Sound Mind Investing takes an unusually comprehensive and disciplined financial-planning approach. It attempts to establish its reader’s “investment temperament” by means of an online quiz (“If you’re married, it’s a good idea to have your spouse take the quiz, too”) and focuses on tax-advantaged asset allocation, by far the most powerful decision for any investor, albeit one often neglected in favor of glamorous equity portfolios alone. Sound Mind also urges saving and getting out of debt.

Its top-performing Fund Upgrading Strategy: 100% Stock Portfolio has appreciated an impressive 9.1% annualized since the HFD began following it in 1995, vs. just 6.7 % annualized for the Wilshire.

• “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). It’s worth knowing that we should look primarily to God’s wisdom, not the conventional wisdom, for principles to guide our decision-making. The principles God has given us are practical and personally relevant.
• “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). It’s worth knowing that we must each accept personal responsibility for making knowledgeable, biblically-consistent financial decisions. We cannot look to others to make the tough choices for us.
• “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). It’s worth knowing that debt is enslaving and that we should avoid it as much as possible.
• “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has” (Proverbs 21:20). It’s worth knowing that maintaining a proper balance between current spending and long-term saving is a sign of wisdom.
• “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty” (Proverbs 21:5). It’s worth knowing that we should consistently invest from a carefully considered strategy rather than impulsively on a case by case basis.
• “Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth” (Ecclesiastes 11:2). It’s worth knowing that we should rely on diversification—rather than a preoccupation with market cycles—as a means of controlling risk and protecting our capital.
• “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint” (Proverbs 23:4). It’s worth knowing that we must be on guard against greed and spending our energies in a futile attempt to get the highest possible returns.

The biggest bond gains in almost a decade have pushed returns on Treasuries above stocks over the past 30 years, the first time that’s happened since before the Civil War. Long-term government bonds have gained 11.5 percent a year on average over the past three decades, beating the 10.8 percent increase in the S&P 500, said Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research in Chicago.

“The rally in bonds is a once in a millennium event, but it’s absolutely mathematically impossible for bonds to get any kind of returns like this going forward whereas stock returns can repeat themselves, and are likely to outperform,” he said. “If you missed the rally in bonds, well, then that’s it.”

... is an ongoing series of demonstrations in New York City based in Zuccotti Park in the Wall Street financial district. The protests were initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters. They are mainly protesting social and economic inequality, corporate greed, corruption and influence over government—particularly from the financial services sector—and lobbyists. The protesters' slogan, "We are the 99%", refers to the difference in wealth in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population.

But don't just whine and beat drums about people you don't know and don't mock the best political and economic system there has ever been. Do something specific and constructive, and if you are willing to work as hard as the people on Wall Street, you might just accomplish something.

Odean analyzed the trading records of 10,000 brokerage accounts of individual investors over a seven-year period, allowing him to identify all instances in which an investor sold one stock and soon afterward bought another stock. By these actions the investor revealed that he (most of the investors were men) had a definite idea about the future of two stocks: he expected the stock that he bought to do better than the one he sold. To determine whether those appraisals were well founded, Odean compared the returns of the two stocks over the following year. The results were unequivocally bad. On average, the shares investors sold did better than those they bought, by a very substantial margin: 3.3 percentage points per year, in addition to the significant costs of executing the trades. Some individuals did much better, others did much worse, but the large majority of individual investors would have done better by taking a nap rather than by acting on their ideas. In a paper titled “Trading Is Hazardous to Your Wealth,” Odean and his colleague Brad Barber showed that, on average, the most active traders had the poorest results, while those who traded the least earned the highest returns. In another paper, “Boys Will Be Boys,” they reported that men act on their useless ideas significantly more often than women do, and that as a result women achieve better investment results than men.

Fred from Louisville wrote: Quality weathers the bounce of the market. Quantity doesn't matter if you are loosing money. Martha from Richmond wrote: It is far better to buy quality than to have to turn around and replace something that doesn't last. Quality shows. Jason from Orlando wrote: Total cost of ownership (TCO) this is often forgotten about in the equation. Also there is the intangibles, the way I feel (and perhaps perform better/produce more) with quality in my hand versus something cheaper. Likewise, is it provable (objective) quality or is it inferred (subjective via suggestive adverts)? And our friend and frugal guru Mary Hunt from Debt-Proof Living wrote: Match quality to need. If you'll use it very little (Halloween costume), get the cheapest one you can find. If you'll use it every day for as many years as you can possibly get out of it (car), buy the most quality you can afford.