This is a pretty cool interactive chart from Trulia that helps provide some direction on whether it is better to rent vs. Buy in various areas of the U.S. Below are four key variables that drive the decision Interest rate Whether you itemize on your tax return How many years you would stay in the home Do you pay homeowner association fees … Read More
The Ivy Lee Method: The Daily Routine Experts Recommend for Peak Productivity
Have you ever heard of the acronym KISS, keep it simple stupid? If not then this post may be for you. Likely you have heard me lament in previous writings on my desire and drive to find things that I can build repeatable processes around not only to help in managing client assets and wealth management planning but also in … Read More
Stressing Out About Money
I recently had a conversation with an individual about the very last sentence in this Ben Carlson post Stressing Out about Money, “Too many people are on their own when it comes to making financial decisions.” As American businesses have shifted from pensions to 401ks, it has shifted the responsibility for retirement savings from the employer to the employee. I agree … Read More
HGTV Host Provides Insights on How to Make a Second Home a Reality
My wife and I have always thought about what it might be like to own a vacation home. We have friends that have been able to pull it off from both a financial and usage perspective. HGTV host Matt Blashaw provides some insight into how to potentially make a second home a reality in this Business Insider article. Caution even … Read More
When Risk and Returns Really Start to Matter
I often tell new or prospective clients that investment management is the sexy part of the many facets of wealth management that I work on. For most clients, it is investment returns that get their attention. But as I go on to explain what it is that I really do and how I help people figure out where they want … Read More
Why Retail Stores are the New Black
For those of you who have not had a chance to check out Barry Ritholtz’s Masters in Business series over at Bloomberg, I can assure you that you will not be disappointed. Barry has been at this for over a year now interviewing some of the top people in business (not only in finance), academia, and a few in the … Read More
How Much Diversification is Enough?
I have talked quite a bit lately about diversification, especially holding a larger portion of cash than usual. As most of you know, I run most of my client portfolios with a minimal amount of positions compared to most managers, especially mutual funds and ETFs. Most of the research that I have done on the topic of diversification indicates that to have … Read More
MLB for Mom, Cancer Survivor Visiting All 30 MLB Parks to Honor Late, Baseball-Loving Mom
While my love for baseball has waned as I have gotten older I will still have a Red Sox or Tigers game on at night as background noise. The length of the games and lack of action has not set in well with my attention deficient syndrome mentality. Although, there may be something to Listening to a Baseball Game That Can … Read More
5 Factors That Determine Your Credit Score
Recently I was sitting down with a new client who just graduated from college and we began to cover the basic tenants of what a financial plan would look like for this young lady. Mind you this young woman only took on a reasonable amount of student loan debt, had no credit card debt, and actually had a material amount … Read More
The Shrinkage Effect in the Stock Market
I came across two articles recently The Shrinkage Effect in the Stock Market and The bull market is all about the shrinking supply of stocks with the same point but coming at it from two different angles. There has been a significant increase in the repurchase of shares by companies There are fewer stocks to choose from in the U.S. equity markets … Read More
