Pat Alfano and Dave Anderson
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Improving Investor Behavior – Doubt, Sold with a Smile

Financial advice is usually broken into three steps. First, define your goals. Where do you want to go? Next comes a plan. This is the recipe for working toward your goals with actionable and measurable steps. Then comes implementation when…
Pat Alfano and Dave Anderson

Improving Investor Behavior – Know the “Why” for your Investments

As financial advisors, we receive questions about all types of investments. Here’s one we recently heard: I am a doctor, and many of my friends and fellow doctors are getting into real estate. There is a group that invests in local…
Pat Alfano and Dave Anderson

Improving Investor Behavior – Learn to Love a Falling Market

The financial markets have given investors quite a ride in the past few months. Not only have we seen a drop in the prices, but the volatility and multiple-percentage point days seems to have investors feeling a little seasick. The first thing…
Pat Alfano and Dave Anderson

Improving Investor Behavior – Focus on the Right Number

With the year coming to an end, 2018 has been a tumultuous one for investors. For the first time in 46 years, there has not been a clear winner in any asset class: from stocks to bonds, emerging markets to precious metals. As of this writing,…
Pat Alfano and Dave Anderson

Improving Investor Behavior – Managing the Pain of Regret

Regret may be the most enduring and damaging emotion investors grapple with during their financial lives. As financial advisors we see it from both sides: clients either regret having done something, or regret NOT having done something, or…
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4Gen Now Conference

David Morrison and Prosperion Financial Advisors were the title sponsor for the 2018 4GenNow Conference held at the CU Denver South Campus.
Silhouette of a spider web
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Improving Investor Behavior: Managing Your Fears

Shark Week is among the longest running and most popular cable programs in history. First appearing 30 years ago in 1988, the show has since been watched and celebrated by millions. Why would a program about sharks and their danger be so popular? I think it plays on the emotion of fear, and more interestingly, people’s desire to be a little bit scared. My point is this: sometimes our greatest fears are the most unfounded. Whether it’s an oversized fish or monsters under the bed, our worst fears take up an oversized portion of our conscious and drive actions that can be damaging and counterproductive. Fear is a powerful emotion and one you must learn to rein in if you want to be a successful investor.
A woman expressing anxiety on the phone
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Anxiety and Investing: Taking the Fear Out of Finances

The chances that either you, a loved one, or a friend have had an incident with, or an ongoing relationship with heightened anxiety are likely. Almost 20 percent of the population expresses some sort of anxiety disorder in a lifetime. It comes…
Pat Alfano and Dave Anderson

Improving Investor Behavior – Fear of Missing Out

When you are stuck in traffic on the interstate, creeping along, do you find yourself wanting to switch from one lane to another? Do you glance to the left and see the “fast lane,” and are envious of how quickly they are moving? You look…

Frugal Hacks: 5 Simple Ways to Save $50 or More Each Week

Saving money, even with kids, doesn’t have to be a hard. As a financial advisor I tend to focus on things others might glance over, like the price of guacamole at Chipotle. (See #2 below) As a parent with young kids, it seems there are more…
Pat Alfano and Dave Anderson

Improving Investor Behavior – The Prosperity Mindset

Wealth is a mindset. In my years as a financial advisor I’ve worked with many wealthy individuals who have everyday-type jobs. From bus drivers to teachers, entrepreneurs to an administrative assistant at the Chamber of Commerce, I’ve…
Midyear Outlook 2018 from LPL Research

Mid-Year Outlook 2018: The Plot Thickens

Presenting the LPL Research Midyear Outlook 2018: The Plot Thickens, packed with investment insights and market analysis to guide you through all the action we may see in the year ahead. When we as investors began 2018, we were tuned in to…
Pat Alfano

An Open Letter to Employers

There is a national debate right now on how to make 401k plans more effective for retirement plan participants. The question isn’t “how do we supply the workforce with access to retirement savings vehicles?”, but rather “Why are so few employees taking advantage of these important benefit offerings?” In the end, it’s about a lack of familiarity and trust.
Pat Alfano and Dave Anderson

A Retirement Plan Sponsor is Like the Pilot In Command of An Aircraft

The responsibility of being a retirement plan sponsor is like the responsibility of flying a group of passengers from one location to another. Are you and your team operating like a “pilot in command?”
Pat Alfano and Dave Anderson

Improving Investor Behavior – Longevity and the Fear of Running Out

When do you plan to die? Weird question, right? It’s one that financial advisors have to ask their clients. The typical approach to retirement planning involves spending down the portfolio, a lifetime of savings for a client, at a rate that…