For Better or For Worse
Welcome to the TrestleBridge Capital Blog, For Better or For Worse. What’s with the name? You will get our unvarnished opinion and insights, For Better or….. you get it. This is intended to be a forum for unique stories and insights from within the financial services industry. Our intention is not to recap today’s news or what the market did in the previous week, you can look that up on Yahoo! Some strange and interesting stuff goes on when dealing with clients and lessons can be learned from these experiences. Ever wonder what kind of weird interactions go on in client meetings and how your advisor feels about it? This is the spot to find out. Do you have questions that you’d love to ask your advisor but you assume that they would be ‘over the line’ or inappropriate? Chances are that someone else has already asked those questions and you may just find a post about it here. While this blog is intended for clients and prospective clients to read and learn, it also greatly benefits me. Writing about these topics is therapeutic (my wife certainly doesn’t want to listen to me about them) and helps me to be a better advisor and investor as I have an opportunity to reflect upon my successes and failures. Thank you for your interest and please visit often.
How do people improve in their personal lives and at work? They learn from their mistakes. How about investors? Sadly, very few investors truly learn from past mistakes to increase their future chances of success. In this post I’d...
Read MoreMagic. It’s a divisive topic, at least it is in my household. I love magic, my wife can’t stand it. Did I watch, and love, the old David Copperfield television specials back in the day? You bet I did. Did the Statue of...
Read MoreBy: TrestleBridge Team Member, Tim Higgins In a recent meeting I was discussing a client’s portfolio allocation and how his mix of different asset classes provided a significant level of diversification. The client followed everything...
Read MoreThe original plan was to lead this post by posing a question like: can you imagine going to a restaurant, ordering a nice steak, and when it arrives, that’s it, just a HUGE STEAK?!! No grilled asparagus, no mashed potatoes or other...
Read MoreYou know the old expression about ‘winning the battle but not the war’? I think that all of the husbands out there know it all too well. I have a trophy case stocked with hardware from meaningless and insignificant...
Read MoreI’m not sure if any of the following situations have actually occurred in my life personally (convenient hedge) or if I’ve just seen each of them on television fifty thousand times. That being said, you know the cliché scenario where...
Read MoreHave you ever heard of the ‘Crab Mentality’? I’ve listened to enough motivational mumbo jumbo over the course of my career to have heard the analogy about ‘two crabs and a bucket’ a few times over. Full and fair disclosure: I’ve never...
Read MoreBy: Tim Higgins When your student is asked by their high school what they would want in a college, you often hear that certain characteristics are important to them like: location, size of school, majors offered, etc. However, in...
Read MoreHave you ever read the satirical newspaper The Onion? If you haven’t, you should check it out. It’s a great read, but as a bit of a health warning, it spares no one with its humor and jabs. For those easily-offended readers of this...
Read MoreThis post is about confidence and conviction. These are two traits that all great leaders, and investors for that matter, must possess. In mentioning General Patton in this post’s title, I in no way mean to draw a direct parallel...
Read MoreAs I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I have four kids. For those without children who may be rolling their eyes about the subject, I’d appreciate some slack because I can’t help it. These people have me surrounded (literally) and they...
Read MoreIt pains me to write this entry. You never want to bite the hand that feeds you, but in this case, I must. As a father of four, I’ve seen the movie The Sound of Music more than a few times. You know that song that goes...
Read MoreYou’ve probably heard of or read about studies where a group of people – hypothetically, drivers – are asked to rate themselves against their fellow drivers. Inevitably, virtually all respondents rate themselves as being ‘above...
Read MorePlease forgive the history lesson/re-hash, but we’ve all heard the story. It was the night of April 18, 1775 when Paul Revere took his famous “midnight ride” to warn the colonists that ‘the British are coming, the British are coming!’...
Read MoreLet’s talk about deflation. While it may be good for throwing a football, it’s generally bad for the economy. As many of you may know, I was born and raised in Boston, MA. So to start, let’s get all of the vitriolic DeflateGate jeers...
Read MoreI’d like to circle-back to my post from a couple of weeks back entitled The New Downsizing? Upsizing! with a quick and funny comment from a client. Real life examples are always great so I thought I’d pass one along. I was hosting a...
Read MoreI’ve noticed lately that a handful of advisory and money management firms are pandering to prospective clients by offering return of fee guarantees. These guarantees typically will say that if for any reason you are not satisfied...
Read MoreDownsizing. It seems to make so much sense. Under the typical storyline you buy a house, have and raise some kids, said kids go to college, graduate, get jobs, etc. You’re then left with a big house, 2 people, and lots of stuff....
Read MoreLet’s start this post by getting one thing out of the way: politics. This post has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with common sense. There are idiots and terrible ideas on both sides of the political aisle. Last...
Read More
