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The Blog

Weekly insights on the markets, economy, and financial planning

The Patience Principle

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“The Patience Principle” is an article written by Jim Parker, Vice President at DFA Australia Limited, for Dimensional Fund Advisors’ Outside the Flags column. The Patience Principle from Financial Synergies Asset Management, Inc

Spending With Purpose

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Earlier this week Bryan, Heath, and I attended a monthly meeting for the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA) Houston chapter.

Taken Your Temperature Lately?

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When our 28-year-old daughter, Caitlin, was just four months old, my wife and I noticed she was running a fever. We had been parents for exactly four months and began to get nervous about it. We had no parents handy …

Hindsight is 20/20

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In last week’s blog, Heath pointed out the tendency of people to base investment decisions on irrelevant facts or reference points. In the field of behavioral finance, this is known as anchoring. Heath provided a great example of anchoring: basing …

Test Your Own Behavioral Bias

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People are fascinating to me. You’d think that over thousands of years, the human brain would have evolved to become capable of making unbiased decisions as a means for survival. But based on James Montier’s book “Behavioral Investing” our brains …

Q1 2014 Newsletter

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Our 1st quarter newsletter features articles by the whole team. Q1 2014 Newsletter from Financial Synergies Asset Management, Inc

Duration Risk: What Bond Investors May Not Know

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As Mike Booker mentioned in the Q4 newsletter, we think bonds still deserve a place in most portfolios. After all, bonds are ultimately one of the greatest diversifiers an investor can own. Historically, conservative investors have allocated large percentages of …

What it Means to Be a “Registered Investment Advisor”

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When I was home over the holiday break, my father asked me a very important question about why we are different from other large brokerage firms. I simply responded with an impatient answer: “We are an RIA, Dad.” At that …

Investment Decisions at “Ludicrous Speed”

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Riding in the elevator this morning, a fellow passenger commented on how quickly the year had flown by for her. Every year about this time, I find myself having that conversation regularly. I’m sure you do as well. Indeed, each …

Worst Case Scenarios

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Negativity has permeated our society of late. Predictions of disastrous consequences from the federal debt ceiling impasse abound. Some pundits worry that inflation arising from dramatic increases in the monetary supply will surely diminish our future lifestyles. European sovereign debt crises will eventually contaminate the American banking system, and global warming will cause our coastal […]

Is Now a Good Time to Start Investing?

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“Is now a good time to start investing?” It’s a simple question, but it’s almost impossible to answer because it requires a market prediction. Most people agree that trying to predict the market is impossible, but it’s human nature to …

Syria and the Market

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The situation in Syria has gone from bad to worse over the last few weeks. The U.S. and allies are preparing for a possible military strike against President Assad’s regime in a country that has been torn apart by a brutal civil war. …

Take a Stand for What You Believe In

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Aaron Tippin is a country music artist that rose to fame in the early 1990’s. I was a teenager when his debut single was released, “You’ve Got To Stand For Something”. It became a popular anthem for Americans as we …

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