December's Great Reads

A shorter list this month, because if you’re not baking and shopping and partying and preparing I want you to be relaxing. But if you’re relaxing already and want something good to read, you might enjoy reading about the beauty of re-gifting, budgeting like a flamingo, evidence-based retirement planning, and maybe not asking your banker if borrowing to invest is a good idea.

And if you can’t get to those, these three articles are a must.

The Unusual Reason it’s Hard to Finish the Year Strong Is...

From Jacquette Timmons

You’re about to be inundated with advice for finishing the year strong and starting 2018 well, and Jacquette has some uncomfortable truth for you:

“You see, your year-end review doesn’t just give you a snap shot of what’s happened with your money over the course of a year. It reveals your relationship with money. “It reveals a pattern of behavior regarding your choices, habits, and priorities. It reveals your values and what is important to you – not based solely on your words, but your deeds. “It reveals the tension between the person you are and the one you see yourself as being or becoming. And, I believe confronting this tension is the unusual reason it’s hard to do what is needed to finish the year strong(er). Because there is something you’re not ready to see.”

Read the full article here.

Five Simple Behavioural Tips for Better Long-Term Investment Decision Making

From Joe Wiggins

I can’t recommend these behaviours highly enough. I want you to laminate them and keep them in your pocket, and read them multiple times a day so you truly begin to act accordingly.Read the full article here.

We’re All Innocently Out of Touch

From Morgan Housel

We talked a little bit about this concept in a recent episode of Because Money with Dave O’Leary: how much our first exposure to investing and market activity frames our reasoning for the rest of our lives to some degree or another.

“An American born in 1970 saw stocks rise more than eightfold in their teens and 20s. An American born in 1950 saw stocks go nowhere in their teens and 20s. In Japan, the difference between back-to-back generations was losing 100% of your money vs. making 11.5x on your money. “Do you think these groups went through the rest of their lives thinking the stock market was capable of the same thing? Or posed the same risks? Or equally capable at securing a comfortable retirement?”

Read the full article here.

You can read this month's entire list below:

 Are You Budgeting like a Cat, a Monkey or a Flamingo? | Chris Enns

Do Just This One Thing To Improve Your Productivity Today | Niklas Goeke

Hoping to turbocharge your returns by borrowing to invest? Read this first | Tom Bradley

"Don’t get your banker involved until you’ve gone through good and bad markets with an all-equity portfolio."

Three Tips for Evidence-Based Retirement Plans | CFA Institute Enterprising Investor

“As the weather over each growing season and at harvest makes each vintage of wine unique, the year the client retires and the portfolio distributions begin has a big influence on the overall retirement experience.“

In Defense of Shameless Regifting | Piggy

“Wow, myrrh!” Mary exclaimed, “Babies just love fragrant gum resin! Thank you so much!” Then after the wise men left, she discreetly exchanged it for a Diaper Genie, because Saint Anne didn’t raise no fools. It’s in Matthew, look it up.”

Two Ways to Think About Making $30,000 a Year | Chris Enns

“For someone who doesn’t know a lot about money, ‘income’ seems like a really good metric.And sometimes it is.But you guys know that income is a hard thing to depend on. And I’m here to tell you that if you’re expecting more income to make you worry less… it won’t.”