Tariffs Across the Board; What They Mean - Tariffs are nothing new to global trade. And they certainly aren’t new to the United States and its trading partners. Without attempting to explain tariffs in my own context, I am making available an easy to understand guide from Capital Group (also known as American Funds). Please take a look and let me know if […]
Markets Move into Correction Territory - A correction in the market is defined as a drop from peak to trough of 10% or more. Last Thursday, 3-13-2025, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ indexes both moved into correction territory. The Dow 30 index had not, but that’s not to say that it couldn’t or wont. While drops (or corrections) like this may […]
Are You Keeping Up With the Jones’s? - Are you keeping up with ‘the’ Jones’s? I know I’m not. Last week, I stayed in a hotel room (not disclosing name or location) which displayed its room ‘rack rate’ with an astounding $12,000 maximum daily charge. While I received a partial subsidy and paid nothing close to that eye-popping amount, I did see a […]
Complimentary Tax Return Review - While we understand that having a tax discussion probably isn’t #1 on your “to-do” list, we ask that you bear with us for just a moment. Along with mortgages, auto purchases/repairs, and food/entertainment, taxes are right up there as one of our largest expenses. And unfortunately, the Internal Revenue Code is notoriously one of the […]
Cognitive Biases; Are You Aware of Yours? - Right now, next Christmas is closer than the past one, the days are already getting shorter, and the year is already half over? How’s that for making you feel like the year is just whizzing by? I’m not trying to depress you; I’m trying to awaken those who need a little jump start to take […]
Help at the End of the Road - It seems that every other week or so, I hear someone talking about the challenges of caring for a family member or friend who is suffering from declining ability due to age. Declining ability could mean mental, physical, or both conditions being affected. As I recently obtained my credentials as a licensed professional fiduciary with […]
Why Investing is Not Simple - Investing considerations should be based on measurable metrics, history, the economy, risk, and timeline. Feelings and emotions are not included in this criteria.
Suffering from Sudden Wealth Issues… - “The call” comes in…and news is broken that your long-loved relative has passed away. Over the next several weeks, you and your family go through the 5-stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining or guilt, depression, and acceptance. At the end of the family gatherings, internment, celebrations of life, and even some alone time, you discover […]
Getting your Ducks Lined Up. - The average American consumer has 5.3 accounts across all types of financial institutions. Some have more than 20, and some might only have 2-accounts. But with each successive account, how does one go about tracking them all? Do you know the exact balance of your checking, savings, mortgage, credit cards, and car loan off the […]
Exciting Times for Boring Stuff - Exciting Times for Boring Stuff Talk about an oxymoronic headline! Why is it that cash, bonds, treasury bills, and CD’s are getting more attention today than they’ve garnered over the past 15-years? It’s because those fixed income investments, or instruments, are now paying upwards of 5% interest! The last time banks were paying this much […]