2021 – 07/12 by Tim Maurer, CFP® “No one enjoys being wrong,” Daniel Kahneman told Adam Grant, who recounted their conversation during a recent interview, “but I do enjoy having been wrong, because it means I am now less wrong than I was before.” Grant describes Kahneman, the psychologist seen as the originator of and greatest…
2021 – 07/09 by Kent Schmidgall, Wealth Advisor Sssssnap! That was the sound of the proverbial camel’s back breaking in September 2017, after Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of an astounding 147 million people. A steady drumbeat of data breaches had occurred prior to this time, yet nothing of the…
2021 – 07/07 by Jake Bleyenberg So, your kid is the next LeBron James or Megan Rapinoe. Congratulations, but this article isn’t for you, because your child is either going straight to the pros or is an elite athlete and will likely have many scholarship offers. You can skip the rest of this article and…
2021 – 05/28 by Tim Maurer, CFP® Nobody minds market volatility when it’s in the upward direction. But recently we’ve gotten plenty of the type of volatility that we don’t like so much as investors, the kind that inspires headlines with words like “plunge” and that end with exclamation points. It presents an opportunity, therefore,…
2021 – 05/26 by Katie Keary, Wealth Advisor It is no secret that kids can cost a pretty penny – raising a child from birth to 18 years of age can eclipse $230,000, an annual expense of nearly $13,000. Once you get past parenthood’s sticker shock, as well as the early sleepless nights, many parents (and…
2021- 05/24 by Becca Craig In pre-pandemic times, the end of March marked a significant milestone for the college-bound, as most universities aimed to deliver their regular admission decisions to thousands of anxious students. And yet even the college admissions cycle was not immune to the impact of COVID-19, as many colleges extended their regular…
2021 – 05/20 by Doug Buchan One of my favorite Warren Buffett quips reads, “The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect.” Not a greater example of this exists than in the introduction of Morgan Housel’s fabulous book, “The Psychology of Money.” In a nutshell, he describes two individuals. One is a…
2021 – 05/07 by Tim Maurer, CFP® Sometimes we do get ourselves stuck, but other times we simply find ourselves marooned in the in-between—where the present feels more like the past, but the future is uncertain. People talk a lot about finishing an existing project or starting a new one, but how can we effectively…
2021 – 05/06 by Kurt Wunderlich Making big, hairy, audacious goals is easy. Achieving those goals by yourself is much harder. Nearly everyone has had some experience with just how difficult successful personal or financial change can be, and especially sticking with it over time. For evidence, look no further than the infamous New Year’s…
2021 – 05/05 by Connie Brezik “The Home Edit,” a company started by two enterprising women to blend home organizing and interior styling, seems to have really taken hold, especially during the stay-at-home days of 2020. There is a website and a popular Netflix series showcasing their makeovers. You can find tips and inspiration to…
2021 – 04/14 What comes to mind when you hear the term financial planning? For many people the idea of financial planning comes with lots of baggage. The term may bring to mind investments, budgets, cash flow planning or unfamiliar financial jargon. Maybe you imagine sitting and pouring over piles of paper representing your financial…
2021 – 04/12 by Kent Schmidgall, Wealth Advisor Concerns about market downturns certainly come as no surprise. After all, steep corrections and crashes can be disconcerting for even the most steely and disciplined investors. What has been surprising to me, however, is the number of inquiries I have received over the years raising concerns about…
2021 – 04/09 by Zach Novak, CFP Semantic satiation is a psychological phenomenon in which repetition causes a word or phrase to temporarily lose meaning for the listener, who then perceives the speech as repeated, meaningless sounds. Let’s make a quick example using the word “bowl.” If you say “bowl” one time aloud, there’s going…
2021 – 04/08 by Rob Ziliak, CFP®, Chief Experience Officer You know what the cost will be for nearly everything you spend money on, correct? Furnishing a room or two will cost $5,000. A family getaway this summer will add up to $7,500. Total expenses for your college-bound child’s education will run about $30,000 this…
2021 – 04/07 by Connie Brezik In the simplest situations, after your death, you leave your money outright to your spouse if he or she is living. Then, when your spouse passes, they leave the remaining money to your children. This assumes a straightforward family scenario, perhaps with only one marriage involved. Ideally, everyone is…