By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Monday, 19 June 2017
Behavioral biases directly challenge an investor’s ability to make consistent, rational and logical investment decisions when faced with distractions. These distractions come from the media, uncertainty and volatility in the markets, or pressure to buy and sell from friends, relatives, financial “gurus” and other less than reliable sources for investment advice. Being able to identify distractions and put them in context can help investors see beyond their own human nature and act with more discipline when it comes to their portfolio choices.
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Tuesday, 16 May 2017
We had no idea that global headlines would be full of stories about on-line threats just days before we published a blog on enhancing cybersecurity! In fact, the ink “dried” on our newest post a few days before the most recent tech scare hit the news. Although the solutions in the following article are not 100% “hacker-proof”, they will offer the best protection from threats like ransomware, malware and identity theft. We hope our blog will help improve your online security.
The first personal computer introduced about 40 years ago filled an entire room, and has now shrunk to the size of something that fits in our back pocket. Just as technology has improved over time, so have the security protocols that are required to help protect us from digital theft. These security protocols that have been written by experts to help protect our critical and private data.
In an increasingly digital and technological world it can be overwhelming to grasp what the best practices are when it comes to ensuring that our data is safe and secure. The best place to begin is to understand where and how data breaches can occur, and then determine the best options to defend yourself from these types of threats.
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Friday, 03 February 2017
One of our responsibilities as an investment advisor is to help you put market news in its proper perspective, especially when the media is reporting global market corrections in the wake of political events.
If you're reading or watching the popular press, you're seeing a lot of storm and fury having to do with the new presidency, Brexit, rising interest rates, and general uncertainty of what is to come. As the popular media scrambles to explain the unexplainable – what is happening with the markets right now, what may happen in the future and how long it's going to last – we thought we'd share a headline of our own:
"The stock market is a giant distraction to the business of investing."
So said Vanguard founder John Bogle in his 2007 classic, "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing."
These are timeless words to invest by, as is Bogle's deeper explanation of them:
Wednesday, 09 March 2016
Spring is arriving a little early to Minneapolis this year, bringing fun and optimism as we start to embrace spending more time outside. We were fortunate to have a relatively short and mild winter this year but we have now officially entered the time of year for bike rides, walks, and re-connecting with neighbors. The changing of the seasons is a friendly reminder to take stock of a lot of things in life, happily (for me at least) saying farewell to winter while welcoming what's next. It's also an opportunity for the traditional Spring Cleaning which I seem to look forward to more than my kids who would almost prefer to do extra homework than try on summer clothes to see if anything from last year still fits their growing bodies. Spring is a great time of year to review your finances and prepare for the year ahead. It has also become an exciting time for our team as we prepare to celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of founding Flourish Wealth Management on April 16th. I
n honor of the mixed themes of renewal and reflection, we are presenting a series of articles that should provide some additional perspective to the investment and planning process.
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Thursday, 04 February 2016
We all struggle to some extent with the daily balance between mental, physical, social, and financial health. There are a variety of ways we can embrace this balancing act with a proactive and healthy approach. Our goal at Flourish Wealth Management is to help clients achieve their long-term planning goals, and the strategies outlined in this issue of Flourish Insights provide information that is complementary to the dollars and cents we tend to focus on during meetings.
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