Shirley Mueller, MD

Though robo-advisors may fade in future years, they could leave us with a valuable legacy.

Can investors give up the good feelings a mortal imparts in exchange for paying less for financial advice

 about the use of robo-advisors, Internet services that deliver programmed computer-generated portfolio management, some with minor human intervention and others with none. My conclusion, “

When people can make money by saving it, they frequently choose that option

they (robo-advisors) are here to stay.”

As it turns out, this conclusion may have been premature. Robo-advisors may not be here to stay. This is according to Michael Kites in his May 2 column, “

The B2C Robo-Advisor Movement Is Dying, But Its #FinTech Legacy Will Live On!”

 “B2C” refers to business-to-consumer marketing as opposed to B2B (business-to-business) marketing. Firms that offer robo-advisors advertise directly to consumers; thereby, they are B2C. FinTech refers to financial technology that strives to make financial services more efficient.

Kites tells us that the cost of gaining a client for robo-advisors such as 

 is higher than the value of the client to the company over the client’s lifetime (meaning that they are losing money). This is because their customers tend to be weighted toward small accounts, which do not produce much revenue for the companies in their lifetime. As an example, Betterment’s average account size has remained about $20,000 since the fourth quarter of 2014. Evidently, Wealthfront has not done much better. Without the streaming revenue from larger accounts, robos will be forced to fade and almost certainly finally die out.

Nevertheless, Kites says, even if robos perish, they will have a place in the history of financial planning. This is because they challenged the investment industry with their novel computerized approach and thereby jolted it into investing in new software similar to that of robo-advisors. This created a revolutionary product for clients which Vanguard and Schwab are already using. Thus, in combination with the traditional touch of established investment companies, a morphed robo-advisor software is making an impact on the industry, though not in the package in which it was originally conceived.

Your Advisor's Compensation Has Increased Dramatically

Articles

The advent of so-called robo-advisors -- cheaper than a real human and theoretically just as competent -- hasn't been the game-changer some expected.

Robo-Advisors: Has Automated Advising Already Peaked?

A trip to Europe can be the vacation of a lifetime. But traveling there involves long and sometimes arduous travel. So how can you ensure you make the most of your limited time?

First and foremost, take an overnight flight and hit the ground running. This is easier if business or first class is on your dance card. Then, a comfortable flat bed is offered. But even in economy seating, there is the miracle of modern pharmacology.

Secondly, once in your European country of choice, 9 a.m. is 4 a.m. at home, at least for those Americans who live in the Eastern Time Zone. A lot of people in America get up at this time—remember the paperboy? So, wind back your clock and arise early stateside time which, of course, is five-plus hours later in Europe. This makes it easy for a 10 a.m. departure from the hotel. What to do during the day? If possible, plan your trip ahead of time. If you know what you are doing at 10 a.m., getting up at 9 a.m. (4 a.m. EST) is easier.

Of course, all friends who travel abroad like to talk about a fantastic restaurant or two on their trip. But, I find in most countries just plain food, even at a coffee bar, can be very good. Additionally, it is less expensive and doesn’t require a reservation. This is real freedom when the aim of the trip is seeing the sights rather than being tied to a food schedule.

Standing in museums can be tiring. That is why they have benches. Taking advantage of the ability to sit down can be refreshing plus an afternoon coffee to keep going. But, even at the end of an exhaustive touring day, walking to the hotel, provided it is not too great of a distance, can add spark to a relationship if with a companion or just be interesting if alone. Additionally, it tires out the body, which makes sleeping five hours ahead of the usual time easier.

Lastly, use the local currency rather than credit card. It is easy to get from bank machines and Rick Steves says this is the most economical way. Then, on return home, there are no foreign charges to rectify. This is quite a perk for the designated person in the family who balances the credit card tally.

And, if you are going to do this often, enroll in the 

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

 Pre-Check Program. Then, you can slip into and out of the country more quickly. Provided the planes are on time, your trip will be what you anticipated, carefree and without jet lag.

Vacation: Using Money Wisely—Timing Counts

An Option for Your Large Transactions Abroad

When you travel to Europe, you want to take advantage of every moment. These tips will help you maximize your time (and money) while abroad.

How to Visit Europe and Hit the Ground Running

When viewing art, some museum-goers get that loving feeling. They like what they see and they see what they like. A few go so far as to have a religious experience of sorts and report sensations of euphoria. These perceptions, originating in the brain, aren’t all that is going on in a museum visitors’ body. The area below the neck is also engaged.

Psychologist Wolfgang Tschacher and colleagues from institutes in Switzerland and Germany recently demonstrated this to be true. They examined the physical responses of 373 museum visitors to the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, in Switzerland. By using a specially made glove on the visitor’s right hand, their motion, heart rate, and skin conductance levels were determined wirelessly.

.” The visitor in a study is wearing the especially made glove that monitors motion, heart rate, and skin conductance levels wirelessly. 

Sixty-five percent of the participants in the study were female. The average age of all was 47 years. Each subject spent on average of 28 minutes in the exhibit.

Skin conductance levels (SCL) measure the electrical current readings of the skin which vary with its moisture level. Differences are associated with emotion because the involuntary sympathetic nervous system responsible for the fight or flight response controls SCL. Thus, when someone is excited, activity in the sweat gland is increased which elevates skin resistance. This is recorded as a measure of emotional response.

An immediate post-visit customized computer questionnaire was used to evaluate responses to the 3 artworks where the participant lingered the longest (determined by the motion sensors in the glove). Responses to 3 artworks chosen in advance by the investigators were presented as well. Five areas of aesthetic appreciation were assessed.

 Pleasing; beautiful; well done with respect to technique, composition, and content

 The work is considered as surprising; makes one laugh

 The work is experienced as dominant, stimulating

 The work is well staged and hung, suitable in the context of other artworks

Using statistical measures, the researchers found that 3 of the 4 physiological measures used to determine biological responses to art in the museum showed significance.  

Beautiful, high-quality artworks and surprising or humorous pieces were significantly associated with a higher heart rate variability.

Works of art perceived as dominant were significantly associated with a higher skin conductance variability.

Dominant art was also associated significantly with a decrease in heart rate.

Interestingly enough, only skin conductance absolute levels were unassociated with any parameter.

Tschacher and his colleagues were sparse in explaining any meaning this might have for their participants, though this wasn’t really necessary. Their major conclusion stands on its own:  there are measurable physiological response to artworks in a museum. The authors sum this up by saying, “Our findings suggest that an idiosyncratically human property—finding aesthetic pleasure in viewing artistic artifacts&mdash;is linked to biological markers.” Our appreciation of art is not all in our heads!

Every year the Design Arts Society at the Indianapolis Museum of Art has what is called a “Love/Hate” evening. During the event, members of the group present their impression of the best and worst design in the galleries.  The occasion is meant to be thought provoking so those that are not presenters will join in a lively discussion. 

Recently, at one such event, David Force, a member of the group and presenter for the evening made this comment when he offered David Stark’s bedside gun lamp as an object of hate. The piece, basically in your face, and certainly dominant, stimulated Force to say, “My heart rate must be going down.”

Art and science are often depicted as near opposites. However, new research illuminates how the latter is intricately connected with the former.

Art Appreciation: Beyond the Brain

Though there are crime scares in Mexico that frighten tourists, it seemed very tame on our recent visit. This made me think that it is more for pansies than those that have excessive courage. We had nothing but good weather, excellent food, and great sightseeing.

What follows is the rundown on some of what we did in Mexico City, plus a review of our hotel, called The Gran.

The museums are numerous. The source I consulted easily 

of them. But, anyone can look at a recognized authority. Why not try the unrecognized non-authority (me) and address what isn’t in a guidebook—the unusual and even bizarre.

The Hall of Mexican Dentistry in the Museo de la Autonomía Universitaria

Get ready for a jaw-breaking exhibit. A group of dentists gathered enough momentum to renovate the 19th century Palacio de la Autonomía (Autonomy Palace) around and about the turn of the millennium. A Hall of Mexican Dentistry was the result of their efforts. The exhibits have examples of dentistry from the time of the Aztecs up to the 20th century.

An early dental chair and its equipment in the Mexico City’s Hall of Mexican Dentistry.

Prehistoric Mayan and Aztec fillings were precious jewels. After death, the jaw bones were incised as shown here. The Hall of Mexican Dentistry, Mexico City.

The university gained freedom from complete government control in 1929. The commemoration of that event is celebrated in a stairwell just off the dental museum. When you see it, you will know you are near your target, the Hall of Mexican Dentistry.

The Metropolitan Cathedral or Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de María

(Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary of Mexico City)

Churches are neither unnatural nor bizarre. It is what lies underneath this cathedral that makes it so. This holy church was built on an Aztec place of worship. Thereby, look down. Periodically, in the front of the Cathedral edifice, there will be glass areas through which to peer. The idea is to view some of the original Aztec ruins of which the church is now atop.

The glass in front of the entrance reflects the doors of the cathedral. Below is the earlier construction upon which the church was built. Tiles that were made in Mexico City from the 17th century are among the artifacts that can be seen.

There is more of the unfamiliar inside the church. Due to earthquakes and fires, parts of it were damaged over time. Therefore, what was a stairway to a pulpit made of precious stone had to be reconstructed after one such event. It ended up with the lower supporting structure made of a material much more modest than the more elegant original marble.

The stairway to the pulpit in the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary of Mexico City. The upper precious marble is supported by the later modest replacement below due to an earthquake.

Art of colonial Mexico is its focus. But, the real clincher was the unexpected. For example, early screens made in Mexico showing its conquest by Spaniards were made in exquisite detail. There was even an index for the scenes.

The Zócalo (central plaza) painted on an early screen. The Cathedral is on the left.

A display showing the products of Asia that were exported to Mexico. They inspired the creation of similar pieces in Mexico.

An unusual art form consisting of painting and shell overlay evidently inspired by the early import of Japanese screens to Mexico, also with shell adornment.

In Mexico, a lot happens on the street. First, there are masses of people. The city is 25 million large, so at any one time the chance that you will be accompanied by hundreds of others when walking is great. Most were Mexicans, even in city center where the tourist sites are located.

Within the close quarters with multiple other humans around, we were not pick-pocketed nor did we feel threatened in any way. In fact, walking on the street was interesting and even exciting. There were so many things to see that were out of the ordinary.

However, there are reports of pickpockets and other petty crime in Mexico City. It’s best to be careful as you would in any large foreign metropolis.

A mask for sale near the Zócalo, the main square.

A man in a bandana carries a hawk. Notice the blue and white tiles on the building in the background on the left of old Mexican origin.

The advantage of this hotel is that it is historic and elegant. Also, it is centrally located on the Zócalo with large rooms and it is well priced. The down side, from my point of view, is that there was a slightly chronic distasteful smell in the bathroom. Another is the organ grinder who toils from eight in the morning until evening without fail day to day; it is noisy and repetitious. The third is that I suspect the vegetables for the morning slushes were not cleaned according to American standards. Montezuma’s revenge followed their consumption. But, overall, for the money, it is a good bargain. For those, willing to spend more, there is the luxurious Four Seasons nearby.

An organ grinder such as the one on the Zócalo that began playing at eight in the morning without fail.

The elegant interior of the Gran Hotel, Mexico City. It was once a department store.

The bird cage in the lobby of the Gran Hotel was covered at night so that the exotic beast could get some rest.

Anyone who reads the headlines would think travel to Mexico unsafe and unwise. A recent trip to Mexico City proves otherwise.