Coffeehouse Investors keep score. When it comes to investing in individual stocks, ignorance of performance is not bliss, it is likely to be very expensive. Coffeehouse Investors minimize account expenses. Its fairly obvious that the entire industry wants you to ignore expenses and focus instead on things like instant account access and sophisticated portfolio monitoring tools. While you are focusing on all the cool and groovy on-line portfolio tools, Wall Street is focusing on its own bottom line.
Successful investors do the same with their own bottom line.
Coffeehouse Investors minimize their tax bill. Buying and selling stocks generates tax liabilities in taxable accounts, yet few investors take the time to compute after-tax returns. Outperforming a benchmark over the long haul is difficult enough. Beating it on an after tax basis is a hurdle few investors are able to overcome. Time to fire up your computers, or better yet, pull out that old Monopoly game.