Some of the best educational material that we collect as advisors comes from your personal stories about investing. Real experiences are so valuable because they come with a context and background—making them an incredibly valuable tool to assist in our own decisions.

In addition to our clients’ stories, we get nearly as many from those we encounter outside of the office in our day-to-day interactions. Consider this story from a flight several years ago:

A middle-aged woman sitting next to me introduced herself when she saw one of the recent Swedroe books in my hand. She was particularly interested because she had just lost her parents and would be inheriting their estate in the coming months. One issue weighed heavily on her mind. Her parents chose to restrict access to her inheritance while giving her sister more favorable treatment. Sitting right there on that plane, she broke down.

Hers is a lesson we’ll never forget. She had one wish: If only her parents would have said something—anything—directly to her, she wouldn’t be left with so many questions about their decision. What concerns did they have? How did her sister earn their trust, and she did not? Why did they leave her to find out from an attorney?

We often say that a simple conversation with your children or other beneficiaries can create a powerful dialogue about deeper issues. One example: Is there anything they can understand about your wishes to make them better stewards of your wealth? 

Friends and clients of our firm know that we’ve been singing the same evidence-based refrain for many years, so it is a pleasure to see when the major financial media joins in our song. In the Sunday, August 22nd issue of The Wall Street Journal, Jason Zweig concludes that the old-fashioned, active fund manager is dead. Anyone with that job description is best served looking for new employment.

Jason bases his piece on a recent submission by Charles Ellis to the Financial Analysts Journal, The Rise and Fall of Performance Investing (subscription required). Here’s an excerpt from the summary of Ellis’ article:

As acceptance of indexing grows, clients and managers have an opportunity to stop focusing on price discovery (which has made our markets so efficient) and refocus on values discovery, whereby investment professionals can help investors achieve good performance by structuring an appropriate, long-term investment program and staying with it.

So where will the active managers land next? Today, there are only a few hundred thousand financial advisors for tens of millions of investors. Ellis asks, “Who better to fill the insatiable demand for financial advisers than former portfolio managers who know firsthand how hard it is to beat the market?”

Click here to read Jason Zweig’s WSJ piece (subscription required).

We are big believers in carrying our philosophies through all aspects of our work, including the workspace itself. It’s important to us that when clients walk into our office, they feel the trust, attention and transparency that is at the core of our relationships—not to mention the impact it has on each of us as a day-to-day work environment.

Amie Corley of Amie Corley Interiors recently guided us through a redesign of our office space. We are more than pleased with the results and flattered to be highlighted in St. Louis Magazine’s “First View” section this month.