When our clients or prospects consider our services, they often gravitate toward one aspect of what we do for them. In some cases, they may see us as portfolio managers, balancing their needs with uncertain markets and shifting economic times. Many will see us as adept financial planners who know how to make sense of their varying financial goals. Others will see us as trusted advisors who provide the necessary…
The beginning of a stock market selloff feels terrible—there’s a palpable tenseness and nervousness in the air. Intuitively, we know that selloffs happen, but our emotions and fear don’t care about market history, context, or what the data tells us. What if this time is different? What if we’re on the verge of something catastrophic? After all, every market downturn, whether a correction, pullback, or full-blown bear market, had to…
If you are an investor and heard terms like “accredited investor” or “qualified investor” and aren’t sure how they pertain to you, you’re not alone. These terms refer to specific financial qualifications that allow investors to participate in certain types of investment opportunities that may not be available to the general public. What Is an Accredited Investor? In many countries, including the U.S., being an accredited investor means you meet…
Accredited investors looking for stable, high-yield opportunities beyond traditional stocks and bonds are increasingly turning to direct lending and multi-family real estate investing. These alternative investment strategies offer strong risk-adjusted returns, diversification benefits, and long-term wealth-building potential. Non-Leveraged Direct Lending: Predictable Returns with Lower Risk Direct lending allows investors to act as private lenders, offering loans to businesses or individuals without going through traditional banks. By avoiding leverage, this strategy…
Investing will not make you financially secure. Investing will help you stay financially secure. Investing allows you to outpace inflation and optimize your assets. It’s not a secret path that lets you skip the line to financial freedom. For some, there is this idea that they can make up their savings shortfall by selecting the right investments. They think if their investment portfolio worked harder for them, they wouldn’t have…
What we remember A few weeks ago, I had the chance to hike Half Dome in Yosemite National Park for the second time in my life. The first time was over 23 years ago with two close friends. The three of us reunited, added one more long-time friend, and ventured out again to conquer the 8,800 granite peak, climbing 4,800 feet of elevation to reach the top. It was a…
Our national media cycle is a non-stop barrage of mostly gloomy headlines focused on topics that generate clicks and views. Unfortunately, we are biologically wired to focus and react more to negative news than to positive news. In the information age, you can always find data points to confirm your opinion (cognitive bias, anyone?). But, in this post, we thought we would take the liberty of highlighting some of the…
LOOKING BACK It’s difficult to know what the future will hold without understanding the past. 2022 was a difficult year in the market. An unprecedented, rapid increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve, created significant market volatility and negative returns for the year: Consequently, the S&P 500 finished down -19.44% and investors experienced the risk side of the “risk/reward” relationship. What was different about 2022 was that the negative…
Inflation is an economic indicator we discuss heavily with clients during our planning sessions to project future income needs. For years, inflation has been benign, to say the least. Over the last decade, policy makers have been attempting to increase inflation, to ensure it stays close to their preferred target of 2%. Anything lower than their 2% target, risks stagnation in an economy, or worse deflation, which is difficult to…
During times of high market valuations and following long-periods of strong market returns, we are often asked where we think the market is “going from here”. The real question behind this inquiry is “is it time to sell?” When markets go up, it’s natural to be excited about the gains, while feeling nervous about giving back those same gains in the next market downturn. The crux of the question is…
