Investments
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 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 MoreGame-Stop Right There!
In the previous blog, GameStop, Blackberry, AMC: How “Dud” Companies are Suddenly Worth Billions, we discussed the origins of the GameStop and meme-stock fiasco. Now let’s take a look at some of the other players (read: enablers) and the possible outcomes of this type of trading. Reddit As GameStop’s stock price was going vertical,…
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 MoreDoes Bitcoin Have a Place in Your Investment Strategy?
In 2013 I bought my first Bitcoin. I was a financial advisor at a not-to-be named wirehouse in Clayton, Missouri and a friend tried to explain to me what blockchain was. At the time, Bitcoin was around $50 per coin. In 2013 I sold my first Bitcoin. After all, how high could this…
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 More2020…A Decade to Remember
Living through 2020 felt like living through an entire decade. I’ll leave it to you to decide which decade you’d like to relive, but I’m going for the 1960s – though maybe skimming a few years from the late 60s and adding them to the late 50s.
Read MoreEnd of Year Action Items – 2020 Edition
The past 12 months have brought significant tax changes including the CARES, Disaster, and SECURE acts, each with implications for retirement and tax planning. In addition to providing action items to potentially help reduce your 2020 tax burden, the purpose of this post is to recap the financial planning implications of – and opportunities created by these acts.
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 More2019…A Year to Remember
As is often the case following a negative year, (the US Markets lost over 5% in 2018), 2019 was (globally) a banner year with total US Market returns over 30%, International markets over 20% and even the US and Global Bond market’s joining in the celebration with returns of over 8.5% and 7.5% respectively. In fact, US Stocks were THE place to be in 2019; they were the tickets to Hamilton, U2 and BTS (Boomers, find the nearest Millennial and ask them) wrapped up into one beautiful gift basket!
Read MoreWhen 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 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 More