The A&O Retirement Investing Philosophy

Early in her career, when working in the banking industry, the founder of A&O met an elderly gentleman who had worked as a dishwasher most of his life. Yet, upon retirement, this man had a net worth of $4.5 million. How did a minimum wage worker amass such a fortune? By doing three things on a consistent basis:

01 / Putting away 10% of every paycheck (without fail)

02 / Buying relatively conservative stocks and almost never selling

03 / Reinvesting, rather than spending, the dividends from his stocks

A&O’s founder also worked with an elderly couple with only a 3rd- and 6th-grade education. Using a disciplined approach to saving, they owned 15 homes by the time there were in their late ‘60s.

Unfortunately, Many People Invest to Get Rich, Which is Not a Good Reason for Investing.

In most cases, people who invest to get rich expect to get rich now, which leads to poor judgement, unsound investing decisions and unrealistic expectations.

At A&O We Don’t Invest to Get Rich.

In fact, if someone wants to invest for that reason, we won’t accept them as a client. Instead, we invest to make sure that each dollar you invest today will be worth at least 100 cents (not 10 or 20 cents) 30 or 40 years from now so you will have enough money to enjoy a comfortable retirement.

How Do We Accomplish This?

By basing our investing philosophy on the principle of staying ahead of inflation. Specifically, we strive to produce a return on your investment two to three percent above the rate of inflation. We might achieve a higher return, but two to three percent above inflation drives all our investment recommendations. In doing so, your dollar will still be worth a full dollar when the time comes to retire. Some people don’t agree with this philosophy, but we stick with it because we know it works. Just ask our clients.

If you’re the type of investor who prefers a disciplined approach to investing, wants to minimize risk, invest for the long-term and have realistic expectations, we welcome the opportunity to talk with you about your retirement account needs.