Life & Planning

This Week & Always The Thanksgiving holiday kicked off this last weekend with my wife’s parents coming to town. We started with a three-generation golf outing, where my son figured out how to hit a 240-yard drive down the center of the fairway using his baseball stance, motion, and swing. It was a site to…

“I Want It Now!” The Christmas lights at the entrance of my neighborhood ushered in the Christmas season the day after Halloween. This also means that the season of delayed gratification has officially begun for my kids. Normally, when my kids ask for an essential clothing item such as new shoes, we jump on Amazon…

What did you do this weekend? After a date night with my wife on Friday night, the good times kept rolling on Saturday morning with a day-date with my daughter, Avery Kate. Our phones were put away, and we had hours before it was time to head off to my son’s baseball tournament. We leisurely…

There were so many predictions in November 2016 about what would happen to the markets if there was a Trump win. There were national papers warning of a global recession. There were economists telling investors to expect a massive stock market crash. There were TV market gurus predicting a market crash of epic proportions. The…

“How much did it cost?” is a question I often get asked. The better question is, “Did you get what you paid for?” The first question doesn’t distinguish quality. The second considers value. If you are sick or injured, and need surgery or healthcare to get better, cost weighs into the decision less than it…

Elections & Markets Do the election results really matter? The media and even the presidential candidates would like you to believe that the election results really matter for your money. Even the financial experts and media give conflicting views. Howard Marks, a billionaire hedge fund manager, stated that the stock market will “breathe a sigh…

What is Normal? “When things calm down and go back to normal, I’ll…” get back out there… go back to dining out… start investing again… make decisions about my retirement… finally do some planning. Waiting for things to get back to normal with the election, the economy, the market, and the like is a common…

Choose This Because You Can… It was Monday. Some dread it. Some love it. Some wait around to see what the day delivers before they decide what kind of day it will be. There are others who decide what kind of day it will be from the start. As I stood in the kitchen on…