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Is Successful Investing Mostly About Luck?

February 23, 2021

Here’s an interesting story of luck to ponder. The story of Bill Gates. Bill went to high school at Lakeside School, just outside Seattle, in 1968. At this time computers were not a common occurrence in schools, not even in colleges. However, one of the teachers at his school believed that book study wasn’t enough without real-world experience. He realized that kids would need to know something about computers when they went to college. So, he petitioned the Mothers’ Club…

Investing versus Speculating – The Tale of GameStop

February 23, 2021

Investing

The dramatic rise in the price of GameStop Corp. stock took the nation by storm in January. Beginning 2021 at a price of less than $20 a share it exploded to almost $350 by January 27. What accounted for the more than 1,500% increase? A frenzy of speculation (or gambling if you prefer). An unprecedented mixture of neophyte retail investors, newly available free trading, hedge funds shorting (betting against) overpriced GameStop shares then having to buy them back as…

The Great Disconnect

November 11, 2020

General, Market Update

“There really isn’t any doubt that financial markets remain broken and divorced from reality.” – David Rosenberg Rosenberg Research Economic Research for Informed Investing “Never before have I seen a market so highly valued in the face of overwhelming uncertainty…” – James Montier GMO Investments and Asset Management Stock Prices In early September the U.S. stock market (as measured by the S&P500) hit a new all-time high. Stock prices are now almost 11% higher than they were on January 1,…

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An Unconventional Approach

August 25, 2020

General, Investing

A widely held belief in both academia and the investment industry is that a person should have as much of their money in stocks as they can tolerate because stocks have provided the highest returns over long periods of time. Most people cannot handle the erratic volatility of an all stock portfolio so many advisors say “let’s do 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds” in order to make things a bit more palatable. “60/40” has come to be the…

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Financial Planning – More Important than Ever

May 20, 2020

Financial Planning

Over the past few months, we have been living a new “normal.” This includes wearing face masks in public, social distancing, and communicating with our friends and loved ones not in person, but almost entirely virtually. These changes may cause you to pause and consider your priorities and what your future looks like. Many things in life are out of our control, but working with an advisor to create or revise your financial plan is a great way to take…

MARKET COMMENTARY – MAY 2020

May 15, 2020

Market Update

The Pandemic Roller Coaster of 2020 2020 has been a year of volatile extremes in the investment world. Following exceptional returns for virtually all types of investments in 2019, the S&P 500 stock index registered an all-time high on February 19. Less than a month later by March 23 the index had dropped 34% – the sharpest drop on record. Then, after unprecedented measures were announced by the Federal Reserve and Federal government, the S&P 500 shot up 30% over…

What to Do During a Bear Market

May 1, 2020

Financial Planning

We know you may be concerned about recent declines in the stock market. Markets go up, but they also go down. Fortunately, they go up more often than they go down. There are things in our lives that we can control and that makes sense to focus on, especially during turbulent times. Here are some personal financial items to review that can have a positive impact on your financial future. Review your expenses. As markets go down people start to…

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The SECURE Act: Some Important Changes to Know

March 6, 2020

Financial Planning, Inheritance

You may have recently read that the SECURE Act was signed into law on December 20, 2019. So, what does that mean for you? It could have more of an impact than its name alludes to since it’s 29 original provisions address many topics from inherited IRA distributions to the age for required minimum distributions. Here are some key points to take into consideration. 1. Required Minimum Distribution Age Changed to 72 The first major impact of the Setting Every…

MARKET COMMENTARY – MARCH 2020

March 6, 2020

Market Update

Market sentiment changed abruptly in February. After achieving a new all-time high on February 12, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined just over 14% through February 28. The last week of February saw one of the largest weekly drops of the last 100 years. Given our defensive positioning most JourneyTree Accounts were down just 3-4% over that period. After rising 35% from December 24, 2018 to the peak on February 12, “[. . .] the Dow at nearly 30,000 had…

Our Newest Certified Financial Planner™

December 13, 2019

Financial Planning, General

We are pleased to announce that Michelle is officially a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional! She successfully passed the CFP® Board exam in November. What is a CFP®? A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ is an advisor who has met rigorous education and experience requirements, and is held to a high ethical and professional standard in the financial industry. The education component is met by completing college level courses in investment planning, tax planning, retirement planning, estate planning, insurance planning, financial management, and…