Author Archives: Mark Helm, CFP, EA

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Inigo Montoya from the 1987 film The Princess Bride. “Alpha” is the holy grail of investing. Alpha simply means outperforming the appropriate risk-adjusted benchmark. … Continue reading →

“Worldly wisdom teaches that it is better for reputation to fail conventionally than to succeed unconventionally.” – John Maynard Keynes In my previous blog, I showed the dismal expected returns for U.S. Treasury bonds and large-cap American stocks over the … Continue reading →

“Face reality as it is, not as it was or as your wish it to be,” Jack Welch. Alright, Jack, let’s face some reality. Investment returns for your average American investor over the next 10 years or so are not … Continue reading →

The more that I learn about investing, the more I learn that investing is simply rediscovering commonsense lessons about everything in life through statistics. Here’s one a great lesson in how to think about a problem (any problem) by turning … Continue reading →

It’s one thing for your average Joe or Jane out there to be a poor investor. They likely don’t know much about investing, and they’re so busy with jobs and family that they don’t have a lot of time (or … Continue reading →

People love the idea of alternative investments. I mean, they’re alternative, right? Why stick with plain old stocks and bonds when you can invest in cool-sounding investments like hedge funds and private equity. But just how alternative are these other … Continue reading →

“Reports of my death have been exaggerated,” Mark Twain The last five years have been about as good as it gets for big American stocks. Indeed, the S&P 500 has doubled in value since January 2010. For international stocks, not … Continue reading →

What is the value of a good financial plan? It’s a hard question to answer sometimes. What price do you put on sleeping well? How do you put a dollar value on mistakes avoided? Can you quantify the feeling of … Continue reading →

Nobody can predict what will happen in the stock market over the short term, and, yes, the short term in my book is anything less than five years, which for most investors – and, sadly, most investment advisors – is … Continue reading →

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Thanksgiving. While seemingly every other holiday has been commercialized and distorted, Thanksgiving remains the simple gathering of friends, family and neighbors to enjoy good food and each other’s company. (I … Continue reading →