Often, when a client has a new baby, their first financial question is, “How much should we save for his/her college?” I love this eagerness and willingness to think long-term savings for the child, however I increasingly find myself telling them to “pump the breaks a little bit.” I don’t…
When talking to a prospective client, one common roadblock that I run into is the prospect saying they don’t need a financial planner at this time, and they are “fine” handling their finances on their own. My hypothesis is that people say this (even though they are the ones that…
As you’ve likely seen, there was plenty of drama driving the markets in the first quarter 2023, culminating in bank worries that sent volatility higher and stock prices lower. The headlines over the first three months of the year were beyond scary. They started with consensus among economists that recession…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I know, I know Christmas was only about two months ago…I am talking about tax season. It’s everyone’s favorite time of the year where you have to take time out of your schedule in an attempt to come up with a number…
In the span of just a few days, cryptocurrency exchange FTX – the world’s third largest cryptocurrency exchange with more than 1 million users – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A few days later, cryptocurrency lender BlockFi announced that it was “not able to do business as usual” and paused…
Many of us remember the phrase “too big to fail” from the 2008 financial crisis and cringe now that its use has been resurrected during the coronavirus pandemic. Others remember that the term was also used in 1984 by U.S. Congressman Stewart McKinney when he talked about the FDIC’s intervention…
When managing personal finances and investments, people frequently exhibit irrational behavior for different reasons. If you’re one of these folks, be fair to yourself: It doesn’t even take a spate of market zigzags like we saw recently to prod you into questionable decisions. Everyone makes choices about money nearly every…
The third quarter of this year started out so promising. After the worst first half since 1970, the S&P 500 rallied 17.4% from its June 16 low to its August 16 high. But stronger-than-expected inflation reports, and a hawkish Fed proved to be too much for the market, and the…
Elon Musk – the world’s richest person – recently announced that he was pulling out of his agreement to buy Twitter (good luck!), saying that there was a lack of information about the number of Twitter users made up by bots. In a letter sent to Twitter, Musk said that…
Bull markets happen. Bear markets happen. Just stick to your financial plan and stay calm and disciplined. When the market sours or slumps, don’t believe talk that this bear is different. It is not. History shows this is true. When markets decline, they do so rapidly and painfully. The subsequent…