General Finance
My Friend Gandalf
As a financial advisor, I’m often asked where the markets are headed. Unfortunately, my crystal ball, affectionately named “Gandalf,” has been cracked and in the shop for years; frankly, I’m beginning to think I’ll never see Gandalf again. So, I’m forced to seek guidance from my second favorite source – data. It turns out…
Read MoreChaos and Bloodshed
Staying disciplined and invested can be difficult in times of chaos and market turbulence. History tells us this is the right time not to act.
Read MoreDon’t Let Your Parents Start a 529 for your Kids
If you have parents who are offering to help you with college planning for your kids…lucky you! With college tuition increasing 7-8% every year, most of us can use all the help we can get. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to accept this assistance. While your parents might want to…
Read MoreIf You’re Doing This, You Might Not Get the Financial Results You Want
As someone who works in the tech industry, chances are you’re going to relate to the scenario I’m about to describe. Someone walks into your office and says, “I’ve been wondering about _____, so I Googled it and now I think I can do it on my own, but I’m not quite sure.” …
Read MoreWhat Makes Financial Planning for Tech Professionals Different?
Almost every client who walks through my (virtual) door these days has one thing in common: they’ve realized their time is better spent doing something other than dealing with their money. Many of us hit that tipping point at some time. You can change your own oil, but that could take you five hours, so…
Read MoreGameStop, Blackberry, AMC: How “Dud” Companies are Suddenly Worth Billions
As shocking as the whole GameStop/Blackberry/AMC activity felt…in the world of commerce it’s actually nothing new. Today’s investor would call this type of trading “meme stock” – “a stock that has seen an increase in volume not because of the company’s performance, but rather because of hype on social media and online forums like Reddit. For…
Read MoreIs the Market the Economy and Why Does My Coffee Taste Bad?
There have been a lot of confusing things about the past year: Will my kids ever go back to school? Have they been scarred psychologically? And WHY, even 4 months after my COVID diagnosis, does some coffee still taste like cough syrup mixed with aluminum foil? These are the questions that keep me up at…
Read MoreEvaluating Portfolio Performance – Part 1
This article will help you understand the risk/reward trade-offs inherent to investing, and put your portfolio performance into context so you can have a better, more informed and smoother investment experience.
Read More10 End of Year Action Steps to Potentially Reduce Your Tax Burden
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…to take advantage of tax savings opportunities.
As we begin the final weeks of the year, consider the following action items to potentially reduce your tax bill and improve your financial footing in 2020 and beyond.
When Batting .700 Isn’t Good Enough…
You’re smarter than the average investor, right? You’ve done the research and despite hearing how difficult it is to predict the market’s direction over a specified period of time, you’re confident you know better than the CFAs, Ph.Ds and Quant’s building the algorithms on Wall Street. You even understand that, by definition, if the stock market…
Read MoreUsing Covered Calls to Generate Income and Hedge Concentrated Stock Positions
Deciding to sell a stock you’ve inherited or held on to for 25 or more years can be difficult and even emotional, and increasingly I find myself suggesting alternative strategies than an outright sale for the purposes of diversification.
Read MoreZoom Out
“Why should I invest money in the market when it’s near all-time highs?” – Investors, c. 2015, 2005, 1997, etc
Read MoreWinter is Coming… but When?
After a bruising final quarter of 2018, 2019 kicked off with a bang, with US Stock Markets finishing the first quarter up roughly 14% and US Bond Markets up nearly 3%. International Developed Markets and their less-developed emerging brethren also performed well, up 10.45% and 9.92% respectively. Unfortunately, those gains weren’t enough to push international markets…
Read MoreRead This Before Investing: The Investment Policy Statement
Enter the Investment Policy Statement or IPS. The IPS is not a contract and makes no guarantees. Rather, it articulate the types of investments (ingredients) and range of outcomes an investor should expect given their risk tolerance.
Read More2018 Market Review
As we reflect on 2018, it is tempting to sugarcoat the year by simply reporting that it was a record-setting year for stocks – because so many investors would rather quickly forget the end results. So here are the end results: 2018 was the worst year for stocks since 2008 and only the second year…
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