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About JTheus

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So far JTheus has created 191 blog entries.

What’s Your Number? 65… 66… 67… 68

By |2022-09-10T19:49:36+00:00May 24, 2022|Retirement Income Planning|

  No, we’re not counting sheep or bottles of beer on the wall today. We’re talking about retirement age! Most Americans, according to CNBC, are hoping to retire by the age of 62. Wishful thinking? Maybe. 62 is also the age at which people can first claim Social Security retirement benefits, so long as they are eligible based on their work records. However, you should know that the age you start claiming benefits can affect how much you get! If you wait until full retirement age [...]

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Pigeons, Monte Hall, and the Cost of Bias

By |2022-09-10T19:49:36+00:00May 17, 2022|Investment Management|

It’s pretty obvious that birds have much smaller brains than humans. In fact, calling someone a birdbrain is considered an insult. Yet, research has shown that even though birds lack the analytical abilities of humans, they are superior to people in certain kinds of decision making. The evidence is in how our two species perform when solving the “Monte Hall” problem. Monte Hall was the host of the long running gameshow “Let’s Make A Deal.” During the show a contestant would be presented with three doors. [...]

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When Gauging Progress Towards Retirement, Avoid Fixating on a Single Number

By |2022-09-10T19:49:37+00:00May 10, 2022|Retirement Income Planning|

We’re used to assessing our wellbeing through metrics. Newborns are immediately given a numbered assessment for things like skin tone, breathing, and reflexes. School children regularly take standardized tests to determine their grade level in reading and math. High schoolers focus on their GPA and SAT scores. And as adults our routine check-ups involve tests with dozens of data points—our health by the numbers. In each case the metric comes with the question: How does this compare with others? We want to know that our kids [...]

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Good Days Follow Bad Days

By |2022-09-10T19:49:37+00:00May 3, 2022|Financial Market|

If the stock market were a person, you would not want to be around them very much. Imagine a friend who reacts unpredictably to every major piece of economic news, often several times a day. One minute they’re on top of the world. The next minute they’re sitting in a dark corner with their head in their hands declaring it’s all over. These are the daily ups and downs of a market that moves with complete unpredictability. It’s no wonder that investors who try to make [...]

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Retirement Investing: When Boring is Good

By |2022-09-10T19:49:38+00:00April 26, 2022|Investment Management, Retirement Income Planning|

If a friend describes the latest spy novel as “about as interesting as watching paint dry,” or a review says the plot of an award-winning film “is like watching grass grow”—you take that information as a warning. The book and the movie are boring. And the last thing you want when you’re looking for entertainment is to be bored. But when it comes to managing your finances and saving for retirement, boring is good. First of all, it’s proven to be the most effective way to [...]

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6 Tips for Happy Retirees

By |2022-09-10T19:49:38+00:00April 19, 2022|Retirement Income Planning|

  When most people think about retirement, they tend to think of it in terms of numbers. “How much money do I need to retire?” “How are my investments doing?” “Are all of my income sources going to cover my expenses?” “Will I run out of money?” And yes, the tangible details are important (it’s the cornerstone of everything I do!) but we can not afford to ignore the intangible. That’s how to make sure that you are happy when you finally stop working. After all, happy [...]

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When to View Charts and Graphs with Healthy Skepticism

By |2022-09-10T19:49:38+00:00April 12, 2022|Financial Market|

Pictures help us make sense of data. For example, when paleontologists unearth a single tooth, they can tell a lot about the animal it came from, including whether or not it’s a new species. When they publish their findings for their peers, they will include pages and pages of data. But when the discovery is announced to the public, it will likely be accompanied by a highly detailed illustration of the animal in its natural setting. The pictured animal is based on the data, but if [...]

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When a Crystal Ball is No Advantage

By |2022-09-10T19:49:38+00:00April 5, 2022|Financial Market|

One of the favorite tropes of time travel stories—movies, novels, or TV shows—is the prescient investor. This is a character who becomes fabulously wealthy by traveling to the past and buying high performing stocks before they take off. It’s a handy way to create a character with limitless resources, but it also fulfills the fantasy of every speculator: picking exactly the right stock again and again. Knowing what was going to happen in the future, a character could achieve the same result by buying winning lottery [...]

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Cryptocurrency: a big opportunity or a risky gamble?

By |2022-09-10T19:49:39+00:00March 29, 2022|Investment Management|

In 1995 plush toy maker Ty Warner had a problem. His Chinese supplier could no longer make his top-selling stuffed animal, a lamb named Lovie. Warner was worried that when customers found out they could no longer buy this popular item, they would be upset. He came up with a solution that would make him a billionaire. Instead of telling his retailers about his manufacturing woes, Warner decided to announce the discontinuation of Lovie as a planned “retirement.” Soon customers were calling their local gift shops [...]

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“No thanks”—The 5 Worst Assets to Pass Down to Your Kids

By |2022-09-10T19:49:39+00:00March 22, 2022|Theus Wealth Advisors|

Each generation has different tastes and values when it comes to possessions. And nowhere is this difference more apparent than when it comes time to pass them along. It can be a shock to downsizing parents when they learn that none of their children want grandma’s big, formal dining table and chairs. It may be that the next generation doesn’t decorate with large oak pieces, or they simply don’t have any place to put it. Either way, it’s difficult for the older generation to see a [...]

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