Helping pave the way towards financial freedom
Most investors are not aware that just seven companies have kept the S&P 500 Index afloat this year. Apple, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Amazon, Alphabet, and Tesla have driven the vast majority of gains. The concept of “market breadth” analyzes how stocks perform relative to one another in a given index, such as the S&P 500….
In a recent piece, “Who Is The Media“, I offered my broad take on the media. I suggested how to identify islands of investment insights across the oceans of daily news. With that in mind, I wanted to highlight one of the first pioneers in financial journalism. Introducing America’s first personal financial columnist Sylvia Porter…
In planning for retirement, one topic is often top of mind: What if Social Security goes bust? As we covered in a related 2022 post, When Should You Take Your Social Security, most of us have been paying into the program our entire working life. We’re counting on receiving some of that money back in…
I love small businesses! I own one myself, and I can relate to what many of them go through. Many of my clients are small business owners. Previously I wrote broadly about the various retirement accounts available (see article). Now I want to dive a little deeper into the small business options and help others…
Let’s talk about climate change. The wildfires, hurricanes, and floods we’ve seen in 2020 (on top of an already-awful global pandemic) make this an important conversation to have. We all know what “weather” is. It’s what we feel outside, day to day. Climate is defined as the “usual weather” of a place. So “climate change”…
When thinking of topics to post about, I couldn’t help but think about some of the less desirable customer service experiences I have had lately. These kinds of things have been happening more and more recently, but here’s what has happened to me this month alone: My mortgage person has become non-responsive to my 2…
We all know that prices typically go up over time: this is called inflation. Inflation is generally a result of an increase in the supply of money. As more money becomes available, the purchasing power of a dollar drops. As the value of the currency decreases, the prices of goods and services increase. We’ve seen…
Charitable giving is a personal choice, and several factors typically determine how much a person “gives” away. Financial status. Upbringing. Trust factors. Priorities. Egos. I’ve had this topic come up lately with clients – people wondering HOW MUCH SHOULD WE BE GIVING? HOW MUCH DO OTHER PEOPLE GIVE? It’s a welcome discussion, particularly with all…
The big industry news in the past week is that some of the biggest brokerage firms slashed their commission rates to zero. The trend was inevitable, as declining commissions have been happening across the industry for decades. Some smaller outfits experimented with $0 trades recently, but it wasn’t until Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and E*Trade…
June is the time of year when school wraps up, with parents celebrating and guiding their kids to the next chapter in their exciting lives. I was reminded of it this week when looking at my Instagram. I am seeing friends post graduating pics, whether it’s moving on to middle school or moving on to…