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...
Last time we covered some key elements to our annual review process with clients. We understand planning takes a lot of brain power and time, attempting to cover everything in a single meeting is not always efficient or effective for many busy clients. Spreading out...
As summer approaches our firm has just completed the first half of all annual plan reviews with our clients. Financial planning continues to evolve and encompasses a wide array of services, needs, and considerations. It’s been our experience that attempting to...
Traditional investment thinking has always viewed bonds and fixed income as a “safe” haven away from the volatility of equities. Equities, as we’ve discussed before, are thousands of companies (of various sizes) run by really smart men and women. These companies are...
There are many risks to assess in a financial plan. In my opinion, the most underappreciated risk is purchasing power risk as it often sneaks up on you overtime. Our brains view “risk” in a singular format and equate it to losing something. For example, I “lost”...
Now is a good time to reflect on current spending as we work and live from home. Spending in some areas may be up while other discretionary spending is likely down. It’s possible more cash has accumulated in your bank accounts as non-essential spending has declined...
Every professional and family needs a safety net to protect what is important to them. This “safety net” is unique depending on who you are, what you care about, and where you are in life. Life moves quickly and it’s important to ensure your safety net is keeping...
Financial planning is a lot like baking a cake or making a batch of cookies. Most recipes will use similar ingredients such as flower, sugar, and milk. However, there is still quite a bit you can customize, substitute, or make your own. Some of this comes in the...
We have covered the value of good financial behavior and the necessary traits that most successful investors share. The following represents action steps successful investors take to strengthen their long-term probability of success. Written Down Goals and...