In light of the escalating debt crises in Washington, I have recently been asked by several clients why this keeps happening, and what will happen if a deal doesn’t get struck? Today, I thought I would give a very brief explanation for why our politicians are seemingly always arguing about [...]
A recent survey from Bankrate made headlines recently with some startling new information about the financial condition of the average American. According to the study, a record number of people now have more credit card debt than they have emergency savings. In fact, over a third of all respondents (36%) [...]
This probably won’t come as a shock to those of you who regularly read my column, but I am a big fan of talk radio. While making the commute to and from work each day I enjoy getting information about what is happening both locally and nationally through this medium. [...]
Years ago now, in 2009 and following, I joined a small minority of economists critical of the Zero Interest Rate Policy chosen by Ben Bernanke and others in charge of the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) to cure the Mortgage Bond crisis. The current crisis is a direct consequence of over [...]
As my friend, Ken Woodruff often says, There are two seasons in Iowa and places north. Winter and tough sledding. The groundhog saw his shadow, but there is an end soon coming to physical winter. The current bear market, not so soon. More tough sledding, until the fourth quarter would [...]
A few weeks ago, I touched on the subject of budgeting. After which, I had several people ask me about what a typical budget should look like. While every person’s situation is unique, and what you value may be very different from what I value, there are enough universal strategies [...]
For decades, commentators on the Federal Reserve Board (the Fed) have referred to the action of raising federal funds interest rates as taking away the punch bowl at the party. After finally arousing from sleep after the inflation fire was already getting out of control, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has [...]
This past week I taught a seminar on effective budget making. It broke down the basics on proper ratios of spending, saving, giving and debt repayment. As I presented, I jokingly said if I could gain access to Congress, I would love to enlighten Washington on these basic principles. As [...]
