Well, I’m completely cooked, my bracket is toast after the first round of the NCAA tournament! Filling out your bracket with your favorite picks is a fun gamble that may or may not pan out. Quite the opposite of financial planning which allows for more inputs in...
When you think of your best investments, does a particular stock, collectable, digital currency, or real estate come to mind? For me, I believe my best investment is my health. As we mark the one-year point into this pandemic, it’s difficult at times to recall how...
Recently there has been a lot of attention placed on the wild financial gains of certain companies and trading platforms. So much hype around what’s being made, who’s taking advantage of who, and stories of turning $20k into $200k in three weeks. Top this off with a...
So, did you see your financial shadow yesterday? Chances are it may be six more weeks of financial worries and stress if you did OR six more weeks of spending and savings with purpose if you didn’t. Consider the following steps based on what you saw: Your financial...
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...