Author Archives: Michael Foley

Institutional investors like BlackRock don’t invest like the average investor. That’s because they have different investment objectives. That’s probably due to their clientele, which are other institutional investors or ultra-wealthy individuals. BlackRock’s own description of what it does on its website gives us a clue into why they approach investments differently than the average individual […]

For the longest time, the wealthy were wealthy not only because they invested in different asset classes than everyone else but also because they had access to many investments nobody else had access to. Instead of investing in traditional assets like stocks and bonds that anybody could invest in, the wealthy gravitated towards exclusive alternative […]

Why is it that you never hear about millionaires playing the lottery or slot machines in Vegas? Often the middle class and the poor pour their hard-earned money into games of chance. Why? Speculation, accessibility, and affordability. The poor and middle-class gamble and buy lottery tickets because they like the thrill of a potentially big […]

Who are you modeling your investment habits after? Most Americans are modeling their investment and financial habits after the wrong role models. The problem is following the wrong financial role models begins in childhood. Kids look up to their parents for advice and to set examples, but unfortunately, parents are not the best role models […]

Why do investors like playing games with their investments? What do I mean? What I mean is that most investors treat their investments like a game instead of as a productive machine for building wealth. What kind of games do investors like to play? There’s the Greater Fool Game, Hot Potato, and Russian Roulette. No […]

Your parents’ retirement plan will not work for you. Why? Because it’s not working for most parents. How can we expect it to work for us? All the financial advice we’ve received throughout our lives and about what we should do financially to be prepared for retirement doesn’t work. The proof is that “80% of […]

Why do investors diversify their portfolios? Because that’s what everyone is telling them to do. People diversify their stock portfolios but why? All the talking heads, so-called experts, and economists tout diversification for minimizing risk, but do you know what else it minimizes? Returns. Here’s the kicker:  While diversification minimizes risk, this is only true during […]

Remember your teens and early years of adulthood? Like me, I’m sure you did things and took risks you weren’t proud of and wouldn’t dream of doing today. For my part, I’m less likely to take risks with my health and safety these days, like in my younger years. That’s because now that I’m married […]

Don’t be fooled by the recent rally in everything from tech stocks to crypto, says Steve Eisman of “Big Short” fame. The Fed’s recent signaling of easing its aggressive rate hike agenda to combat inflation breathed new life into the markets, but don’t be fooled by this temporary spark, warns Eisman. The Neuberger Berman Group […]

To say the markets are in turmoil would be putting it lightly. In the summer of 2021, everyone was so sure and upbeat about the markets. Flush with stimulus cash, the stock and crypto markets were at all-time highs. However, 2022 was a different story. Stimulus money stopped, and inflation took center stage as the […]