We invite you to an event with Larry Swedroe on Wednesday, February 5th at the Saint Louis Club. Larry is one of 22 well-known names in finance quoted in The Wall Street Journal’s December 29, 2013 article The Best Financial Advice I Ever Got (or Gave). Larry’s best advice is: “the strategy to get rich—take concentrated risk, typically with your labor capital/business—is entirely different than the strategy to stay rich, which is to minimize the risks we take, diversify the ones we take as much as possible, keep costs low, tax efficiency high, and don’t spend too much.”

We are proud to offer this opportunity to hear Larry, and we look forward to seeing you there. Details are shown below. For those unable to attend, a video of the entire conversation is now available here.

According to the 2013 World Giving Index, the United States is ranked as the most charitable country in the world. Americans collectively donate billions of dollars out of their pockets and countless hours of their time for the benefit of others. What is the motivation?

I’ve reflected on my family’s motivation, and our simple answer is that we feel it is the right thing to do. We’re fortunate to have the resources to help others, and we know that a portion of our own success was the luck of being in the right place at the right time.

Your reasons may include:

• Having a connection to your school, religious group, or other organization
• Tax benefits
• Having excess resources that are otherwise not needed

The biggest benefit of philanthropy, however, is increased happiness. A 2009 Harvard Business School paper showed that giving increased happiness, and increased happiness led to more giving. From a personal perspective, I can attest that my wife, Lynn, and I have gotten a great deal of satisfaction from helping others. Is your experience similar?

Barron’s January 4th issue published an unlikely cover story about Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA). Unlikely, of course, because the publication has always focused on market timing, weekly trends and anything but the long view. The article’s author takes a refreshingly intelligent look at the difference between DFA’s approach and traditional index funds, among other topics.