Planning matters

Relevant? Yes. Natural? No.

A look at the similarities between social distancing and investing As we have all learned, social distancing can be effective in avoiding the spread of a disease by bringing down the rate of transmission and helping minimize or circumvent an outbreak. As I sit here on my birthday, social distancing is the topic consuming the…

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Is the Stock Market a Popularity Contest or a Scale?

If one of your New Year resolutions is to beef up your knowledge around the stock market, today’s blog post is for you! We take a look at the United States financial market and whether a popularity contest or scale is a better description.  The father of value investing Benjamin Graham explained, in somewhat dated…

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Oregon PERS Legislative Changes

During the 2019 legislative session, the Oregon Legislature and Governor passed Senate Bill 1049. The impacts of this bill don’t take effect until January 2020 at the earliest with some changes beginning July 2020. Active Oregon PERS members are impacted more than inactive members by the legislation, but it’s important for all members to understand…

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Happy 10th Birthday, Economic Expansion

The United States economy is in the midst of a record-breaking economic expansion. As of July 2019 the U.S. economy has grown for 121 months surpassing the previous record spanning from March 1991 to March 2001. While this seems like cause for celebration many investors who experienced the last recession have been looking over their…

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Overconfidence: There’s More to Thinking Than You Think

The concept of behavioral finance is a relatively new field of study that combines psychological theory with conventional economics. We may not realize it, but we all have certain biases as investors, and that impacts the financial decisions we each make. Even the most disciplined investor may have difficulty overcoming personal biases – it’s how…

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