Last week’s column was a primer on Bonds. Now let’s take a closer look at how one can lose money owning bonds when interest rates rise. Aren’t bonds supposed to be safer than stocks? First, what does the term “safe” mean? Most people equate financial risk or safety with stability [...]
As a father of boys ages 5 and 1, I am the first to admit, I’m no parenting expert. In fact, there are days when I feel like a total parenting failure. But, I do my best, and seek wise counsel when possible. Since parenting is being discussed in my [...]
Let’s take quick inventory of 2017 investing, then discuss what makes sense in this stage of the current strong bull market. Here are some calendar year results by major indexes and sectors: NASDAQ 100 9% Dow Jones Ind. 1% S&P [...]
If you have ever seen the Austin Powers movies, it is hard to get the image of Mike Myers as Dr. Evil holding the world ransom for 1 million dollars out of your mind. The comedic punchline is that he’s been out of the loop since the 1960’s, back when [...]
It’s that time again. Even though it comes consistently at the same time every year, Christmas somehow always seems to sneak up on us. We say that next year we will save money throughout the year to reduce the burden of all the additional expenses related to the holiday, yet [...]
Last week I discussed the opportunity to pass on to our families our bedrock principles. Some refer to this as our social capital. Our inheritance may be large or small, but the beliefs and wisdom we have gained over decades should be far more valuable than cash one hundred years [...]
Yesterday morning at the Kingdom Advisors monthly meeting, Bill High, leader of the National Christian Foundation—Heartland organization, spoke on the subject of Legacy Planning. KA, a national organization, consists of attorneys, accountants, insurance and financial advisors across the country who are dedicated to helping members of the Church at large [...]
Anyone who has read my columns knows I’m all about saving money. I was raised by parents who never paid full price for anything and valued the “deal” more than the actual item being purchased. When people ask me how by age 30 I had a “paid off” home mortgage, [...]
For generations, “keeping up with the Joneses” has been a national pastime. Because Americans seem to be naturally competitive, many of us feel the need to make sure we measure up to our peers. In the new age of social media our desire to see how we measure up to [...]
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 [...]
