Recently my mother and father-in-law purchased a lake house in which they took out a mortgage. Since she knows what I do for a living, she sought my counsel about the best methodology for paying off the mortgage as quickly as possible. She asked my opinion about pulling funds out [...]
At the end of the coolest KC area August of those I remember, it is difficult to believe that two-thirds of 2017 is now history. We have witnessed a veritable plethora of events and conditions about which most of us could worry. Meanwhile, Mr. Stock Market has plunged confidently onward [...]
In case you haven’t noticed, this will be one of the coolest Augusts in my lifetime for Greater Kansas City. It is supposed to be Dog Days of August, which for some reason means unbearably hot. The stock market should be falling more, but it seemingly will not for now. [...]
Many of us boomers grew up with muscle car fever in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Was there anything cooler than a ’64 GTO, a ’67 Shelby Cobra, a ’68 Road Runner, or any number of years of Chevelle SS? I think not! Many of us have also spent too much [...]
I enjoyed playing darts when I was in college. The dartboard consists of areas with varying levels of points. Within each of those areas are even smaller targets that represent several multiples of the points listed. I realized one day if I actually aimed directly for the smaller area that [...]
As the son of a baby boomer, retirement has been a regular topic of conversation at my family gatherings recently. Everyone seems to have their own utopic vision of what it will be like when they no longer have to go to work…..except my father. Despite the fact that he [...]
Yesterday I saw a note come through our research headlines about millennial investors finally beginning to move into stock investing. The Legg Mason annual Global Investment Survey was the source of the information. Thanks to Legg Mason, you may access it at https://ww2.leggmason.com/gis/. To save you some time, here is [...]
Once again, the health care debate has heated up in this country. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get political. In fact, I think the inflammatory rhetoric from all those in power has caused us to lose sight of some basic economic principles that govern all industries, including health care. [...]
Thinking of buying a car or truck in the next 2-3 years? Lower prices could be ahead for new and used automobiles with all the ingredients for softer prices. Automakers reported car and light truck sales dropped at a 17.2% annual rate in Q1, the steepest decline since late 2009, [...]
After my column last week discussing the danger of student loan debt, I received a lot of feedback. The reactions ran the gambit from some who were in full agreement to others who felt I was causing unnecessary levels of fear and apprehension. However, the nearly universal sentiment from readers [...]
