Cory Burnell

Knowledgeable investors are aware that investing in the capital markets presents any number of risks—interest-rate risk, company risk, and market risk. Risk is an inseparable companion to the potential for long-term growth. Some of the investment risks we face can be mitigated through diversification.¹ As an investor, you face another, less-known risk for which the market does not compensate you, nor can it be easily reduced through diversification. Yet it may be the biggest challenge to the sustainability of your retirement income. This risk is called the sequence of returns risk. The sequence of returns risk refers to the uncertainty of the order of returns an investor will receive over an extended period of time. As Milton Friedman once observed, you should, “Never try to walk across a river just because it has an average depth of four feet.”² Sequence of Returns Mr. Freidman’s point was that averages may hide dangerous possibilities. This is especially true with the stoc...

Some of us share a common experience. You’re driving along when a police cruiser pulls up behind you with its lights flashing. You pull over, the officer gets out, and your heart drops. “Are you aware the registration on your car has expired?”  You’ve experienced one of the costs of procrastination. Procrastination can cause missed deadlines, missed opportunities, and just plain missing out. Procrastination is avoiding a task that needs to be done—postponing until tomorrow what could be done today. Procrastinators can sabotage themselves. They often put obstacles in their own path. They may choose paths that hurt their performance. Though Mark Twain famously quipped, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” We know that procrastination can be detrimental, both in our personal and professional lives. Problems with procrastination in the business world have led to a sizable industry in books, articles, workshops, videos, and other products cre...