Drew Howard

Founder & CIO | Howard Fiduciary Investments
In-house portfolio strategies • Process over prediction
Dad, combat vet & cancer researcher • Tweets ≠ advice

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

@JC_ParetsX It’s like choosing which of my kids I like the best…

Some days, it’s a front end ribeye with that thick cap. Other days, the filet tail, cubed into steak bites with a garlic butter sauce over frites, is the good life!

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

@JackCarrUSA But did you slip in a signed copy somewhere?!

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

@jimmycarr Brilliant Jimmy! This is solid life advice, not just for parents.

Hard choices now = easier life later.

The reverse is the punchline for a reason.

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

Rounding up your mortgage, student loan, or auto payment by a few dollars or to the next convenient number is one of the highest-leverage, lowest-friction habits in personal finance.

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

Love this fresh take on Kahneman’s systems:

System 1 keeps stirring the muddy puddle, never giving the problem enough time to settle and become clear.

System 2 avoids doing anything about the leaky ceilings until it’s ready to collapse.

One needs space.
The other needs action.

[James Clear @JamesClear]

I split problems into two groups: muddy puddles and leaky ceilings.

Some problems are like muddy puddles. The way to clear a muddy puddle is to leave it alone. The more you mess with it, the muddier it becomes. Many of the problems I dream up when I'm overthinking or worrying or ruminating fall into this category. Is life really falling apart or am I just in a sour mood? Is this as hard as I'm making it or do I just need to go work out? Drink some water. Go for a walk. Get some sleep. Go do something else and give the puddle time to turn clear.

Other problems are like a leaky ceiling. Ignore a small leak and it will always widen. Relationship tension that goes unaddressed. Overspending that becomes a habit. One missed workout drifting into months of inactivity. Some problems multiply when left unattended. You need to intervene now.

Are you dealing with a leak or a puddle?

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

Unfortunately, this reads like every financial planners list of books a client won’t actually read. I know this from giving out too many of Housels audio books that don’t get claimed.

My counter list of books that actually change how people think and act:
1. Thinking in Bets – @AnnieDuke
2. The Most Important Thing – @HowardMarksBook
3. Build the Life You Want – @arthurbrooks
4. Atomic Habits – @JamesClear

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

@dampedspring It was quite funny. I was messaging my wife about buying our son a new bike for his birthday while listening to your episode when you dropped the bike analogy... Quite apropos.

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

@dampedspring Thanks - just launched my own firm and looking forward to becoming a client of yours soon. Cheers

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

@RickDeVos August and September in Michigan are my favorite part of summer.

That changing light doesn’t make me sad. It makes me hold on tighter.

Why start mourning the end when it hasn’t even arrived yet?

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

@ces921 @ces921 Are you saying the long end is trend-on higher, driven by a fiscal dominance / supply narrative rather than inflation?

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

Biggest irony of all, the S&P is itself actively managed…

My opinion is the majority of civilians do, but industry pros dont.

You could argue that stat shows most advisors’ real focus is revenue growth through business development and direct sales, with client relations mixed in.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Cheers FAR

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

@AdvisorJobs Does anyone actually disagree that most advisors aren’t there to beat the S&P?

But if that is your goal, an investment-focused fiduciary is the one to seek out.

Not every advisor underperforms as that statistic also confirms.

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

Curious how this plays out with actual clients. In my experience the bigger practical friction with retirees is usually Roth conversions + IRMAA more than the pure marginal-rate arbitrage.

How often do you find the math of a specific situation outweighs a client’s intuition or preference?

I’ve rarely seen clear-cut numbers alone significantly change planning or a client’s gut feeling. Those online debates tend to look a lot cleaner than real conversations.

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

‘Summertime, and the livin’ is easy’
- Northern Michigan

Always appreciate the moments when life lets you bring the along camera too

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

I’m curious of your take on the local municipalities that have become reliant on the substantial increases in property taxes, especially for vacation homes. We didn’t hear much in 08 about those. But it seems like their revenue and dependence on even more new millages that pass are a significant risk factor.

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

@SMB_Attorney We’re on the north side of the lake and love this time of year up there. September is the best month if you can swing it with your schedule.

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

Ahh. You’re asking about firms that go past just entrepreneurial personal advice and actually offer either an outsourced CFO relationship or just a solid informal assessment for business owners like dentists, attorneys, engineers, and medical specialists. Looking at the real KPIs that drive the practice, not just the tax numbers.

That’s a tough balance both compliantly and as a fiduciary.

We built a 13-discipline financial planning assessment and treat practice and business planning as its own distinct category. This is the rubric we use with those owners to show them where they currently sit on the three standards (Security, Freedom, Independence) and which areas still need work.

[Drew Howard @DrewHowardHFI]

@choffstein @ScottPh77711570 Good ref! Ironically they’re all talking about different things over each other instead of clearly defining any of the words they’re using, almost negligently.

What is risk, what is an investment, position or trade (let alone an investment strategy).