Retirement Distribution Strategies-Part 1
One of the most important decisions in retirement planning is how to withdraw your retirement savings in a way that maximizes income and...
Financial Planning and Investment Management For Physicians, By Physicians
SHEARWATER CAPITAL
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Financial Strategies for Retirement
Most people approaching retirement are concerned about having enough income to maintain their lifestyle and sufficient savings to avoid...
Why Dimensional?
When Shearwater Capital was founded in 1999, most financial advisors were recommending actively managed funds with exorbitant annual...
History Lessons
A fundamental principle of financial economics is the idea that risk and return are inextricably linked. However, when it comes to...
Positive Expected Returns
“What’s the stock market going to do?” If you have read our past newsletters, you know that we are not market prognosticators. It is...
Estate Planning: Why It's Important
The main purpose of estate planning is to exert some control over the distribution of your assets after your death. One of the most...
Dimensional Funds vs. ETFs
As a fee-only, independent investment advisory firm, we are free to choose any available investment option for our clients. For the past...
Cryptocurrencies & the Blockchain Revolution
By now, you have undoubtedly heard of cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Not surprisingly, we have received inquiries about...
Market Complacency
Since 2012, the stock market has demonstrated below average volatility and positive returns, potentially lulling investors into a false...
Time Value of Money
The time value of money is the concept that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar next month, next year, or ten years from now. This...
Socially Responsible Investing
Socially responsible investing refers to an investment strategy that considers the potential impact of your investments on society in additi
No Load Insurance
What's the answer? "Buy more life insurance!" What's the question? "Doesn't matter...the answer is always the same" This standard joke...
Why Invest in Stocks?
Why do we invest in stocks? Stocks are risky. Why not just buy U.S. treasury bonds and get a guaranteed rate of return backed by the full...
Social Security (Part 1)
An often overlooked component of retirement planning is how best to utilize your Social Security benefits. Some financial advisors...
How to Build Your Roth Assets: Part 2
We recommend building your retirement assets by contributing to three separate “buckets” of money: 1) traditional retirement accounts; 2)...
How to Build Your Roth Assets: Part 1
We recommend building your retirement assets by contributing to three separate “buckets” of money: 1) traditional retirement accounts; 2)...
The Randomness of Asset Class Returns
Academic research has shown that there is little predictability in asset class performance from one year to the next. To illustrate this...
Individual Bonds: Are They Really Better Than Bond Funds?
In constructing our client portfolios, we rely primarily on DFA funds, for both equity and fixed income securities. While most of our...
Advisor’s Alpha
Vanguard recently published a white paper on “advisor’s alpha,” in which they discuss and attempt to quantify the value an investment...
How Much to Save
Two of the most common questions people ask about retirement planning are, “How much should I save?” and “Am I on track with my...