The timing of Teacher Appreciation Week (May 7–11) and Mother’s Day (May 13) got me to thinking about what my mom taught me about finance. While mothers may not be teachers in the official sense, they play an important role in teaching us about the world around us.
I have to admit up front that if you’re reading this blog based on the title, you’re in for a bit of a surprise, and I hope you won’t feel too bad about being hoodwinked.
Articles with titles like this are almost obligatory in the financial press this time of year. If you’re reading this, you know why: They get people to read. Everyone wants an inside track on what’s going to be “hot” next year.
I remember first being introduced to the concept of market efficiency during business school. At the time, I was working for a large Wall Street firm in close proximity to the equity trading floor. As I thought about the precision with which market efficiency was being described in class and contrasted that with the controlled chaos of the trading desk, I couldn’t quite reconcile the two.
As the years have passed, I’ve had more opportunities to learn about financial theory, as well as observe how people make financial decisions in general, and investment decisions in particular. I still struggle with how markets can be efficient when people are involved!
In response to my most recent post, “Give ‘thoughtomation’ a try,” I received this helpful idea from a reader:
“Why don’t you post a spreadsheet with comparisons of saving early vs saving late in life? That is the most important thing young investors need to see.”
I recently attended the Pennsylvania Conference for Women with a group of Vanguard colleagues. The conference featured an impressive array of speakers who focused on a broad range of personal and professional development topics for women. Sessions were offered on building a small business, leveraging social media, cultivating mentor relationships, and seemingly everything in between. But given that I work in the financial services industry, and that my area of focus at Vanguard is investment advice, I was most interested in the breakout session led by money coach Farnoosh Torabi, author of Psych Yourself Rich.
