2024 is shaping up to be one of the rare years with no major asset class in decline (see far right column in the chart below.) Large Cap US, Foreign Stocks, and Real Estate have led the way, while Bonds and Commodities have returns barely more than money markets. Below, we will detail the relevant
Category: Financial Planning
Quarter in Charts – Q1 2024
“Dad, our lawn looks like the Masters!” That’s an actual quote from our eleven-year-old son last weekend. When we moved in 12 years ago, the backyard was a jungle without a blade of grass. But over the years, we’ve slowly transformed it to allow us to host countless parties and backyard football games. It has
Quarter in Charts – Q4 2023
Happy Adjacent I recently learned the term “Happy Adjacent” when I stumbled on a YouTube series from Mythical Kitchen called “Last Meals.” The episodes center on Chef Josh Scherer asking famous people (some more famous than others) what they would eat for their last meal on Earth. Josh then recreates the meal, and they sit
Quarter in Charts – Q2 2023
Last month, I got swept up in reading Brian Doyle’s posthumous collection of essays, “One Long River of Song.” I was particularly drawn to his fascination with White Sturgeon. Specifically, an 11-foot-long…
How’s That Third Scoop of Ice Cream?
There’s a fancy economics term for this: “diminishing marginal utility.” Textbooks use far too much paper trying to explain it when really they should just talk about ice cream. The idea is that the first scoop of ice cream tastes great. The second scoop of ice cream tastes a little less great than the first. And the third scoop of ice cream might make your stomach hurt.
How to Calculate and Maximize Your Social Security Benefit
The current maximum monthly benefit from social security is $4,555/mo or $54,660/yr. If you purchase this much cash flow as an annuity in the public market, it would be worth $1.3 – $1.5 million. Because of this considerable value, it is worth understanding how to maximize both your monthly benefit/expected lifetime benefit, and how this
Quarter In Charts – Q1 2023
Kids Today Have It Too Easy As a dad of teenagers, it’s my duty to occasionally put on the “grumpy old man” act and talk about how kids today have it too easy. I say things like, “You know when I was a boy…” followed by a misremembered anecdote of my days working at the
An Unaffordable Housing Market: Why and What’s Next?
The cost of home ownership has risen to an all-time high over the past 24 months, and there are three main reasons for this: Are current home prices and interest rates sustainable? I think we’d all agree the answer is “no,” but what story is the data telling us? And what can we expect to
Am I Rich?
How we spend our time and how we spend our money should make us feel rich. The hard part is discovering what “rich” really means to each of us. I learned a lot about being rich in early November when we got the call that my father-in-law had suffered a stroke. After what was both
Quarter in Charts – Q4 2022
It’s hard to describe how rare and painful 2022 was for investors of all kinds. The phrase “off the charts” is often overused, but in this case, it seems appropriate. And while we’ll look at the causes and details of this year’s returns, we’ll also spend some time exploring how investors should consider viewing the