Sample Issue 2026 Ask Nick
Pushing back against portfolio tweaking
Q) I'm a fairly new subscriber dealing with a difficult client, and I wonder whether you can think of one of your Client's Corner pieces that would be good for this gentleman. His portfolio has returned 11% a year net of fees for nearly 15 years. He and his wife have more than they will possibly ever need. And he's asking questions like:
- What do you think about U.S. vs. international?
- What about the dollar vs. other currencies?
- Do e have enough real estate?
A) Clearly, you must not respond directly to any individual inquiry along these lines. Nowhere is it written that an advisor is obligated to speak directly to a stupid/wrong question. And especially in a case like this, you're always playing whack-a-mole, because other equally stupid/wrong specific questions will surely follow.
What I would do is simply lump the questions together, gently declare them unanswerable and/or irrelevant, and reclaim the agenda, along these lines.
Thank you for your several inquiries about possible portfolio adjustments. I think the larger question is whether tweaking things like U.S. vs. foreign, dollar vs. other currencies or more real estate exposure—none of which I'd recommend doing—would meaningfully enhance the performance of the overall portfolio.
In my judgment they would not. As you know, our portfolio as presently constituted has been very productive for you—compounding at 11% for close to 15 years. To the point where your capital exceeds anything you'll almost certainly ever need. The key question in that situation isn't (or shouldn't be) how to tweak the portfolio, but why.
I'd be very reluctant to tinker with it at this point, and I could not in good conscience advise you to do so. The late Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman wonderfully said, “We would all be better investors if we just made fewer decisions.” From my perspective (I'm delighted to report) there are no decisions you currently need to make, and therefore none you should make.
Thanks as always for being my clients. It is a privilege to serve you.
If he then comes back with another brace of these questions, he's not listening, and it's a pathology. Stand on this statement, and if he perseverates, end it.