This blog is dedicated to and designed to help the 300 million working Americans who are NOT involved in the financial services industry. Those of us who want to manage our own money. Those of us who want to be responsible for our own financial futures. Those of us who do not want to outsource our investment management decisions for a two to five percent of our assets under management. Those of us who are tired of hoping that the market will bounce back from its latest 50% downturn. It is a blog intended to simplify and condense your investing life and provide you with the tools you need to make effective and timely investment decisions in any market cycle.
The crippling market downturns of 2001 and 2008 showed us that the buy and hold or "buy and hope" strategy of investing is dead. The first 10 years of this century have left our investment portfolios flat at best and pushed our patience levels to the edge. The 24 hour news cycles and endless chatter about the day's market activity have left us scratching our heads and incapable of making crucial decisions. We need to be able to drown out the noise and follow a simple but effective methodology of investing that allows us to play aggressive defense in bear markets and capture as much upside as possible in strong bull markets. We need to have an active strategy with a simple system of implementing that strategy. The goal of this blog is to provide you with a real time, week to week look at the exact investment decisions and portfolio changes I am making.
In the mean time, I am compiling a book with some market history, background and crucial financial and economic topics that I use in my investment decision making process that enable me to cut through the clutter of misinformation and get on with my life. The book will be entitled 'Investivus: The Investing Guide for the Rest of Us', and I will keep you posted as to its progression... and I have that copy written so don't go trying to steal that idea.... plus my wife is an attorney and I'll have her track you down if you do.
For now, details about the investing process will be introduced in the blog and key topics will be discussed as time passes. In the "Cheat Sheet" section of the blog Each week I will leave you with the exact asset class breakdown and portfolio composition that I have any changes I may be implementing or contemplating in the upcoming week. In the "Score Card" section of the blog I will post up to date portfolio performance stats as compared to other selected benchmarks... that should be interesting. This information is for you to do with as you please. I am not a day trader and I am not a long term investor. In short, I invest my money where, to the best of my analytical abilities, it should be invested TODAY. If the overall situation changes and my preferred indicators change, then so will my investments. Sometimes things change ten times a year and sometimes they don't change dramatically for six or seven years. My investment strategy is not sexy or flashy. It is simple and effective. If you are looking for promises of 3000% returns in two years, there are other sites for that.
I am no longer a paid investment advisor. I did not enjoy that business. I liked the IDEA of it and am truly motivated by helping and educating people, but that industry is not where I wanted to be in the long run. In October of 2010 I parted ways with one of the big wall street firms. As of today, I am still a FINRA licensed financial advisor and securities broker licensed with the series 7, 66 and 31. I also have an MBA with a concentration in Real Estate and Finance. I have long been interested in business and the markets and even more so in the general idea of "finding a better way" to get things done. My hope and desire is that I can help you find a better way when it comes to your own investing. Whether you are just getting started in investing or have been at it for a while... whether you are responsible for ten thousand bucks or ten million, the process and concepts I subscribe to are transferable. I hope you find them useful. Happy Investing!!
-Ben Crowley
For now, details about the investing process will be introduced in the blog and key topics will be discussed as time passes. In the "Cheat Sheet" section of the blog Each week I will leave you with the exact asset class breakdown and portfolio composition that I have any changes I may be implementing or contemplating in the upcoming week. In the "Score Card" section of the blog I will post up to date portfolio performance stats as compared to other selected benchmarks... that should be interesting. This information is for you to do with as you please. I am not a day trader and I am not a long term investor. In short, I invest my money where, to the best of my analytical abilities, it should be invested TODAY. If the overall situation changes and my preferred indicators change, then so will my investments. Sometimes things change ten times a year and sometimes they don't change dramatically for six or seven years. My investment strategy is not sexy or flashy. It is simple and effective. If you are looking for promises of 3000% returns in two years, there are other sites for that.
I am no longer a paid investment advisor. I did not enjoy that business. I liked the IDEA of it and am truly motivated by helping and educating people, but that industry is not where I wanted to be in the long run. In October of 2010 I parted ways with one of the big wall street firms. As of today, I am still a FINRA licensed financial advisor and securities broker licensed with the series 7, 66 and 31. I also have an MBA with a concentration in Real Estate and Finance. I have long been interested in business and the markets and even more so in the general idea of "finding a better way" to get things done. My hope and desire is that I can help you find a better way when it comes to your own investing. Whether you are just getting started in investing or have been at it for a while... whether you are responsible for ten thousand bucks or ten million, the process and concepts I subscribe to are transferable. I hope you find them useful. Happy Investing!!
-Ben Crowley
