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An Alternate Reality You Need to Avoid!

dfa info, F5 financial, f5 financial planning, long-term investing, naperville financial, naperville financial planner, alternatives, alts, hedge funds, private equities, commodities, long-short strategies

I have a Ph.D. in industrial engineering with an emphasis in optimization theory. I have also put in the time and effort to earn my CFP® credentials. Yet I don’t spend a moment of time messing around with “alternatives.” In my opinion, all the hoopla around alts is merely marketing fluff and an effort to sell product. Disagree? Today’s article explains what the alts are—and shows you the data. You decide!

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Graduate Level Investing – Share Repurchases vs. Dividend Payouts

dfa info, F5 financial, f5 financial planning, long-term investing, naperville financial, naperville financial planner, graduate level investing, share repurchases, dividend payouts, share repurchases vs. dividend payouts

Today’s post is more of a “graduate level” topic, as it goes a bit deeper into pricing and valuation of stocks. This article compares and contrasts dividend payouts and share repurchases. Read on to understand how to apply this to your investment strategy.

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Back to School

dfa info, F5 financial, f5 financial planning, long-term investing, naperville financial, naperville financial planner, 529, higher education, paying for college, saving for college

It’s hard to believe, but we are only a few weeks away from “back-to-school” season. In this week’s blog post, we take a look at the issue of paying for college.

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Where’s the BEEF!

F5 financial, f5 financial planning, long-term investing, naperville financial, naperville financial planner, dfa info, value premium

OK, I’m doing the “bait and switch” thing with the BEEF promise: The real question here is “Where’s the VALUE?”—as in the issue of the value premium in investing! Read on to learn why the value premium matters to YOU.

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The Real Risk in Investing? Inflation!

dfa info, F5 financial, f5 financial planning, investing 101, Investment strategy, long-term investing, naperville financial, naperville financial planner, Inflation, risk, volatility, risk vs. volatility, volatility vs. risk

People always focus on the “risk” of the stock market. The reality is that the market is volatile—but NOT risky. In this week’s blog post I focus on the real risk in investing.

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Does the Market Hate Uncertainty—Or Do You?

dfa info, F5 financial, f5 financial planning, long-term investing, naperville financial, naperville financial planner, market volatility, uncertainty paradox

Personifying “The Market” feels good, but does it really make sense to do so? In my opinion, the market is rational and certain—it’s not an entity with thoughts and feelings. But people hate uncertainty! It’s people who act strangely when they perceive things as uncertain. How does the Uncertainty Paradox affect YOU?

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9 Key Questions for the Long-Term Investor

dfa info, f5 financial planning, fee-only, long-term investing, key questions, naperville financial, naperville financial planner, F5 financial, fee only

Often times individuals approach me about my “thoughts on the market.” Rarely do I provide them with the “silver bullet” that they are looking for when they ask. That’s because, in my opinion, there is no such thing. There are, however, some key questions that I believe all investors should ask. Nine such questions are:…

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