Financial Advisor Blog
Financial Advisor Blog
It’ll Make You Feel Good
Here’s a blinding flash of the obvious: Americans are highly stressed about their finances. Even before the economy went to Hell, people were experiencing all kinds of really negative feelings because we’re all under so much pressure to keep up, and because much of what personal finance encompasses is unfamiliar to most. The pressure to […]
Tsunami
There is a wave of defaults and bankruptcies building in the economic ocean and it will soon become a tsunami. This tsunami will swamp the bond market and then the Federal Reserve, if they really do what they’ve said they’re going to do when the tsunami comes. The Fed may eventually rise to the surface […]
Make Adjustments
We have all had to make adjustments from time to time, both large and small. As evidenced by the number in our herd, we are a fairly adaptable species. So, while we resist making them, we are pretty good at it. Having said that, the adjustments we’ll have to make in the years to come […]
Our True Selves
Renowned Canadian Psychologist Paul TP Wong said “A person’s true character is often revealed in times of crisis or temptation. Make sure you have what it takes to be your best in such times.” We all know our true selves show in times of crisis. It’s the second part of Wong’s statement that really grabbed […]
Filtering the Noise
I have an old-ish pair of noise-cancelling headphones, and to my untrained ear, they sound like they filter the noise by just making a low humming sound in the background. They remind me of the media right now, with an awful lot of noise about flattening the curves. Viral and yield. Maybe humming while we […]
What Should We Do?
We’re seeing the question of “What should we do?” pop up in relation to all manner of issues, from the run on toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to business contraction from the shut down on public spaces, and of course, the decline in markets. In this post, we’ll offer some concrete ideas on what we […]
What’s Next?
As a follow up to our last post, I thought we’d offer some perspective on what’s next for markets because we’re seeing a lot of half-baked messages on the internet. As I type, the US stock market is down 8% on the day, and I’m seeing weather forecasters and bartenders offering investment advice to people […]
Are You Hedged?
Yes, I know. It’s been a while. We’ve been busy hedging. Are you hedged? In recent months, bond market participants have been singing a very different song than stock market participants. Treasury yields have dropped significantly, nearing all-time lows (set in mid-2016), as institutional investors seeking safety have increased buying. Remember, when buying action in […]
There Is a Season
Summers here in Vermont are about as good as it gets. After a particularly long and snowy winter, we bask in the glow of glorious sunsets, warm but not (usually) boiling temperatures, and creamees. (That’s a term I associated with a particularly gross high school hazing activity when I first heard it after moving here […]
The Miracle Cure
We all know there really is no miracle cure – for anything. I do actually believe miracles happen. But not the ones we often hope for regarding illnesses we or our loved ones contract, and even less so for the financial worries we carry around. I’m going to give it to you straight: there is […]
School Days
It’s that time of year: the kids are sad, and the moms are glad. Again. The sweet Vermont summer is over and school’s back in. We find this transition gets a lot of parents thinking about how they’re going to pay for their kid’s college education. There’s a lot of information about this out there […]
Top Ten Retirement Tips
The internet loves a list, so here you go, our top ten list, in order of priority. Sort of. 1. Start as early as possible. Time is the most precious commodity of all, and the way compound interest works, the fat part of the curve is in the final years. Every year you don’t save […]