In this week's special edition of Financial Perspectives, Kent Kramer has a conversation with 2022 Morningstar Outstanding Portfolio Manager award winner, Mary Ellen Stanek, who is managing director and co-chief investment officer of Baird. In this conversation, Kent and Mary Ellen cover everything from market history and trends to surprising interviews.
Spring and it's emerging signs of life are great reminders of how many things in our lives start small. But with a little attention year after year, small things can grow to become meaningful and enjoyable contributions to our lives and the lives of others.
In my life, I’ve always been a goal setter. You may be a goal setter, too. If you’re like me, you set goals on an annual basis. It may be hard to get going, but being purposeful about taking those first steps will produce results and help propel you from one success to the next. So where do you start?
Trying to time the market and choosing to sell in reaction to headlines tends to be a predictable mistake. There always seems to be a reason to sell.
If you are a client of Foster Group and have met with your advisor recently, you may have discussed what’s important to you, what we are planning for as it relates to your goals, and what you hope to achieve.
For many family businesses, the lack of clear succession plans is the most significant challenge.
In the NCAA tournaments, uncertainty and underdogs pulling off the impossible upset of a top-ranked team is a certainty. This week, Kent Kramer observes how we can learn from March Madness and apply those observations to investing.
As a woman in finance, I often like to think about how far we, as women, have come. A lot has changed for women in finance in the last 50 years, and I hope to see even more changes in the next 50!
The benefit of a diversified investment portfolio is that, while again we do not know who the actual winners and losers will be, the risk of excluding the best is greatly reduced.
“What books would you recommend?” “What podcasts do you listen to?” At Foster Group we often get asked questions like these. Here’s a short list of some recent responses from our team.
Coming off the Thanksgiving holiday, are you feeling optimistic? If you are an investor, you've likely answered the question with a "yes." This week, Kent Kramer explains why long-term optimism is justifiable in a world filled with bad news.
People come to terms with the fact they will one day retire. Maybe not in the next year or two but sometime in the next five. Often, it’s a reality they’ve been denying.
For most of us, it’s that time of the year when we make benefits elections for next year. These are important decisions.
Oftentimes, you don't know what your expectations are until they aren't met. This week, Kent Kramer looks at how relative risk and comparison within investing may impact your investment experience.
“Past performance is not indicative of future results.” Most people think of investing when they hear or read the sentence above, the ultimate statement of caution. What do you think of this statement when it comes to baseball?
How Do Treasuries Lose Money? US Treasury bonds are generally regarded as safe. Sometimes they’re referred to as “risk-free” assets. This is a bit of a misnomer.
What does generosity mean to you? Foster Group Founder Jerry Foster and his wife, Nancy, share stories about starting small and finding causes they believed in. Hear how you can discover and develop your unique generosity framework.
The different ways people react to and treat wealth and finances is fascinating. Although not everyone can be put in a box, there are five main personality types when it comes to psychology and wealth: Neuroticism/Emotional Stability, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Openness.
Does war in Israel mean a big market meltdown? It’s hard to escape the war news. One way to think about the future is by looking at the past for similar circumstances.
It is hard to escape the news of war in Israel. And it is not unusual for investors to wonder about possible impacts the war may have on markets. This week, Kent Kramer analyzes returns of foreign and US stock markets during years when Israel has been at war.
Nearly four out of ten Americans lack enough money to cover an unexpected $400 expense? The statistics on this have remained consistent over the years. One of the first steps in building a strong financial foundation is creating an emergency fund. The idea is to prepare for the unexpected expenses of life.
