Whether you realize it or not, chances are good that you are prone to something called Recency Bias, which is the common tendency to think that what has been happening recently will continue to happen in the near future. If you, like many investors, are shocked and concerned about February’s sudden market volatility, it’s probably…
Whether you view Friday’s stock market sell-off as an adjustment to permit the markets to climb higher on a more solid base, or were nervous about the sharp short term “loss” of unrealized gains, it’s clear that the stock market’s meteoric, historically-long winning streak hit a bump in the road this week. Draw downs and…
We hear from prospects all the time “ I manage a complex budget for my firm, yet I just can’t seem to sift through my personal finances.” Welcome the financial planner to your life. It may sound like a foreign concept to some, but for many simply having their own emotions attached to their personal…
“Winning the lottery is crucial to my retirement plan.” Does it surprise you to hear that this is a real quote from an American worker? Sadly, it’s not just one person’s perspective. It’s a sentiment that is shared by the 40-50% of Americans who believe that winning the lottery is the only way they can…
Sign of the Times It wasn’t too long ago that every teenager was fawning over the boy-band One Direction. Now, only a few years later, the band members are all pursuing their own solo careers. In his 2017 solo debut album, the former One Direction member Harry Styles sings the hook “Just stop your crying,…
On Wednesday, the Trump Administration released their nine-page tax plan titled “United Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code.” That’s a mouthful. The full text of the plan can be found here. So how will the proposed tax-plan affect you? The reviews are in, and they suggest that while the plan is considered “finalized,” there is…
Imagine this: you are in a car and it is sinking. You try pulling on the door handles but they won’t open because the pressure on the outside of the car is much greater than the pressure inside the car. What do you do? More likely than not, you are now panicking and you can’t…
Our summer intern turned part-time associate Dan McKenna wrote a great piece about his experience being new to the biz that I thought was worth sharing. ___________________________________________________ I’m new here. The best word I can think of for explaining the experience of being a freshly-graduated analyst entering this market is… baffling. Every week I…
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that hackers had gained access to some of the systems of Equifax Inc., one of the largest three credit reporting companies, potentially compromising the personal information of 143 million U.S. consumers. The systems they gained access to contained customers’ names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and addresses. These four…
This past weekend my family has made the move into a new home, which needless to say, has been a chaotic process. It really got me thinking, though, about real estate/home ownership and how it fits into client portfolios and their financial plans. The mantra of the middle class is buy a home. But is…