Two New AAII Member Benefits
by Charles Rotblut | October 14, 2021
This week, we officially launched two new member benefits: the PRISM Wealth-Building Academy and AAII Community. Both are available now to all AAII members.
Many of you already have some familiarity with PRISM. I began sharing preliminary versions of it in this newsletter last year (originally under the temporary name of “The AAII Way”). I have also been regularly writing about it in the AAII Journal. The five-step PRISM process provides a framework for aligning your investment decisions with your goals. It crystalizes the education we at AAII provide into an actionable and disciplined way of managing your portfolio.
PRISM is a goals-based approach. I believe when people have a clear reason as to why they are saving, they are more likely to align their process with their goals. There is research backing this. For example, when younger investors are shown a representation of their older selves, they tend to increase how much they save for retirement. The same behavior plays out in other fields too. Speaking personally, I’m more motivated to exercise when I have something to train for, like a marathon.
The PRISM Wealth-Building Academy will help you get the most out of the PRISM process. This is an interactive, multi-media self-directed course. There are videos covering the key aspects of each step, challenges to learn and apply the concepts and forums to share ideas with other AAII members. I will also soon be holding office hours where you can ask me questions and provide feedback about PRISM. Most importantly, when you complete all five courses, you will have created your own personalized wealth-building plan.
And to reiterate, this is a benefit available to all AAII members.
The PRISM Academy is integrated into our new AAII Community. The AAII Community is a secure, interactive discussion platform. It connects you with other AAII members. On the Community platform, we have groups about asset allocation, mutual fund & exchange-traded funds (ETFs), retirement withdrawals and more.
We launched Community because we are passionate about connecting our members so you can take advantage of a “collective investor brain.” Sharing investment wisdom and experiences can help you become a better investor as well as take control of your financial freedom.
Since we officially launched the PRISM Wealth-Building Academy and AAII Community on Tuesday, we’ve already seen many AAII members begin to take advantage of both. I hope you will consider joining them.
- The first three lessons of the PRISM Wealth-Building Academy are now available.
- Join the conversation with other AAII members in the brand new AAII Community.
- Speaking of PRISM, I explain how to effectively monitor your portfolio with the PRISM Wealth-Building Process in the current issue of the AAII Journal.
- If you are stocking up on candy and snacks to give out on Halloween, we have some sweet and savory stocks you might find to be more treat than trick.
- Tune in on Wednesday for the next episode of the Individual Investor Show. We’ll be sharing some words of wisdom from our Investor Conference 360 speakers.
AAII Sentiment Survey
The results from the latest AAII Sentiment Survey saw bullish sentiment rebound to close to its historical average. In addition, the number of individual investors describing their outlook for stocks as “neutral” dropped.
Bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, jumped 12.4 percentage points to 37.9%. This is the fifth consecutive week that bullish sentiment is below the historical average of 38.0%.
Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will stay essentially unchanged over the next six months, fell by 7.4 percentage points to 30.3%. This drop follows last week’s big jump and puts neutral sentiment back below its historical average of 31.5%.
Bearish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will fall over the next six months, decreased by 5.0 percentage points to 31.8%. This week is the fifth consecutive and the 10th time out of the last 11 weeks that bearish sentiment is above the historical average of 30.5%.
The return to normalcy from the coronavirus pandemic, monetary and fiscal stimulus and inflationary pressures are influencing individual investors’ outlook for stocks. Other factors include earnings, the Biden administration’s initiatives and valuations.
In this week’s special question, we asked AAII members to share their thoughts on the current state of the economy. A little under half of respondents (44%) believe the economy is being adversely affected by inflation, supply chain issues and the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, 26% of respondents express mixed feelings about the state of the economy for a variety of reasons. This compares to 23% of respondents that say they had a positive outlook for the economy, citing short-term and long-run growth. About 2% of responses have a neutral outlook on the economy.
Here is a sampling of the responses:
- “It’s still being affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We need the lagging states to increase vaccinations before the economy will improve.”
- “It’s strong right now considering the complications of the pandemic. But it appears fragile for the same reason.”
- “It’s good in that many investors are able to judge it. Earnings soon may certify this.”
Bullish: 37.9%, up 12.4 points
Neutral: 30.3%, down 7.4 points
Bearish: 31.8%, down 5.0 points
Bullish: 38.0%
Neutral: 31.5%
Bearish: 30.5%
See more Sentiment Survey results.
October 7, 2021 Seven Pitfalls Dividend Investors Should Avoid
September 30, 2021 Automate Retirement Savings and Retirement
September 23, 2021 What You Can Expect at Our Forthcoming Conference
September 16, 2021 How Often Should You Look at Your Portfolio?
Discussion
Andrew B. from D.C. posted over 4 years ago:
I am happy to see this improvement. But it is long overdue.
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