Commentary on wealth planning, investing, tax strategy, and long-term stewardship.
The Spouse Who Doesn't Handle the Money · Commentary · Not because anyone decided it. It happens the way most household divisions happen. Someone was slightly more interested, or slightly better at it, or had more time during a particular stretch, and twenty years later that is simply how it works. One person knows where things are. The other does not, and has not needed to.
The Phone Call That Sounds Exactly Like Your Grandson · Commentary · The oldest version of this scam is decades old. Someone calls an older person, claims to be a grandchild in trouble, and asks for money fast. It worked often enough to persist, and it failed often enough that most families felt reasonably safe.
You Inherited Money. What Should Happen in the First Year? · Commentary · Most financial planning content about inheritance is written for the person leaving it. Far less is written for the person receiving it, which is strange, because that is the harder position to be in.
How Much Cash Should You Actually Be Holding? · Commentary · Most financial questions people bring us are about what to buy. This one is the opposite, and it comes up more often than any of them: how much money should be sitting in the bank?
The Risk of a Concentrated Stock Position · Commentary · If a large share of your net worth sits in one company's stock, you're carrying a risk most diversified investors never think about. Here's how it builds up unnoticed, and the strategies that can address it without forcing an all-or-nothing decision.
How Do Financial Advisors Get Paid? · Commentary · How do financial advisors get paid? Commissions, asset-based fees, and flat retainers shape the advice you receive. What fee-only means, and what it does not.
Risk Tolerance in Investing: What It Really Means · Commentary · Risk tolerance in investing is more than a questionnaire score. The two sides of risk, why people misjudge their own, and how time horizon changes the answer.
Generational Wealth Planning: A Practical Guide · Estate Planning · Generational wealth planning is about more than passing along assets. It is about creating a durable framework that transfers purpose, values, and financial stewardship across generations.
Old 401(k)s From Previous Jobs? It's Time to Bring Them Home. · Commentary · If you've changed jobs over the years, chances are you have retirement accounts scattered across multiple former employers. It's more common than you think, and it could be quietly costing you.
What to Do With Unused 529 Funds · Retirement · Unused 529 funds no longer have to mean taxes and a penalty. How SECURE Act 2.0 allows rollovers to a Roth IRA, the limits that apply, and when it may fit.
Why the Calendar Doesn't Matter · Investment · A reminder that strong planning is built on discipline and time horizon, not arbitrary calendar milestones.
Volatility Is the Price of Admission · Investment · An investment perspective on accepting market volatility as part of long-term return seeking rather than a sign that the plan is broken.
2026 Will Look Different than 2025, And That’s a Good Thing · Commentary · As we wrap up 2025, it’s natural to look at the past twelve months and try to project them forward. Markets delivered strong returns, volatility stayed unusually quiet, and most of the gains were concentrated in a small group of familiar leaders. But markets rarely repeat themselves. They evolve. And the year ahead...
2025: Strong Markets, Narrow Leadership, Familiar Lessons · Commentary · As we enter November, the market has once again delivered strong returns — and once again, it has done so in a way that doesn’t always feel strong. Pullbacks have come and gone, headlines have been noisy, opinions have been loud, but the broader trend? Upward. If that sounds familiar, it should. It’s the same patter...
Quantitative Easing May Return: What the Fed’s Latest Signal Means for Investors · Commentary · Last week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested that the Fed’s balance-sheet reduction — better known as quantitative tightening (QT) — may soon come to an end. That statement, while brief, sent a clear message to markets: the central bank may be preparing to pause tightening and potentially reintroduce qua...
The Cost of Waiting to Invest · Commentary · Why starting early matters more than timing perfectly When it comes to building lasting wealth, the most valuable resource an investor has isn’t luck — it’s time. Yet for many, hesitation becomes the biggest obstacle to success. The desire to “wait for the right time” feels logical, but in practice, it’s one of the...
Protecting Your Legacy — Estate Planning in Today’s Environment · Commentary · Estate planning is one of the most important, and often overlooked, aspects of financial health. Many people assume it’s only for the wealthy, but the truth is simple: if you own assets, care about your family, or want control over how your wealth is passed on, you need an estate plan. We’re also living in a unique...
Year-End Tax Planning — Don’t Leave Savings on the Table · Commentary · The final months of the year bring busy schedules filled with family, holidays, and business wrap-ups. But it’s also the most important window to revisit your tax and investment strategy. The moves you make between now and December 31 can have a lasting impact on your tax bill, retirement savings, and overall financ...
Tax Saving Tips for Seniors: Making the Most of Charitable Giving · Commentary · For many retirees, giving back to the community is a core value. What some may not realize is that certain forms of charitable giving can also provide significant tax advantages. If you’re age 73 or older and hold assets in a traditional IRA, a strategy called a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) could be worth...
Artificial Intelligence: From Hype to Proof · Commentary · Artificial Intelligence (AI) has dominated the headlines for the past two years. From boardrooms to dinner tables, few topics have captured as much attention — or driven as much market enthusiasm. The excitement has been especially visible in the stock market, where the so-called Magnificent Seven companies invested...
Investing Through Uncertainty: The Only Constant in Markets · Commentary · If there’s one thing markets have taught us in recent years, it’s this: the only certainty is uncertainty. Over the last five years, investors have faced a pandemic, inflation spiking to 9%, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and rapid swings in monetary policy. And yet, despite these shocks, both the Dow Jones an...
How the Employer Contribution Credit Can Benefit Your Business · Commentary · The SECURE 2.0 Act introduced a range of incentives for small and mid-sized businesses to make retirement savings more accessible. Among them is the Employer Contribution Credit — a little-known but highly valuable tax credit that directly reduces an employer’s tax liability. What Is It? The Employer Contribution Cr...
How Families Can Prepare for the Wealth Transfer of Our Time · Commentary · Over the next 20 years, more than $80 trillion will be passed down from one generation to the next. It’s the largest shift of wealth in history. For many families, that transfer brings opportunities—but also challenges if planning isn’t in place. The good news: with some preparation, you can make sure your wealth is...
Stop Leaving Your 401(k) on the Table: Why Unclaimed Retirement Accounts Can Cost You Thousands · Commentary · Every year, millions of Americans walk away from jobs — and leave their 401(k) plans behind with them. Whether it’s because of a career change, a move, or simply forgetting about an old account, this oversight can quietly cost you tens of thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of dollars over your lifetime.
What the Average American Needs to Retire · Commentary · When it comes to retirement, there’s no one-size-fits-all number — but understanding what the average American needs can help you set your own personal benchmark and adjust course if needed.
Your Portfolio Is Like Your Golf Game · Commentary · Most golfers don’t need new clubs. They need to stop overcorrecting. Pulling out driver when it should’ve been a 4-iron. Chasing the pin instead of hitting the middle of the green. Trying to “fix their swing” mid-round. That’s exactly how most people manage their money, too. They jump from strategy to strategy, reac...
An Executive’s #1 Job: Capital Management · Commentary · In the news of late is the idea put forth by a few Congressmen to put a limit on how much stock a company can buyback. In essence, these politicians feel it is unjust for the management(s) of these companies to spend money on stock and should rather be utilizing their capital on hiring more people, spending it in th...
The Power of Dividends (Especially In A Nine-Year Bull Market) · Commentary · There is an old saying on Wall Street… “Profits are a matter of opinion, but dividends are a matter of fact.” As we are coming up on a decade long bull market that is coinciding with a massive tax cut for corporation, this saying carries even more weight… especially to dividend thirsty investors. Quite simply, they...
Corrections, Bear Markets, Etc… Should We Care? · Commentary · There’s the old saying, “All good things must come to an end.” For most people a slowing bull market (in other words a rising stock market) invoke this sentiment when the tide turns, and the stock market head south. Many times entering correction territory (a 10% decline) or even worse, a bear market (20% drop). But...
The Free Loan To The IRS (Aka Your Tax Refund) · Commentary · Tis the season to discuss taxes! More specifically, the average taxpayer’s need to do the exact opposite of what they should do regarding tax withholdings and subsequent payment/refund. Since most Americans would rather receive a refund than owe taxes at the time of filing, let’s share some knowledge (math) in the h...
The Opportunity Of The (In)Efficient Market · Commentary · As stocks of large to small companies trade for a fraction of what they did last year, a question surfaces: Is the stock market accurate in its valuations? More to the point, does the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) hold water? Per Investopedia: EMH, alternatively known as the efficient market theory, is a hypothe...
Thankful For Perspective · Commentary · As investors, our ability to picture a future that is brighter than the present largely comes from never forgetting the past. A belief that is strengthened in our everyday life… if we take notice. I often share with clients, colleagues, and even myself that today we are living our best life. My educated guess would...
Elon’s Twitter Buyout Offer… The Market Top (Or At The Least A Sign Of What Was To Come) · Commentary · On April 4th, the S&P 500 Index (S&P) closed at 4,582, less than 5% off its historic highs. At the time, this somewhat benign drop could have been viewed as 1) A short-term blip, and we would soon be heading higher in no time, or 2) The beginning of a stock market correction as higher inflation reared its ugly head,...
How Quickly We Forget The Recent Past… Why? · Commentary · In early 2009, the S&P 500 Index (S&P) bottomed out after the Great Financial Crisis (GFC). As a refresher, the GFC was the period that culminated with the S&P shedding nearly half its value in less than six months! Ouch! Shocking that we are still here to talk about it. Sorry, I get emotional. Back to the topic at...
The FTX Dumpster Fire: A Harsh Investment Reminder · Commentary · For most of us, the motivation to invest is the same… grow our money. Unfortunately, when seeking to expedite that growth, many are destined to play a supporting role in FTX-like stories. Typically, we attribute success to picking the right investment; however, avoiding potentially flawed opportunities is just as im...
Why Most Investors Fail in the Stock Market (And How You Can Avoid It) · Commentary · The stock market is often portrayed as a golden ticket to wealth — a place where disciplined savers can watch their money grow exponentially over time. Yet, the reality is far less romantic: most retail investors underperform the market, and many give up entirely after a few costly mistakes. Why? And more importantl...
What If Stock Market Investing Was Gambling… Sin City Would Go Out Of Biz Quickly · Commentary · Over the past few decades, more than once have I heard comments that allude that investing in the stock market is akin to gambling… a game of chance per se. Needless to say, this comes from a lack of understanding, but nonetheless, it is a thought that occupies space in many people’s minds. (Read more: Stock ownersh...
Higher Education… A Day Of Reckoning Sooner Than Later · Commentary · For as long as we have been investors, there is one statistic that has occupied a tiny space in my brain. There are two industries that have forever grown at a rate that outpaces inflation… higher education is one (and I’ll save the other for my next post). I’m sure we can all appreciate the impact of a college degr...
Investing In The Stock Market Is Not Some Parlor Game · Commentary · Recently I participated on a panel where we fielded investment/finance related questions from members of a small business owners’ networking group. There were three professionals: a real estate investor / realtor, a sole practitioner in the entertainment industry, and me. I left this experience with one overarching...
Stock Market History Is On Your Side… But Does It Really Matter In The Long-Run · Commentary · With the turn of the calendar, it is standard practice for the world’s numerous investment professionals to roll out their thoughts for all things financial, leading to the big prize… a stock market prediction. Since the stock market ends the year in plus territory more than 75% of the time, it doesn’t take a rocket...
Inflation Explained… And The Future Opportunities It Foreshadows · Commentary · For the past year or even a bit longer, the topic of inflation and anything related has led the evening news. In fact, it’s led the morning and daytime news, and if you still read them, it’s been on the front page of your local or national newspaper (or website). And every time it's mentioned, the question abounds:...