Check out Finanicial Synergies' first quarter newsletter.

1. Q1 2013 INSIDE THIS ISSUE
All major stock indices got out
of the starting gate in very quick
fashion. As I am sure you will
recall, when we avoided the fis-
cal cliff, the markets responded
accordingly and took off. In
Q1, the S&P 500 led all major
indices turning in a spectacular
return of 10.61%. Nasdaq was
close behind gaining 8.52%. The
foreign markets brought up the
rear making “just” 5.15%, which
would be considered a great
quarter most other times!
Now, you know that your port-
folio is not 100% stock - not
even close! However, the stocks
you do own, in a mutual fund
format, have also gotten off to a
fast start. They definitely have a
significant impact on the returns
your accounts experience.
So, is there room to move up?
Yes, the
statistics are
with us.
See Page 2
for details. 
-Mike Booker
Is Your IQ
Overrated?
“HIGH IQ DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL STAND OUT”
By Mike Booker, CFP®, ChFC, CFS®
Keld Jenson is a contributor for Forbes on-
line and has written about the other types
of intelligence beyond IQ: Emotional Intel-
ligence (EQ), Moral Intelligence (MQ) and
Body Intelligence(BQ). He writes that your IQ
“pales in comparison with your EQ, MQ and
BQ scores when it comes to predicting your
success and professional achievement.“
“By itself, a high IQ does not guarantee that
you will stand out and rise above everyone
else.” Research carried out by the Carnegie
Institute of Technology shows that 85 per-
cent of your financial success is due to skills
in“human engineering,”your personality and
ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead.
Shockingly, only 15 percent is due to techni-
cal knowledge. I would argue that this trans-
lates to investment success, as well.
Emotional Intelligence
Jenson says EQ is the most well known of
the three, and in brief it is about “being
aware of your own feelings and those of
others, regulating these feelings in your-
self and others, using emotions that are
appropriate to the situation, self-motiva-
tion, and building relationships”.
It goes without saying that regulating
one’s emotions should play a huge role in
investment decision making. On the fol-
lowing page, Mike Minter explores this
concept in greater detail.
Moral Intelligence
MQ deals with your integrity, responsibili-
ty, sympathy, and forgiveness. The way you
treat yourself is the way other people will
treat you. Keeping commitments, main-
taining your integrity, and being honest
are crucial to moral intelligence. The au-
thor suggests “making fewer excuses and
taking responsibility for your actions.”
In what endeavor is integrity and taking
responsibility for one’s actions more im-
portant than managing one’s finances?
Body Intelligence
Lastly, there is your BQ, or body intel-
ligence, which the author says, “reflects
what you know about your body, how you
feel about it, and take care of it. Your body
is constantly telling you things; are you
listening to the signals or ignoring them?”
Jensen says you can listen to your body’s
messages about your health and that it
will tell you if you are not getting plenty of
sleep or eating the right foods.
Jensen sums up, “It doesn’t matter if you
did not receive the best academic training
from a top university. A person with less
education who has fully developed their
EQ, MQ, and BQ can be far more successful
than a person with an impressive educa-
tion who falls short in these other catego-
ries.”
This same idea of balance influences our
investment philosophy and strategy. In-
corporating academic, emotional, and
moral factors helps us design portfolios
that are most likely to achieve your long
term goals. 
Market
Recap
ƒƒ ISYOUR IQ OVERRATED? 1
ƒƒ MARKET RECAP 1
ƒƒ THE STATISTICS ARE WITH US 2
ƒƒ BENCHMARKS
AND INVESTOR PSYCHOLOGY 2
ƒƒ EDUCATION PLANNING: FROMTHE ABCS
TO PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 3
ƒƒ TEXAS: DRAWING INTHE BEST BULLS 4
ƒƒ ANNOUNCEMENTS 4 -5

2. 2
The market is not overpriced:
Price to Earnings ratios for the
SP 500, while not as low as the
last four years, are not so frothy
at 15. Bull markets typically end
when P/E ratios hit 17+.
Consumers:
They aren’t overspending or
over borrowing. In a classic end
to a bull market, they do lots of
both. Not now. Debt payments
as a % of disposable income are
the lowest since the 1990s.
The Fed:
Bull markets tend to lose steam
when the Fed raises rates to put
a lid on inflation and exces-
sive borrowing. The Fed plans
to keep rates down through at
least 2015 
WHY KEEPING UP WITH THE JONSES ISN’T ALL IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE...
Benchmarks
and Investor Psychology
agers to represent our asset classes, and
we do analyze them against an appropri-
ate index. But our focus, at the portfolio
level, is never on a comparison to a stock
-only index, like the SP 500. One of the
single biggest mistakes that investors make
is chasing an arbitrary index thinking that
they have to beat it.
This desire to compare can be a constant
source of frustration and can cause inves-
tors to continually do the exact opposite
of what they should be doing. Comparing
an individual’s diversified investment port-
folio performance to a market index takes
the focus off of long-term goals and can
cause investors to buy and sell at the wrong
times, for the wrong reasons.
If constructed properly, an investor's port-
folio is a customized allocation across many
different asset classes, not just individual
stocks. It is tailored to their age, lifestyle,
goals, and risk tolerance. For example, a
client who is now in retirement may have
more than half of his portfolio allocated
to bonds, whereas the SP 500 (the “mar-
ket”) consists of 500 mega-cap stocks. If we
told him his portfolio return for the year
was 8%, he would probably be pleased. If
we subsequently told him that the mar-
ket returned 12% for the year, he might
not be as pleased with the results. If the
desire to beat the market is strong enough,
he may make the mistake of throwing his
well-crafted investment plan out the win-
dow for something more aggressive. This
would be a mistake.
Is it any surprise that investors feel the
need to compare their portfolios to the
Dow Jones or SP 500 indexes? I mean, in
this hyper-information digital age we are
constantly bombarded with irrelevant data
in the media and told that it is relevant.
You can hardly turn on the television or
browse a website without seeing a stock
ticker parade across the bottom of the
screen. If you follow Jim Cramer (CNBC's
Mad Money), you might make 1,000 trades
in a year! Make no mistake, this is for the
benefit of the media and Wall Street. They
want investors to obsess and chase after
the benchmark indexes because it creates
money movement in the market.
What we must understand is that Wall Street
doesn't want us to be disciplined and adhere
to a long-term investment strategy. Wall
Street gets paid when money is in motion
(buying/selling = fees/commissions). There is
a time to trade, but it shouldn't be in reac-
tion to a benchmark index. Trading or rebal-
ancing within an investor's portfolio should
be driven by long-term strategic allocations,
lifestyle needs, or shifts within various asset
classes, but nothing more.
The truth is, most successful investment
strategies are boring. They are not fast-paced
nor particularly sexy. They require patiently
sitting on your hands while everyone else is
urging you to DO SOMETHING.
With the stock market approaching a five-
year bull run, the desire to compare is be-
coming stronger by the day. It wasn't so long
ago that investors wanted nothing to do with
stocks.
Anyone remember the first decade of the
2000s? Over that stretch the SP 500 pro-
duced a pitiful annualized loss of -0.95%.
Over the same 10 year period, Barclays Capi-
tal U.S. Aggregate (US Bond index) produced
an annualized gain of +6.33%. Who saw that
coming? There might be long periods where
an individual investor outperforms or under-
performs a benchmark, and it truly doesn't
matter. What matters is having a game plan
to achieve your individual goals and sticking
to it.
Human nature is such that we all sometimes
feel the need to compare ourselves and our
lives to a benchmark. That benchmark might
be your next door neighbor with the bigger
house - keeping up with the Jonses as the
saying goes. In your financial life, it may be
an index you're comparing yourself to.
Tune out Wall Street and the media’s obses-
sion with benchmark indexes. If you can re-
sist the temptation to compare you will
be happier in the short-
term, and wealthier in
the long-term. 
By Mike Minter, CFP®, CFS®
There are millions of intelligent people in
this country (don’t laugh- seriously!), many
of whom invest their money in the securi-
ties markets. Why, then, are there so few
genuinely successful investors? In my opin-
ion, the answer is simple - they do not pos-
sess the psychology that is necessary for
long-term investment success.
Investor Psychology, studied extensively in
the field of behavioral finance, is the pow-
erful driving force behind investment deci-
sions. Seemingly intelligent, rational people
make very irrational and potentially harm-
ful decisions when it comes to their invest-
ments. Which leads me to our topic - to ex-
plore the relationship between benchmarks
and investor psychology.
When I say benchmarks, I’m simply refer-
ring to market indexes such as the Dow
Jones Industrial Average or the SP 500,
which are some of the more commonly
used benchmarks by investors. Here at Fi-
nancial Synergies, we use active fund man-
The Statistics
are With Us

3. 3
“Over the years, there have
been two consistent words
of wisdom offered to me:
The first:
Hold on to these early years.
The second:
Start saving for college.
If you have a child or grandchild that
will need financial support in college,
now is a great time to start planning.
EDUCATION PLANNING:
From the ABCs
to Princeton University
By Heath Hightower, CFP®
My three-year-old daughter, Dawson, has
been learning her ABCs, and for the very
first time, on Sunday, she wrote her name.
My wife and I were so proud. We awed
over her, as parents tend to do, because
we wanted her to know just how well she
had done. She even got a piece of candy!
Her face beamed with pride as she lifted
the piece of paper to share her newest ac-
complishment with us. My wife captured
the moment with her camera, and we in-
stantly had yet another
memory to stick to the
refrigerator door.
Coincidentally, last Sun-
day was Easter Sunday.
There was an Easter egg
hunt at church, an Eas-
ter egg hunt at home,
followed by an Easter
egg candy-feast when it
was all over. In the midst
of the feast, I asked my daughter if she
could spell, ‘Easter’. She grinned through
a mouthful of candy and said, “Yep… D-A-
W-S-O-N.”
It was at this point that I realized our cru-
cial error: Dawson now thinks every time
she spells her name, she should be re-
warded with Easter egg hunts and a candy
feast. Oops!
As parents, we all strive to avoid the “cru-
cial errors”. Unfortunately, children don’t
come with an instruction manual, so moms
and dads are left to make the tough deci-
sions on their own. Decisions like private
school vs. public, or spanking vs. time-out
are just a couple of tough decisions that
have been driving us crazy lately.
Of course, there’s never a shortage of ad-
vice. More experienced parents are rarely
bashful about offering theirs, but I’ve yet
to see two sets of parents who have raised
their children the exact same way. Over
the years, there have been two consistent
words of wisdom offered to me, and I’d like
to share those with you today.
The first: We’re often advised to hold
on to these early years; they say, “Before
you know it, they’ll be
grown up!” Mor-
gan and I have done
our best to hang on
to the present by
taking thousands of
pictures and videos,
but time just keeps
slipping away. It’s
hard to imagine, but I
know that in 15 short
years she’ll be hold-
ing a diploma with the same proud smile
on her face. And, in all likelihood, she’ll be
looking to mom and dad for financial sup-
port in college.
The second: “Start saving for college.” As a
financial planner, I have fully embraced this
one. Morgan and I have chosen to save for
our children’s college education in 529 edu-
cation accounts. As you may already know,
529 accounts grow tax free; however, there
are several other benefits that you may not
be aware of.
One of the key benefits is that 529 accounts
are controlled by you, not your child. So, if
your child turns 18 and wants to spend the
money on something other than college, you
can keep that from happening. Another plus
is that you can change the beneficiary of the
account to another family member, or even
use the money for your own education if
you’d like; it’s left entirely up to you.
Given the dramatic increase in tuition over
the years, it’s no wonder that saving for
college early is consistently encouraged.
CBS news recently reported that, over the
last ten years, “Real net average tuition
at state universities, which is the price
after grants are deducted, rose 33.1%”.
As tuition costs continue to escalate be-
yond the pace of inflation, parents can be
caught flat-footed if they don’t plan ap-
propriately.
I recently received an email from clients
Bob and Susan Schlein, whose daughter
was offered a five-year guaranteed fellow-
ship to a PhD program at Princeton. He
wrote, “To say that we are excited is to
vastly understate the issue!” He’s a proud
father, just as I am.
Whether it’s your three-year-old who is
just learning to spell her name or your
22-year-old who is going off to
Princeton, it is im-
portant to help your
children plan for
their future. Give us
a call if you’d like to
discuss a college sav-
ings plan. 

4. Congratulations Mike Minter!
Mike Minter celebrated his 10th anniversary with Financial Syner-
gies on February 16th, and has been awarded a minority equity
stake in the firm.
Please join us in congratulating Mike on this important accomplish-
ment.
Welcome Marie Villard!
Please join us in welcoming our newest member to the FSAM team, Ma-
rie Villard. Marie is uniquely qualified for her role as our new Director of
Operations. She comes to us directly from Charles Schwab’s Institutional
Service Team in Orlando, FL. where she specialized in account service and
estate transitions. We know you’ll be just as impressed with her profes-
sionalism and willingness to help as we have been. We are thrilled to have
her on the team!
THIS IS MY FIRST RODEO...
Texas: Drawing in
the Best Bulls
By Marie Villard
Growing up on the east coast, your per-
ception of Texas is what you might see in
old John Wayne westerns. When I told my
friends and family I was planning on mov-
ing here, I could see wild visions floating
through their heads: there I am, coming
home for the holidays embracing denim
like it was the 1980s, struttin’ my stuff in
cowboy boots, and maybe even wielding
a pistol on my hip like old western days…
Annie Oakley, tumbleweeds, and YEEHAW,
perhaps.
Sure, there was some concern that I didn’t
know much about Texas other than that
Texans are proud of their BBQ, chili, and
cream pies (and mostly everything that
they do); and, yes, there was true concern
that I didn’t really know anyone here...
Would I be all by my lonesome in the Lone
Star state?
Let me tell you, there is power in the state
motto “Friendship”, because even though
it’s only been a few weeks, I’ve never felt
more at home since I left for college near-
ly ten years ago. Everyone here at FSAM,
their families, our clients, my neighbors,
and even strangers on the street have
made me feel welcome and at home. The
kindness of Texans is unparalleled.
The (unexpected) amount of grace,
warmth, and heart that I’ve received since
I moved here got me thinking of all the cli-
ches I’ve heard about this great state: “is
everything really bigger in Texas?” I sure
think so...
One of the biggest things about Texas is its
economy– over the past eight years, the
state has far outpaced the national aver-
age in job creation (31.5 % growth com-
pared with 12% nationwide). Unlike other
states, Texas has had a stable, affordable
housing market since the bubble in the
early 2000s. Much of this stability and
growth is due to its pro-business climate
and low cost of living: sensible regula-
tions, and no state income tax. The state
has made it easy for Texans to live, work,
and play. Bottom line: don’t mess with
Texas.
Out of Forbes‘s ten best cities for job op-
portunities, five of those cities are in Tex-
as, with Houston being at the very top of
the list. With the plethora of oil and gas
companies, healthcare institutions such
as MD Anderson and Memorial Hermann,
and loose regulations on building com-
mercially, it’s no wonder Houston has
grown the way it has. With these stellar
companies drawing in top talent (the best
of the bulls), the city gets more unique, di-
verse, and appealing for residents.
Forbes also ranked Houston as the “No.
1 Coolest City to Live in.” I don’t know if
it’s the coolest temperature-wise, but it’s
pretty hot-to-trot. There appears to be a
wide array of events and happenings, from
the recent Livestock Show Rodeo, to the
sounds of the symphony, and imagination
in performing and visual arts. Not to men-
tion, you can be outside the majority of
the year - at Bayou Bend, Memorial Park,
or many other outdoor cultural events
and festivals. Plus, Houston has one of the
yummiest and notable food scenes in the
country.
Needless to say, I’m thrilled to be in Hous-
ton: thrilled to be a part of the team
here at FSAM, thrilled to be learning, and
thrilled to be living in
this wonderful city. I
am truly blessed and
undoubtedly proud
to be a Texan - you
can hang your hat on
it! 

5. Congratulations
Bryan!
On April 2nd, 2013 at 1:59 pm, Bryan
and Cele Zchiesche welcomed their
new addition, Carson Ross Zchiesche
into their family.
Carson weighed in at 7lbs and was 19
inches long.
We wish them all the best.
Congratulations
Nikki!
On March 22nd 2013 at 5pm, Nikki and Jeff
Anderson were married at the Barcelo Maya
Palace Deluxe, in Riviera Maya
Congratulations
to the Bookers!
Mike and Pat Booker celebrate their
daughter, Caitlin, who just gradu-
ated from law school. Caitlin has just
completed the bar exam.
We would love to hear from
you.
Please feel free to send any
pictures of your travels, hob-
bies, or life events for inclusion
on our website or our upcom-
ing newsletter.
You can send your pictures
and announcements to us at
info@finsyn.com
What’s New
With You?
We had a blast at the Client Appreciation Event on March 28th 2013.
Thanks to all of those who were able to attend, it was great to see
you!
For more information, please contact us at:
Financial Synergies Asset Management,
Inc
4265 San Felipe, Suite 1450
Houston, TX 77027
Phone: 713-623-6600
www.finsyn.com
©2013 – All rights reserved