Take a look at your 12/31 investment statements. Specifically, review the dividends credited to your accounts on your statement. They are not insignificant if your portfolio is constructed of many different companies. Dividends from the equities you own are...
This is Buzz Lightyear’s famous quote as he soars across the room cheered on by his fellow friends/toys. It also describes how I view our firm as we continue to attract clients beyond Northern Virginia. While working on the business, we discovered that over 30...
As the year comes to a close, we naturally begin to consider a New Year’s resolution. Often this may be a personal fitness or financial goal, it may also be a positive change to improve your wellbeing. This is all done with good intentions, though often by late...
Imagine updating your financial plan in January, April, or December of 2020. How might the plan outputs at various dates have impacted your behavior and financial choices? What other life decisions may positively influence your approach to planning? January 2020: ...
I left my previous firm of 23 years. It was a huge move to make, one that required an exhaustive amount of planning, timing, and frankly some luck. Driving this move was my beliefs, vision, and passion to serve clients in a manner that did not require product quotas...
The successful long-term investor who stays the course, works a plan, and continues to invest is progressing closer to their goals today. As painful as it feels to sit still and not flinch when markets contract, the patient investor practices discipline and is...
Tricks: (Don’t start doing these things – or stop if you already have). Borrowing more than necessary Confusing volatility with risk Mixing politics with your investment choices Assuming your 401k alone will provide you the lifestyle you desire when you repurpose your...
In our prior post, we covered the historical, real life returns of large companies compared to bonds after accounting for inflation. We determined that you must have a plan before selecting investments. Not doing so causes you to lean on outputs that are out of your...
Before crafting a financial plan, before creating an investment policy statement, before you invest, it’s important to recognize and be familiar with three numbers. These three numbers by themselves will help you make sense of what risk is, what it is not, and what...
Sustainable long-term wealth is built slowly - especially during these uncertain times. It’s not the big return years we naturally think of, such as 2017 and 2019, that make the largest impact. Likewise, it’s also not the years 2012-2016 when we look back in the...
Like many families, we have what seems like a million Legos in our house. They accumulated slowly overtime, typically around birthdays and holidays. All of our boys have enjoyed playing with them, my youngest still loves them. Financial planning is a lot like a...
You may be surprised the next time you log-in and view your various investment account values. It’s likely that the accounts have rebounded from declines seen over the past several months. This is good news to the patient, disciplined, goal-focused investor who...