ESG investment choices.

For additional information on ESG investing, click on the following links:

Article #1

Article #2

Article #3

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students search online to identify ESG funds or companies they might consider for their investment portfolio.
  • Have students talk with others to obtain the level of interest for ESG investing among potential investors of various ages.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What aspects of ESG investing do you find attractive?  What are your concerns?
  2. What concerns might be associated with methods used to create ESG scores?
Oct 9 2021

Money Habits of Women and Men

Based on recent research, findings comparing the financial habits of women and men include:

  • Overall, single men outspend women, which may be due to higher average earnings. Men spend more on food and transportation, while women have higher spending for clothing. Both groups have similar spending for entertainment.
  • Women are wiser shoppers, buying items on sale and using coupons more often than men.
  • For debt, including credit cards, student loans, auto loans, personal loans, home equity lines of credit, and mortgages, men have more debt than women.
  • For both groups, the main financial goals were saving for a vacation, paying off credit card debt, and improving their credit score.
  • As they near retirement, men had higher amounts in their retirement funds. However, women are more likely to participate in an employer retirement plan than men, and save a greater percentage from their paychecks.

For additional information on the money habits of women and men, go to:

Source #1

Source #2

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students create a short survey to compare the spending, saving, and investing activities of women and men.
  • Have students create a visual proposal (poster or slide presentation) to suggest improved money management activities.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What factors might affect differences between the money management activities of women and men?
  2. Describe actions a person might take to improve money management activities. 
Jul 11 2020

20-Year-Old Robinhood Customer Dies by Suicide After Seeing a $730,000 Negative Balance

“On June 12, 2020, Alexander E. Kearns, a 20-year-old student at the University of Nebraska, took his own life after believing he had lost over $730,000 trading options.”

While home from college and living with his parents because of the Coronavirus, Kearns opened an account with Robinhood—an online brokerage firm that uses technology to encourage everyone to begin investing and participate in the U.S. financial system.  As stocks experienced huge price swings during spring 2020, Kearns began experimenting with trading options.

After using a speculative technique that involved put options, Kearns believed that he had lost over $730,000.  In reality, his negative balance may not have represented a negative balance at all, but rather a temporary balance until the stocks underlying his option investments were posted to his account.  And yet, because of a timing and reporting issue, he became despondent and took his own life.

Because of privacy issues, Robinhood won’t provide details of Kearns’ account, but the brokerage firm is making major changes to their trading platform—especially for option trades.

For more information, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

You may want to use the information in this blog post and the original article to

  • Stress the importance of learning all you can about any investment before you begin an investment program.
  • Review the risks involved in the more short-term speculative techniques of day trading, investments that use margin, selling short, and options.

Discussion Questions

  1. Robinhood, like many financial service firms including E-Trade, TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Merrill Lynch now allow investors to open an account with no initial investment and offer commission-free trading. Would you be tempted to open an account and begin investing given the current economic environment?
  2. In the note he left, Alexander Kearns asks a simple question, “How was a 20-year old with no income able to get assigned almost a million dollars worth of leverage?” He also admits in his note that he had “no clue” what he was doing.  What mistakes did he make when he began investing?  How could you avoid making the same mistakes?
Aug 31 2019

Investing Success for Young People

Young people should take advantage of time, and start investing now for the long-term.  When doing so, they should consider these actions:

  • Make use of low-cost mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and index funds to minimize administrative costs, transaction fees and commissions.
  • Take advantage of tax-deferred retirement programs, which will allow them to invest pre-tax dollars to lower their current tax bill. Employers may match retirement fund contributions.
  • Don’t avoid risk by emphasizing conservative investments. Taking on more aggressive investments creates greater potential for higher, long-term returns.
  • Effectively manage risk with fixed index annuities, fixed annuities, and market linked CDs. Dollar-cost averaging allows for obtaining more shares at a lower cost during market downturns.

For additional information on investing by young people, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students talk to others for suggested investment actions to take.
  • Have students conduct online research regarding the best investments for their life situation.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What factors might a person consider when selecting investments for their life situation?
  2. Describe actions people might take to increase the funds they have available for long-term savings goals.
Dec 16 2017

Personal Financial Satisfaction

The Personal Financial Satisfaction Index (PFSi), reported by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) is at an all-time high.  This quarterly economic indicator measures the financial situation of average Americans.  PFSI is the difference between (1) the Personal Financial Pleasure Index, measuring the growth of assets and opportunities, and (2) the Personal Financial Pain Index, which is based on lost assets and opportunities. The most recent report had a Pleasure Index 68.1 in contrast to a Pain Index of 42.1, resulting in a positive reading of 25.9, the highest since 1994.

While the stock market is high, unemployment is declining, and inflation is low, remember the economy is cyclical.  Be sure to consider and plan for your long-term goals. Stay aware and position your financial plan appropriately to safeguard finances when the economy is in a downturn.  Also, analyze your cash flow to an attempt to increase savings, including an appropriate emergency fund.

For additional information on financial satisfaction, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students create an action plan for situations that might be encountered in times of economic difficulty.
  • Have students create a team presentation with suggestions to take when faced with economic difficulties.

 Discussion Questions 

  1. What are examples of opportunities that create increased personal financial satisfaction?
  2. Describe actions a person might take when faced with economic difficulties.
Aug 19 2017

Investing in Collectible Coins

Collectible coins have some historic or aesthetic value to collectors.  The value of many collector coins exceeds their melt value because the precious metal content is so small.  Coin collectors refer to this collectible value as numismatic value, and it is determined by factors such as the type of coin, the year it was minted, the place it was minted, and its condition—or “grade.”

Dealers who sell collectible coins often have valuable coins graded by professional services.  A grader examines the coin’s condition based on a set of criteria.  Then the grader assigns it a numerical grade from one to 70, and places it in a plastic cover for protection.  But factors like “overall appearance” and “eye appeal” are subjective, and the grade assigned to a particular coin can vary among dealers.

Expect to hold your investment for at least 10 years before possibly realizing a profit.  That’s because dealers usually sell collectible coins at a markup.  In addition, the market for numismatic coins may not be the same as the market for precious metals or bullion coins.  It’s possible that the price of gold can increase while the value of a gold numismatic coin decreases.

For more information click here.

Teaching Suggestions

  1. Ask Students to make a list of the risks and rewards of investing in collectible coins.
  2. Ask students how they can protect themselves from fraudulent practices in the collectibles market.

Discussion Questions

  • What are some important questions to ask before you invest in collectible coins?
  • Is it possible to make a practical decision about buying a particular coin based on a photo or conversation with the seller?
  • Why is it important to get a second opinion about the grade and value of the coin you are considering to buy?
May 13 2017

Active Management. Good or Bad?

“Advisors and investors are increasingly focused more on lower fee products amid expectations that finding consistently strong performing active funds is hard.”

Passive investing (index funds and exchange traded funds) has been a trend on Wall Street for years.  So, what’s different?  The answer:  The trend is increasing at an alarming rate and investors are now retreating from actively managed funds that are beating their benchmark index.  According to data from Morningstar, investors pulled $99 billion from the actively managed funds that beat their benchmarks over a 12-month period ending January 31, 2017.  This is a remarkable trend given that most investors typically chase funds with high performance and high returns.

The reasons are many, and certainly lower fees is part of the reason, but not the only factor for this dramatic trend.  Another very important factor is that the number of managed funds that consistently beat the index over a long period of time is small.  According to data from Charles Schwab, the number of funds that score in the top 25% for at least two years is 1,098.  The number of funds drops to 702 at the end of three years, and to 33 funds at six years.  Only 4 funds score in the top 25% for at least seven years, and none stay in the top 25% for eight years.

The article goes on to say that this trend may encourage more actively managed funds to focus on bringing down the fees for their investment products in order to compete with the expense ratios for index funds and exchange traded funds.

For more information, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

You may want to use the information in this blog post and the original article to

  • Discuss the difference between index funds, ETFs, and managed funds.
  • Reinforce how important fees and performance are when choosing a mutual fund.

Discussion Questions

  1. What is the difference between a managed fund, an index fund, and an exchange traded fund?
  2. Which type of fund do you think could help you obtain your investment goals? Why?
Jan 7 2017

5 Things You Need to Know About Dow 20,000

“The Dow’s ongoing flirtation with the 20,000 market milestone is the talk of Wall Street.”

The 120-year-old Dow Jones Industrial Average consists of 30-blue chip stocks that make up arguably the world’s best-known stock index.  At the time of this article and this blog post, the average is trading at near record levels and threatening the break the 20,000 mark.  So how important is breaking the 20,000 barrier?  Consider the following five questions.

  1. Why, with the Dow so Close to 20,000, can’t it get over the hump?
  2. Is Dow 20,000 a big deal?
  3. Does a new milestone mark a new stage of the bull run we’ve seen?
  4. Will Dow 20,000 improve the mood of investors?
  5. Is Dow 20,000 a reason to buy?

Adam Shell, in this USA Today article, provides some answers to the above 5 questions that can help investors keep a more balanced perspective on what a Dow 20,000 really means for both individual investors and the economy.

For more information, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

You may want to use the information in this blog post and the original article to

  • With so much in the news about the stock market, record high values, a possible correction or pullback in market values, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate changes, and other economic factors, you may want to use this article and this blog post to explain why the Dow Jones Industrial Average is just one of many factors that affect investors, the market, and the economy.

Discussion Questions

  1. Since the Dow Jones Industrial Average is in record territory, is this a good time to invest in the stock market? Explain your answer.
  2. At the time you answer this question, what is the current Dow Jones Industrial Average? Has it gone up or down in the last six months, and what affect has the change had on the stock market and the economy?
Oct 15 2016

How the Presidential Election Will Affect Your Investment Strategy

“The sky is falling!  If my chosen candidate doesn’t win, the markets are doomed and so are my investments.”

In this article, Bijan Golkar points out that a presidential election can cause excitement or despair depending on if you are a Republican or a Democrat and who the major parties nominate for the highest and most powerful office in the world.

The article discusses market returns both before and after a presidential election year and some of the underlying reasons for market volatility.  Then the article stresses the importance of a person’s long-term goals and a plan for long-term growth as opposed to “emotional investing.”  Finally, the article discusses the pros and cons of our economy that could affect investment values.

For more information, click here. 

Teaching Suggestions

You may want to use the information in this blog post and the original article to

  • Discuss the importance of a long-term investment plan that will take advantage of the time value of money.
  • Describe some of the pitfalls of “emotional investing.”

Discussion Questions

  1. What are the typical characteristics of an emotional investor? Of a long-term investor?
  2. What are the advantages of a long-term investment program when compared to “emotional investing?”