Stock market watchers often talk about whether “this time it’s different”: Does this bull market reflect the same conditions as the last one? Is this downturn different from the one just before the last recession? This time, is it different? Almost always, circumstances might be different, but business cycles are more or less the same. […]
When the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton was on tour, and despite the ridiculous price-point for tickets, I went to see it. Even if musical theatre is not your thing, it’s hard not to have been exposed to some of the songs, and what was once the obscure story of the United States’ first Treasury Secretary. […]
March seems like a long time ago, even though it’s only been six months. Life in Corona Times. Back in March we had just started shutdown here in the United States, the economy ground to a halt with exception of a few essentials, the stock market plummeted. We found comfort in Netflix and a stockpile […]
Like other advisors during the current market turmoil, I am working with clients on portfolio rebalancing, tax loss harvesting, Roth conversions while account balances may be diminished, and shoring up emergency funds. All of these are good things to consider. But are those the ONLY things you might be thinking about with regard to your […]
For about a week now, most of us have been hunkered down in our little COVID caves under a “social isolation” directive. Some of the rest of you are under strict shelter-in-place orders. Here’s the bottom line: We will get through this. And not in a dystopian, I Am Legend kind of way, though if […]
They say March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb. The last week of February was not meek nor fierce, but ugly, and I don’t know what to call it. February begins with hearts and flowers, and ends with a new virus, entire cities under quarantine, and all the stock traders heading […]
This time of year we often look back over the past 12 months, and as we close out 2019, we also close out a decade. Time goes by in the blink of an eye, and the past ten years are only different in that there has been more change than ever before. That will only be exceeded by […]
Research shows that one of the reasons we have a hard time planning and saving for the future is that we lack a connection to our future selves. We can’t – or won’t – picture ourselves as older. Our youth-obsessed culture draws the picture of an elder you as wrinkled, frail and infirm, rather than […]
We’re in an era of constant change. As soon as you buy one thing, there’s a newer version. In the old I Love Lucy television show, Lucy asks the question: “If everything now is new and improved, what was it before? Old and lousy?” In the same way store shelves are continually restocked with the […]
If all the pink hearts and chocolates you’ve been seeing in stores since just after Christmas weren’t enough of a giveaway, it’s Valentine’s Day. The first conversational candy hearts were crafted by the New England Confectioners Company in 1866. Yes, that means we’ve been doing this for over 150 years. And this year you probably […]