Now Know This - Investments, Economics, Behavior JC Herrera & Cole Conkling

Link to Cole's article here: https://inscriptioncapital.com/insights/2021/9/22/why-investing-is-like-dieting

If you want to lose weight, it’s relatively simple: Burn more calories than you consume. All else equal, if you follow this formula, you’ll lose weight. Yet, as we all very well know, doing this day in and day out is anything but easy. Life, and more especially our behavior, gets in the way. This behavioral problem is of course well known and regularly exploited by the dieting industry, which is keen to provide all sorts of products and services promising an easy fix. So you get the endless fads. The gurus. The charlatans there to serve you up an easy way out. Do this craze diet. Take this pill. Buy my kale-watermelon-chia seed-detox-shake-system for only twenty-seven easy payments of $19.99! Who needs discipline when you can lose those pounds by that weekend pool party? All charge cards accepted.
We’re our own worst enemy. We know what we should do, but we don’t do it. Consequently, there are a thousand different dieting books, trends, and gimmicks that we just can’t seem to get enough of. Maybe this new chia seed shake system will let me eat those cookies, keep all my horrible habits, and still fit into those jeans I’ve been avoiding. Take my money! Deep down though I think we all know if you burn more calories than you consume you’ll lose weight. The concept is easy. It’s the behavior that’s the problem. And boy do companies love to profit off our bad behavior. 
So it is with investing. We know, based on rigorous academic research what works over the long term. Yet, just like dieting, there are thousands of books, blogs, and “strategies” on investing—most of them offering a new get-rich-quick scheme. But oh would we be so lucky if it was just books being hawked! No, the more disturbing reality is that it’s an entire industry, set up like a sea monster with hundreds of ever-growing, uncontrollable tentacles designed to cash in on our innately poor behavior and biases at the expense of our financial well being. It’s asset managers creating whatever funds they think can be sold to meet a current fad; it’s cable news shows and magazines constantly bombarding viewers with tales of greed, followed by fear; it’s unscrupulous brokers and advisors earning commissions on products they sell you, no matter if they’re appropriate or not; and, yes, it’s all the “experts” making forecasts that never pan out (“My 2020 outlook obviously didn’t account for Covid.”). For the most part, the entire investment industry is designed to get you to do things (i.e., buy and sell), and to do them regularly. Because it’s not about earning you sufficient long-term returns, but rather raking in as much profit as possible.

If you are a US citizen or resident living abroad or thinking about moving abroad, or if you are a non US citizen/resident thinking about moving to the US or investing in the US then this episode is full of important things you need to be aware of. 
Sebastien Chain joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka in 2011 and concentrates his practice on federal, state and local tax controversies, both civil and criminal, and he represents clients at the examination level, administrative appeals, and trial. He also advises clients on a variety of international and domestic transactions. Mr. Chain’s clients include domestic and foreign individuals, corporations, LLCs, partnerships, trusts and estates.
Mr. Chain’s tax controversy practice has covered a wide range of issues, and he has successfully resolved cases that involved worker classification issues, deferred compensation, ordinary and necessary business expenses, accountable plans, aircraft, transfer pricing, hobby loss, domestic and international information return penalties, and IRS collection enforcement actions. Mr. Chain has also prepared and submitted several Private Letter Rulings requesting relief for late tax elections.
Mr. Chain has extensive experience advising clients on the U.S. reporting requirements associated with owning foreign assets, and he represents clients with unreported foreign income and foreign assets become compliant with their U.S. obligations. He has represented over 100 clients in connection with the IRS’s various voluntary disclosure programs, including the 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Programs, the Streamlined Domestic and Foreign Offshore Procedures, and the Delinquent Information Return and FBAR Submission Procedures.

The efficient market hypothesis is a hypothesis that states that share prices reflect all information and consistent market outperformance is virtually impossible. Dr. Eugene Fama, is the father of this theory and in today's podcast we take a deep dive explaining everything you need to know about it. 

Today we are talking about real estate. If you are at all interested in learning more about real estate investing you will definitely find todays conversation interesting. Our guest expert today is Adam Allen. Adam is a managing principal and founder of Marble Capital, LP a multimillion-dollar real estate private equity firm based in Houston, TX. 

In this episode we will cover everything you need to know about all the different types of fees and costs the investment industry charges. Understating these fees and costs is crucial to your longterm investment success. 

Today we are going to talk about the Texas energy grid. Last week the grid came very close to a complete meltdown that could have made Texas go dark for months. An unprecedented winter storm hit the state so hard that many power producers from Natural Gas to Nuclear and wind were brought to their knees. With us to help explain what happened, why it happened, and what can be done so this does not happen again are Nick Altman and Peter Selber. Nick and Peter are the founders of Infinity Power Partner, one of the fastest growing full-service energy management and consulting firms in the country with offices in Houston and Cleveland Ohio. Infinity is licensed and operating in every de-regulated state across the US and Canada for both power and gas. After achieving double digit growth rates in each years of its existence the company will be celebrating its 10th year in business in 2021.