In this Quarter in Charts, we have several graphs detailing the current interest rate environment, global market events, the bond bear market, and various economic indicators. We use this data to explain what happened (and look ahead to what could happen) in economies, markets, and investment portfolios. But none of those graphs will be able…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
“I’m sorry, but I have to take this call…Mary will tell you more about why.” We were in the middle of our client review, when Jeff hurriedly excused himself to the lobby. I looked over to Mary and said that I didn’t need to know the details, but hoped everything was okay. “Oh, everything’s fine…or…
When taxed as an S-Corp, you pay yourself a reasonable wage, and the remaining income is a distribution that avoids FICA taxes!
Last week, an estimated 35 million households received a monthly payment for the expanded Child Tax Credit…
Bitcoin has dominance, with 45.6% of the market cap, followed by Ethereum, at 17.1%. As more people have made (and lost) money…
At Smith Partners Wealth Management we evaluate each prospective client for best fit. We would be glad to meet with you to understand your needs and determine whether you would be well served here. To learn more about becoming a Smith Partners client, please contact us. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you.