3 Nov 2025

What Does It Mean to Eat Our Own Cooking?

We often say that we eat our own cooking, and I think everyone understands what we mean: we personally invest in the same strategies and products that we recommend to our clients. As fiduciaries, we’re already required to put our clients’ interests ahead of our own. Technically, I suppose it’s possible to meet that obligation while investing differently ourselves, but it wouldn’t make much sense. What we’re really saying is… Read More

By David Ott Tags: , , , ,
27 Oct 2025

Get Up and Dance

Last week, I wrote about Alan Greenspan’s now-famous phrase, “irrational exuberance,” and made the case that timing the market is, at best, a fool’s errand. Greenspan uttered those words so early in the tech bubble that investors who sold after his warning and sat in cash ended up with roughly the same post-crash results as those who stayed invested through the rise and fall. This week, I found myself thinking… Read More

By David Ott Tags: , , , ,
29 Sep 2025

The Fund Performed Fine. Investors, Not So Much

For several years, Morningstar has released its annual Mind the Gap study, which highlights the difference between what a fund returns and the returns investors actually realize. The study underscores a familiar struggle: investors chase performance—jumping into funds after the best gains have passed, or bailing out during a slump only to miss the rebound. The penalty for this behavior is steeper than many realize. Over the 10 years ending… Read More

By David Ott Tags: , , , , , ,
23 Jun 2025

Beyond Taxes: Estate Planning Matters Enormously

When the federal estate tax exemption started climbing rapidly in the 2000s (and even went to zero for one year in 2010), an estate lawyer friend told me he was glad because estate planning shouldn’t be so focused on tax avoidance. “What do you mean?!?” I thought. I had always believed that tax savings were the main point of estate planning. And in 2002, when we launched Acropolis, the tax… Read More

By David Ott Tags: , , , ,
2 Jun 2025

Gold is Glittering Bright (maybe too bright)

It’s not surprising that clients are inquiring about gold, as it has risen 25.3 percent so far this year. When we started this business in August 2002, I thought gold was a terrible investment idea. However, in the 273 months since then, it has handily beaten foreign stocks and bonds, and even eked out a small win over the S&P 500. That’s right, during this time frame, gold gained 10.9… Read More

By David Ott Tags: , , , , , , ,
12 May 2025

Graduation & Compounding

Many thanks to Ryan Craft for writing last week’s market summary. I couldn’t write last week at the last minute because my eldest child unexpectedly won an award from the English Department a day before graduation, and we had to change our travel plans. Graduation was so exciting – I couldn’t have been more proud. I’d been hoping for that day since before she was born, and within a month… Read More

By David Ott Tags: , , ,
21 Apr 2025

The Trouble with Timing

When the stock market sold -10.7 percent in the three days following Liberation Day, a handful of clients called and asked, ‘Hold the course, right?’ They knew what I would say, and they all held on, and I was relieved. When President Trump paused his tariff plan the following week, the S&P 500 rose 9.5 percent. That wasn’t enough to offset the loss, but it went a long way. One… Read More

By David Ott Tags: , , , , , ,
11 Apr 2025

Portfolio Insights

We are pleased to provide a digital copy of Portfolio Insights, our quarterly newsletter. Table of Contents: Stock Market Summary Bond Market Review How do Tariffs Work? Inside the Economy Proactive Fraud Prevention The Big Picture Click here to read the issue: 1Q 2025 Portfolio Insights

By David Ott Tags: ,
7 Apr 2025

Buckle Down and Buckle Up

When we meet with clients to create or review a financial plan, there’s a section where we try to get a sense of risk tolerance. We’ll show an asset allocation and its long-term expected return, and then, in big red numbers, what this portfolio would have lost in the 2008 financial crisis. We show it in percentage and dollar terms, based on the portfolio size at that time. The idea… Read More

By David Ott Tags: , , , , , , ,
31 Mar 2025

ETF Hotsauce

I listen to a lot of investment podcasts, and one of the ones I enjoy the most is Trillions, produced by Bloomberg. It stars two journalists, Joel Weber and Eric Balchunas (pronounced bal-chew-ness, as best I can tell), and a few other rotating cast members. I enjoy listening because the hosts are Generation Xers (like myself), who are funny and down to earth. They feel like friends who talk in… Read More

By David Ott Tags: , , , , , , ,