‘Tis the season for my kids to ask for candy and hot chocolate every single day, and it seems like our vague threats about Santa are starting to wear everyone out. However, this also means we’re wrapping up another year and there’s been many big headlines in 2023, many of them specifically around investing both […]

Note: All data points are taken directly from the S&P 500 Index returns as of close of business on May 25, 2023. The investing rules I preach to my clients aren’t complicated: 1)             Buy stocks and offset risk with short term, fixed income 2)             Diversify (by size, valuation, and geography) 3)             Rebalance 4)             Behave Of […]

I’m the youngest of three in my family (Yes, I’m the baby). Every year on Halloween, my older brother and sister would hype me up to go Trick-or-treating. They would sell me on the dream of how exciting it would be to knock on doors and get tons of candy. I mean, what kid wouldn’t […]

First, let’s start with the bad news (All figures listed below are as of 12/31/2022): •            S&P 500: -19.44% •            International Stocks (MSCI ex US): -16.15% •            Nasdaq Composite: -33.10% •            Barclays Aggregate Bond Index: -13.01% Now, here is the good news IF you are my client: •            A diversified 95% equity portfolio overweighted to […]

No one enjoys going through down markets…  Even some of the most experienced investors who have been an investor for 25 years and navigated events such as, Y2K, the Dot Com Crash, 9-11, the 2008 financial crisis, and pandemics, etc don’t enjoy them. Market downturns make me emotional, even as a financial advisor with the insight that I have in […]

If we’ve learned anything over the last few years (or decades) it’s that the media is really good at scaring us. The current trend to be scared about is the idea of stagflation.   I double-checked with the CDC, and while we don’t need to wear masks to help beat stagflation, there IS a “vaccine” to […]

The Christmas season is meant to be a time of relaxation and celebration. Most people use it to wrap things up for the year and spend time with friends and family.  I used it to look over  the international exposure in my clients’ portfolios and check to see if it was still academically sound. For […]

This is one of the most frequent questions I am asked despite age, job, marital status, net worth etc. The answer is actually really simple, but not easy. If you are a client of mine, you’ve more than likely heard me say the phrase, ‘Simple, not easy.” How do you wake up early in the […]

In March of 2020, I began to write what I was feeling, and that feeling was a type of worry. I wasn’t worried markets would crash and never recover. Instead, I was worried my clients were concerned about something they couldn’t control or understand. The article I published last year can be found HERE. As […]

              When I was playing for the Steelers, I had a coach that used to joke we were eating the same food all week it was just presented differently. Inevitably, when we would have burgers on Monday, we would end up with chili, tacos, and spaghetti for the rest of the week. He would use […]

On January 3rd of 2020, I responded to a client’s email asking about advice she received from a trusted family member. The advice was centered around her taking a less diversified approach and to “push it a little” because of the good year stocks would have in 2020. Below is an excerpt of my reply: […]

Ask a group of people to raise their hand if they think they’re a below average driver and hardly anyone will. Most people think everyone else has a driving problem. However, statistically, about half of the drivers in America are below average! I tell people that behavior is the biggest determinant as to whether or […]

What I am doing to stay on top of markets during scary times. For context, below are some of the big events that happened in the last 20 years alone causing investors to worry: All of the above caused at least some people to worry about their money and investments. The longer I am in […]

When markets turn, it can come as a complete surprise to even the most experienced advisor. We often don’t know when the market has officially turned while we are in the midst of it. It’s easy to look back in history and year-to-year, or even month-to-month and recognize the beginning or end of either a bull […]