I’m not a huge celebrator of birthdays. The first birthday that felt significant for me was my 19th: my last teenage year. That felt like a milestone. Then 21, and after that, those birthdays divisible-by-five: 25, 30, 35, 40. After 40, I switched to divisible-by-10. In truth, I think any excuse for a little joy […]
It’s awards season, and while I love movies, I mostly watch the awards shows for the Red Carpet. But each year I make a point to see the Oscar-nominated short films in the brief window when they are shown in theatres. This year, one of them was about retirement planning. Imagine my surprise. (Seriously, what […]
This summer Congress passed new tax law. This One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA or “OB3”)[1] made “permanent” the tax provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) passed in 2017. Permanent tax law changes mean they don’t expire, but they can be changed by passing new tax law. The TCJA was not permanent […]
I had a birthday during the week of the recent presidential election, so as an indulgence, I started writing this post to express my personal view on the election results. It was a bit of a whirlwind, with all but a handful of races decided within a day or two. Full disclosure: I voted for […]
Whatever you think about the discussion around economics and politics, it’s useful to have a framework for sorting things out. We’re expecting to hear more jargon on taxes and tax policy as the November election approaches. Below is a quick primer on some of the tax-related issues. TAXESWe all complain about them. But what is […]
This time of year, we all shift gears in many ways, marking the end of Summer with Labor Day weekend. We move from vacations back to work. Those of you with kids at home have also begun the process of getting everyone ready for a new school year. That first week of school is an […]
I write a lot about women, and their roles – desired or expected – in economic life. I’m a big believer in each of us being able to use our gifts and talents to offer the best of ourselves to the world. Often, that offering is cut short, channeled into something smaller, or rejected entirely. […]
I love to plan. I’m sure it has something to do with control, but to me it feels more like a combination of power and pleasure: looking at an array of choices, choosing what suits best, then making it happen. Recently I had an epic planning failure. OUTBOUND I sat on a plane for four […]
It’s that time of year, when you’ve received most of your tax forms for putting together your 2023 tax return. Yes, you can pass that pile along to your accountant, but aren’t you curious about what you’re really paying in taxes? At a minimum, so you can complain with accuracy? THE THREE MAIN COMPONENTS OF […]
Advisors absolutely do not have a crystal ball, so this post isn’t going to tell you what hot stock to buy or whether Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will stay together. But there are a handful of themes that will play out over the course of the year, and those are important to understand. In […]