Giving Thanks

During a recession, there may be some who are wondering what they have to give thanks for during this Thanksgiving week.  “Are we grateful for the good already received?  Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more.  Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of [...]

Holiday Spending During a Recession

The holidays are upon us and many people are saying “Bah Humbug!”  There is a way to enjoy the holidays without overspending.  Here are a few tips:
-         Plan your shopping.  Don’t go out shopping without a list of what you’re looking for and the price range you have for each purchase.  No impulse purchases!
-         Make [...]

The Right Time Without Timing

Many financial planners – including me – will tell you that market timing is not a good idea.  But that doesn’t mean that we should all bury our heads in the sand and ignore opportunities.  It’s a fine line, but there is a difference.
One example is the current mortgage rate environment.  Look at whether it [...]

The Potential of W

Don’t worry.  This isn’t a political posting about our former president. 
Most people expect a recovery from this recession to come in a V shape.  The economy was at a peak, it has fallen into a valley and seems to be heading in a generally upward direction – in other words it looks like the letter [...]

The Solution

It’s abundantly clear that our economy is ailing.  So everyone can sit around and whine about it, criticize the people who are working toward a improving the economy, or be part of the solution.  Which action do you choose? 
 
The media seems to be divided into two camps.  Some journalists are part of the solution [...]

Losing Strategies in the Current Economy – And the Winning Alternatives

Lock in Losses – If you sell your stock market holdings now, while the market is down, and bury the money in your back yard, you’ve guaranteed that you’ll lose money.  The good ol’ “buy low, sell high” motto still holds.  If you start putting money back in stocks when the market goes up, you’re [...]

Dancing in the Rain

About the time that clients were receiving their monthly statements on their investment accounts, my business partner and I noticed an influx of calls and e-mails.  The general question being asked was “Am I okay?”  We work to position our clients in all aspects of their financial lives to make it through difficult financial times.  [...]

What To Do About Current Economic Turmoil

I generally don’t like to watch many of the financial news networks.  For my tastes, they tend to focus a bit too much on the exciting short play and not quite enough on prudent long term personal financial issues.  But late last week I couldn’t help but overhear a commentator (who’s name I unfortunately missed [...]

Freddie, Fannie, and Indy

There continues to be quite a bit of hubbub about the condition of the mortgage industry.  Just how concerned should the average person be?  Let’s use the analogy of a car wreck on a major road. 
 
Assuming you weren’t in the accident, the traffic that has slowed down on both sides of the road will [...]

The Market and The Election

People often ask how the stock market will react to who wins the presidential election.  I couple of elections ago I heard an economist give a very rational explanation of what happens around major elections.  It was that the market doesn’t like uncertainty.  It’s not a matter so much of who wins—although history does seem [...]