I’ve been meeting with clients to review 2022 reports this week. During some of those discussions, I’ve been referencing a chart from a renowned investor that really captures the powerful shift in markets over the past year. The chart is from Howard Mark’s most recent quarterly memo. (Howard Marks is a legendary investor and his […]

When working on financial plan illustrations for clients, I request quite a bit of information. If they are not yet claiming social security, I will include a Social Security Statement in that request list. Often times, I’m asked what that is and how they can retrieve it, so let’s cover that question today. What is […]

I’m in the midst of year-end reporting right now, and needless to say, reports from 2022 will not make the best seller list! It was a challenging year across virtually all asset classes. Even supposed “safe” assets such as bonds declined double-digits. After a down year, it is easy to get concerned about the investment […]

Last week, I featured a question from a client about accessing and reviewing your credit report. I thought a helpful follow-up to that could be reviewing credit scores. Here we go! What’s the purpose of a credit score? When a borrower loans you money, their main concern is whether or not you will ultimately pay […]

A client received a strange letter in the mail this past week. It was from a bank (with which they have no relationship) stating that her husband’s auto loan had been approved. She wisely did not want to contact the number listed on the letter. She reached out to the bank directly (via the number […]

I’m writing this on another grey and gloomy January day in Wisconsin. Perhaps that is why I chose this title. Or perhaps it is because today’s inflation report may finally be giving markets, investors, and this ever-optimistic financial advisor a glimmer of hope that we are approaching lighter and brighter investing days ahead. December CPI […]

Happy 2023! I realize we are only a few days into the new year. Perhaps you’re still writing/saying 2022, taking down holiday decorations, working on your new year’s resolutions, or struggling getting back into your routine after a nice vacation. All of those are understandable – go easy on yourself! However, if you are all […]

If you were watching the news media over the holidays, you undoubtedly saw many images of airports as the Southwest flight cancellation was extensively covered for quite few days. As I observed the repeated images of passengers waiting in airport boarding gates it occurred to me that there have been a lot of parallels between […]

The end of the calendar year is a busy time for many reasons – holiday parties, shopping, open enrollment, utilization of flex spend dollars, and of course – tax strategizing! I work closely with clients to review their year-to-date estimated taxes and see if there are some strategies they wish to employ before the end […]

2022 has been quite the year investing-wise. There will be no shortage of articles written about what has occurred – and what is likely to come next. This week alone, I’ve been on five webcasts and read over twenty articles. If you are seeking this type of content, may I suggest this article written by […]