Chart of the Month – Sept 2022
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, gas prices spiked to a nationwide peak of $5.02/gallon on June 13, 2022. Since then, the price of gas has been coming down, but the discussions about it have not slowed at all.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, gas prices spiked to a nationwide peak of $5.02/gallon on June 13, 2022. Since then, the price of gas has been coming down, but the discussions about it have not slowed at all.
A few weeks ago, I talked with our two kids – one a preschooler and the other a kindergartner – about money. Here are some starter topics for you to discuss with your kids.
Owning and operating a business is a tough task. Selling a business is equally difficult. If you’re a business owner, the odds are that you haven’t put together a plan to do this. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Many people like the idea of higher expected returns that stocks may produce, but the higher return potential comes with more risk. This week, Kent Kramer walks us through a possible approach to understanding how much of your portfolio could be invested in stocks.
Many people like the idea of higher expected returns that stocks may produce, but the higher return potential comes with more risk. This week, Kent Kramer walks us through a possible approach to understanding how much of your portfolio could be invested in stocks.
What if my spouse is gone tomorrow? What if I live to 110? What If I want to retire as soon as possible? What if I have a Long-Term Care event? Where do you seek guidance, clarity, and understanding on your financial plan to help address these questions?
Market volatility can sometimes be downright scary. The other day, I read that the quarter ending June 30th was the 16th worst quarter in the history of the stock market. Even worse, the first quarter was bad too, making it one of the very worst six-month periods in nearly a century. How does an investor respond?
In more than a decade of working with clients, I’ve discovered that one thing tends to do more damage to financial plans than any other.
For more than 20 years, I ran competitively. Last year, I spent three to four months training consistently and failed to reach one of my goals.
I start getting anxious this time of year when I am forced to collect all the necessary information for my tax advisor. In preparation for the upcoming tax deadline, Monday, April 18, 2022, I wanted to summarize what to expect in the way of relevant tax information related to your investments.
Here are some ideas and tools you can use to help make your saving automatic, the biggest key to growing your savings.
According to a 2020 Federal Reserve study, 36% of American adults do not have enough cash to cover a $400 unexpected expense1. While the opposite 64% say they DO have enough, that still leaves around 90 million American adults unable to handle a modest money disruption in their lives.
It has been eight years, but the memories are still fresh! My wife and I loaded our four daughters into our Dodge Grand Caravan and headed west for our long-anticipated “Westward Ho!” journey. As we crossed the great plains into the Rockies and traversed the high desert of New Mexico into the arid Arizona desert, we laughed, fought, slept, played games, and created incredible memories.
While each person has different long-term goals, a common future desire that exists for most people is retirement. There's a day coming when you won't want to, or can’t, work anymore, and your income will need to be replaced. This is a huge “future self” liability that has to be considered.
At the end of 2021, outstanding consumer debt in the United States, including mortgages, student loans, auto loans, credit cards, etc., totaled $15.6 trillion, which equates to about $50,000 per American. Clearly, we are no strangers to debt. Ultimately, getting rid of consumeristic debt will help you save and accomplish your goals.
I listened to a great show on the Hidden Brain podcast a couple months ago: Work 2.0 – The Obstacles You Don’t See. The big takeaway was that often the path to success is not about more motivation but removing obstacles. I think the podcast has had a big impact on my life already. Let me explain.
We often get asked by clients about different ideas they heard from a friend, a new exclusive deal they got invited into, or, most frequently, a specific company or stock that a friend gave them the scoop on. The reality is that a lot of the “great ideas and deals” never amount to any real return, and many end up going to zero.
The month of January was marked by negative returns for global stock markets. But, as the well-worn phrase, “Is your glass half full or half empty?” implies, our view of, or the way we feel about the state of markets as investors, may be more related to our personal dispositions than what the numbers indicate.