Most of what gets written about spending is about restraint. Spend less, save more. Keep housing below a certain share of your income. Divide your paycheck into 50/30/20 buckets. Skip the latte. None of that is wrong. Those rules have helped a lot of people build a solid foundation, and we use versions of them ourselves. But they share a quiet assumption: that every dollar spent is a dollar lost, and the best financial life is the one that spends the least.

I have fielded a version of this question more times this year than almost any other: "Things feel terrible out there. War, layoffs, an economy that doesn't feel like it's working for regular people. So how is my account statement showing record highs?"

There is a scene in investing that has played out in my office many times over the years. A client — often someone who has been calm and disciplined through years of steady markets — sits down and says something like, "This time feels different." The headlines are alarming. The world seems genuinely dangerous. And the question underneath it all is: should we do something?

In the past few months, headlines have been filled with weighty global events, including new tariffs on imported goods to the US, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and a volatile and dangerous war between Israel and Iran.

After setting an all-time high on February 19th of this year, U.S. equities have had a wild ride.  The obvious contributing factor to the drop in values is the new tariff policies.  Over the past month, the United States has significantly escalated its tariff policies under President Donald Trump's administration. On April 2, 2025, the "Liberation Day" tariffs were introduced, imposing a 10% baseline tariff on all countries and implementing reciprocal tariffs targeting nation

As we begin this new year, we are also starting the second quarter of this century.  How time flies!  It doesn’t feel like that long ago when we were worried about the Y2K bug; having a cell phone was a status symbol, and we didn’t realize that Britney Spears was crazy.   As we make our way around the quarter pole of this century, let’s review the events that have shaped investors and various economic markers.

A common theme throughout my time as a financial advisor is being asked the question, “How will today’s news event impact the stock market (and therefore my account)?”  Every few weeks, there is a new topic of conversation, but the question is essentially the same.  Then, every four years, the question is exactly the same as four years prior, “What is the impact of the presidential election on the stock market?” 

The Somber Seventies were a period of existential environmental catastrophism. A scientist named Paul Ehrlich wrote a best-selling book called The Population Bomb and became a media darling. Ehrlich appeared on the Johnny Carson show at least 20 times, cheerfully predicting that with the population growing and the earth running out of resources, hundreds of millions of people were going to starve to death in the coming decade.

 

Inflation is a term that frequently makes headlines in the world of economics and finance, but what exactly is it? In simple terms, inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services rises, resulting in a decrease in purchasing power for a given currency. It is a crucial economic indicator that affects everyone, from consumers and businesses to policymakers and investors. It is typically expressed as an annual percentage and is measured by track

The conclusion of the first quarter of our new year is a good time to recall what has happened from an economic and market perspective.  After all, looking back at what has happened is always easier than guessing what will happen in the future.  Most of the developments have been positive.  The economic indicator on everyone’s minds is inflation and the progress has been good.  After reaching its peak in June of 2022 at an annual rate of 9.1%, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) h

I remember thinking to myself in late 2019 that the new year would bring not only a new decade but a decade with a definitive name.  Unlike the previous two decades of the 2000s and the 2010s, our new decade would have a real name; the 20s.  Even better, the last time we had the 20s, times were so good they were called the roaring 20s.  Hopefully, history would repeat itself.  Instead, the only history that repeated itself was a global pandemic like we hadn’t seen since 1918.

Retirees and other Social Security recipients will be happy to hear that their benefits will see a significant increase in January 2023.  The Social Security Administration has announced that benefits will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 8.7%. 

The first six months of 2022 saw the S&P 500 decline 21% from its all-time high at 4,796.56 on January 3 to a closing low of 3,785 on June 30th.

As we close the books on 2021 and start the journey of 2022, you may have noticed more than a few advertisements for weight loss programs and tax filing services.  Yep, it’s that time of year again.  Filing taxes can be a big project as we gather the correct documents, search for and meet with accounting professionals or even fill out the forms ourselves with tax preparation software.  The IRS estimates that the average taxpayer spends 13 hours preparing their tax return.  He

Yes, you read that right.  This is not a joke.  The impossible has happened. In May of 2021, Governor Little signed House Bill 380, which created a tax rebate for full-time residents.  To be eligible for this rebate, taxpayers need to be a full-year resident in both 2019 and 2020 and file either a state tax return or a grocery credit return in both years.  A full-year resident is defined as spending more than 270 days in the state or being domiciled in the state.

As the pandemic has wound down, businesses open back up, and the economy heats up, it seems we have found a new enemy in inflation.  Indeed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.9% in the month of June and is up 5.4% over the last 12 months.  Some of this gain is due to increases in food and energy, but even the core inflation rate, which removes food and energy, is up 4.5% over the past 12 months, the largest gain since 1991.  Thi