Invested Poorly: Sad Tales of FInancial Fails

When it comes to navigating the twists and turns of stock market investing, do you choose poorly? Or wisely? Experience suggests most of us are bad investors, although you may not hear this from speaking with friends and family. Sadly, the compounding effect of poor investment decisions can add up to a lot of money lost and time wasted.

On Invested Poorly: Sad Tales of FInancial Fails, host Jeff Harrell offers unique perspective and energy as he guides you through common pitfalls that trap everyday investors. You’ll hear real-life investing stories sure to make you laugh, cry, think, and learn. These “don’t let this happen to you” lessons teach you to recognize, and eliminate, the bad behavioral tendencies most investors have—so you can become the hero of your own investment story.

You might be surprised (or you might not!) when you realize just how attainable financial independence (FI) can be if you invest simply and “ignore the noise.”

ABOUT YOUR HOST: Jeff Harrell spent over two decades as a financial advisor, portfolio manager, and public speaker. He left his financial services career for a more flexible, less stressful, location independent (LI) lifestyle, and now enjoys educating family, friends—and everyday investors—on how to invest their money wisely.

Podcast produced by Ted Cragg of QuickEditPodcasts.com

Music Credit: Dream Cave / Adventure Awaits / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

Having a well-diversified portfolio is one of the main goals of most investment strategies. Although few would argue with this, the reality is that many investors eventually lose sight of why diversification was implemented in the first place.
This episode illustrates, with vivid examples, how investors might say they want something, but what they actually do completely contradicts their stated desire.
Jeff Harrell also addresses whether there is any scenario in which it makes sense to ignore diversification. And he shares some insider’s knowledge about something financial service firms call “window dressing”... you’ll want to hear this.
If you were under the impression “playing Monday morning quarterback” was reserved for sports and political conversations, think again. You’ll learn just how bad investors are at second-guessing their actions when those decisions don’t work out exactly the way they thought they would.
(Season 2 Episode 2)
Other Episode Referenced:

• Stock Market Experts on TV Are So Smart...But Can They See the Future? (S1 E9)
  

Podcast produced by Ted Cragg of QuickEditPodcasts.com
Music Credit: Dream Cave / Adventure Awaits / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

Every investor at some point will experience FOMO (fear of missing out). Friends, family, and “experts” influence our investment decisions due to this feeling of FOMO which is rooted in our feelings of fear or greed. Arm yourself with stories of failure and actual data points to help keep you from succumbing to this common investor trap.
Jeff Harrell recalls one of his favorite investor FOMO examples that many listeners might remember, the GameStop saga of 2020, and reminds us how so many investors got caught up in the hype...to their financial detriment.
Jeff also cites statistics from a financial economics report that compared the investment performance of stocks to one-month Treasury bills. The findings are astonishing!
This episode will leave you wanting to ask yourself, honestly, “How confident am I that I can select one of the really big winners in the stock market?”
(Season 1 Episode 12)
Resource Mentioned in Episode:

• Journal of Financial Economics paper, “Do Stocks Outperform Treasury Bills?”
  

Podcast produced by Ted Cragg of QuickEditPodcasts.com
Music Credit: Dream Cave / Adventure Awaits / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

Are you sure you understand the "Cost Basis" and “Gain/Loss” columns on your investment statements? Cost basis and gain/loss calculations are two commonly misunderstood investment terms. Learn what these calculations actually represent.
Jeff Harrell uses several examples to illustrate how cost basis can be misleading and breaks down this technical concept to help you get a better handle on understanding your investment performance.
What most investors want to know is: how do I determine the performance of a security I’ve invested in, or maybe even the overall performance of my accounts? Jeff provides resources that investors can use to obtain the information you are really looking for when referencing cost basis or that “gain/loss” number.
(Season 1 Episode 8)
Resources Mentioned in Episode:

• Vanguard article, “Cost basis doesn't equal performance”
• Morningstar.com – Type any symbol in their website's search box to find the security and then click on the tab for "Performance" (mutual funds, ETFs) or "Trailing Returns" (stocks). It will take you to a page on Morningstar’s website that shows you all relevant trailing returns and, even better, compares them to relevant benchmarks so you can evaluate the performance.
  

Other Episodes Referenced:

• Stocks are Risky...False Fact! (S1 E4)
• My Investments Are Doing Awesome (Or Terrible)...How Do You Know? (S1 E5)
  

Podcast produced by Ted Cragg of QuickEditPodcasts.com
Music Credit: Dream Cave / Adventure Awaits / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

Will the next presidential election be the “most important election ever”? You might think so when following popular media outlets where every four years we have the “most important election ever!”
Recognizing how this may be true in some ways—since elections, especially presidential elections, are a big deal—host Jeff Harrell reveals that when it comes to investing...it’s just another year. Failure to recognize this could be very costly if you let your emotions get the better of you.
Jeff describes two (of many!) real-life examples of politically-motivated investment decisions and how they ended up not working out for those investors. And if you’ve ever wondered whether the stock market performs better under a Democratic or a Republican administration, tune in because the facts may surprise you.
(Season 1 Episode 1)
Resource Mentioned in Episode:

• Chart, “How Much Impact Does the President Have on Stocks”
  

Podcast produced by Ted Cragg of QuickEditPodcasts.com
Music Credit: Dream Cave / Adventure Awaits / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com