I've been taught that investing is something that is best done passively: buy a diversified portfolio that tries to maximize expected return (by asset class) while minimizing overall risk of the portfolio (by having non-correlated assets.) I've read books like "The Incredible Shrinking Alpha" and scholarly papers, both, that explain that we aren't ( Read more... )

Here's a weird thing. After spending twenty years growing the brand name of my business, after growing beyond my capacity to function, I closed that business and changed the name and essentially abandoned the good will I'd created ( Read more... )

Most of my clients want to invest in "socially responsible" funds. I need to smooth out my answer to this. I still haven't found a really good conversation about this anywhere in my industry even though I've tried from various times ( Read more... )

I was walking with my husband this weekend and mentioned that Donald Trump had told CNN that being president was harder than he imagined. I said that I kept waiting for him to resign, that I figured he would grow bored of having a job and quit when the pressure became unpleasant ( Read more... )

On this day last year I had 83 returns ready for me to do as I went to bed that night. Tonight it stands at 40 ready to do. I'm staying on top of my load better, at least partly thanks to a lovely snowstorm today. But part of what made the storm so lovely is that it landed on the day *before* I had a scheduled backlog day, so I just slipped all the ( Read more... )

Today Small Boy mowed the lawn at the office building. Please, God, let that be the last time we ever have to mow there. I just need one thing off my plate and please let it be the office building ( Read more... )

There's an episode in Doctor Who where the Prime Minister of Great Britain pisses of the Doctor and he says, "I can get you removed from power with just four words." She laughs at him and continues to do the thing that pisses him off. Later, he concern-trolls to a political rival, "Doesn't she look tired ( Read more... )

I made a deal with my tenants that no one would be brought upstairs to see their apartments on a first showing. Only serious lookers who wanted to see it a second time could go upstairs, and we'd give them warning. We've stood by that ( Read more... )

I am in an odd bill dispute with a long-time client. She thinks my bill is unconscionably high.  I'm confused because it's very close to my minimum bill, i.e., not very high, and I kept it to the amount I quoted them in January in writing.  Apparently she never looked at the bill.  Not in years?  Because I didn't really go up this year very much at ( Read more... )

In an email to a client: "What's worrying me is there's no such thing as a "reconciliation discrepency" of $4391.22.  That's called "not having your bookkeeping done ( Read more... )