The S&P 500 dropped 10% between February 19th and March 13th (it’s now down 8.5% from the peak). By itself, that’s not newsworthy since the average intra-year decline for the S&P 500 is 14%, we haven’t had a correction since 2022, and the S&P 500 had gotten very expensive.
But to many this feels different and worse: policy chaos, weaker
Unfortunately, there’s no Wednesday Reading List this week. I’ve been traveling back-to-back weeks for work, which is rare, and it’s only the second time in the 266 weeks since the blog launched that I wasn’t able to get one out.
Last week I was in a four day meeting with seven other wealth management CEO’s learning from each other, helping
We bought a house four years ago for $770,000 with a 2.625% thirty-year mortgage. Home insurance cost $4,000. Our 25% down-payment was $192,500.
Fast-forward to now.
Prices have jumped. That house costs $1,050,000, increasing the down-payment by $70,000 (36%). Mortgage rates are 7%, so our monthly payment goes from $2,334 to $5,239 – $34,860 more per year. Home insurance is
I started a wealth management career twenty-four years ago to help people with their biggest stress point (money) through a comprehensive model. I’m fortunate to be at a dynamic wealth management firm where my ability to do this is amplified by my leadership role, which includes strategic planning with my team, networking with industry executives, and getting feedback from clients
Here’s an edited transcript of my recent conversation with our Chief Investment Officer, Bob Weisse, on our Wealthy Behavior podcast. We talk monthly what’s going on in the investment world that we think you need to know now. This month we looked back at how markets performed last year, shared our thoughts on the 2025 market outlooks we’ve
U.S. stocks have outperformed international stocks since late 2011. This has frustrated those who believe you need to own both because they take turns outperforming and a global stock portfolio provides the consistent long-term returns your financial plan needs.
Source: Hartford Funds – US and International Markets Have Moved in Cycles
So, are international markets broken, or is the U.S.
I’ve been sharing book recommendations on the blog for years and in the redesign created a landing page for all of them. Check them out including prior year’s best reads’ lists here .
Fiction
James: A Novel by Percival Everett
A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim’s
I spend more time than I’d like to admit on fantasy basketball. It started with one league, then I figured I’d add another since I was already doing the work for one.
Fantasy drafts present strategy choices, including whether to pick the same players in multiple leagues. Should you maximize the benefit of your best ideas, or protect against bad
Stocks are at all-time highs and valuations are expensive, leaving investors with a lump sum to invest wondering if they should pull the trigger or dollar-cost average to protect against investing a lot right before a market decline. Here are four quick points to consider and my ultimate conclusion.
The post Should You Dollar-Cost Average in This Market? appeared first
I prefer to avoid politics in my client conversations and personal finance content. You risk ticking people off with a topic that’s not very relevant to their finances anyway. But ignoring it this week feels forced, so here are my brief election thoughts before getting into the possible financial implications.
The Election
I can’t recall the last time I was