What You Should Know About Giving Stocks as Graduation Gifts

by Elle Kaplan | Jun 7, 2016 | BDE, Investing

With graduation season in full swing, you may be considering giving a graduate stocks or another investment. If you haven’t considered this yet, you should; it’s a wise gift that can repay your favorite graduate for years to come,  and can also encourage...

Avoiding Familiarity Bias as an Investor

by Elle Kaplan | Jun 6, 2016 | BDE, Investing

Often, we’re inclined to buy local or to go with something that we’re familiar with. Take produce, for instance – if there was a local farm you had visited, you’d probably be more likely to purchase food from there over an unknown source from the supermarket. This is...

Does the Presidential Election Affect the Stock Market?

by Elle Kaplan | May 25, 2016 | BDE, Investing

With the highly publicized and heated election coming up, a question I often get asked is “does the presidential election affect the stock market?” Many are concerned that the huge uncertainty before the election can affect the stock market and plenty more are also...

Avoiding Loss Aversion in Investing

by Elle Kaplan | May 24, 2016 | BDE, Investing

We naturally don’t enjoy losing – whether it’s just a through a friendly sports game or an intense competition, we’ve all felt that sting before. What you may not realize is that we naturally despise losing so much that we notice it far more than a gain. In...

Avoiding Overconfidence in Investing: a Key to Long-term Success

by Elle Kaplan | May 23, 2016 | BDE, Investing

While there are some instances where having excess confidence is helpful (like in a job interview), it can often prove harmful. For example, numerous studies have been developed on the confidence of drivers – and around 80-90 percent of them wind up rating themselves...

Some Conventional Financial Wisdom You Should Ignore

by Elle Kaplan | May 17, 2016 | BDE, Investing

Conventional wisdom exists everywhere, and although it’s typically accepted at face value as theory, it turns out to be wrong quite frequently. For example, millions of people used to be absolutely certain that the earth was flat. This holds truer than ever in...