INSIGHTS
Are You Working Towards Mastering The Financial System or Becoming A Slave To The System?
 September 12, 2025
There’s a small chance that you and I have slightly different opinions on what constitutes “fun reading.” I was reviewing the second quarter report on household debt and credit that was released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York - https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc
Wowzers!
The report made my eyebrows raise.Â
In Value We Trust
July 8, 2025
The saying goes, “Good judgment is the result of experience and experience is the result of bad judgment.” – Mark Twain
Wisdom and the ability to make sound decisions are often gained through making mistakes and learning from them. The process should be cyclical in our lives, where errors lead to valuable lessons that improve future judgment.
Success Is Often Hidden
May 30, 2025
An idle brain imagines the success of others.
If we were all asked what we should do with our lives, most of us would eventually respond with something like, “We are supposed to be successful.”
And I can’t dispute the validity of that objective. Success is a noble goal, especially if we are afforded the luxury of living in a geographic area where we can spend most of our lives worrying about first-world problems. Â
Valuations Don't MatterÂ
April 11, 2025
Until They Do…
And then that’s all that matters…
You would think that, given the volume of crying out in the financial markets, trillions of dollars of market valuations were wiped out or something similar in the last few weeks…
Well I'm Not Surprised
March 14, 2025
Some investors are surprised by the recent volatility in markets. I’m not surprised that most investors are surprised. I’m also not surprised that market valuations have been moving downward recently. I’m doubly-dub-dub not surprised.
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The look of millions of investors as they check their account balances for the 42nd time during the day.
Sprouting Divergences
January 22, 2025
a kid growing up and riding the school bus, I couldn’t have predicted that many years later, I would be excited to write an article called “Sprouting Divergences.”
Life is weird. And here I am, excited about sprouting divergences.
Before I start talking about sprouts and divergences, I want to talk about something that always sounded attractive to me, even as a kid riding the school bus: money for nothing. That topic is quite appealing to me and grows essential as I age.
Is The Old Man Losing His Touch?
November 22, 2024
As the 1990s ended and we turned the corner on a new century, we were still in the infancy of the internet and what was to become (in hindsight for many) the Tech Bubble in financial markets.
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It was then that the young and spry 69-year-old CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, was being ridiculed over two somewhat related issues;
- At the end of 1999, Berkshire Hathaway's financial statements showed a 0.5% change in book value. The S&P 500, with dividends included, posted an annual percentage change of 21.0%.
Managed, Never Solved
June 2024
 Investors may not always use the same language to explain what they seek out of financial planning, but if I were to summarize the main financial goals of those who plan, it would be “financial security with financial peace of mind.”
It’s not uncommon for financial goals to be specific and quantifiable during planning sessions. Households may come up with tangible goals like paying off their mortgage or accumulating a specific amount of money (It used to be very common for people to use $1 million as their goal in the past decades, with inflation, that number is now in the multiple of millions) or
getting out of debt.
It’s Tax Month! (Kind-of)
April 2024
Another tax season is now behind us (at least for some).
Did you know that approximately 10% to 15% of taxpayers submit a valid tax extension yearly?
Taxpayers in the top 10% of wealth brackets open file tax extensions for the following reasons;
Their tax returns are far more complicated than the average household.
The tax forms they need to file a complete return on are open delayed (High-earning taxpayers
often have incoming 1099s, K-1s, and investment forms that are delayed in being accurately
issued).
To Be Happy
January  2024
As I write this update, only 331 shopping days remain be-fore Christmas. January is basically in the rearview mirror. I'm still not sure if this is funny or scary to me.
Speaking with clients and friends, it seems many are getting off to a sluggish start to the year. Maybe people are struggling coming off the holiday break and having difficulty ramping it back up again. Maybe it's the winter gray weather. Perhaps it's the barrage of news, social media, politics, Wall Street, work stresses, and other pressures of daily life.
It’s Football Season
December 2023
The fall season is a celebrated time for most people. In addition to the holidays, sports fans love this point of the foot-ball season when the games have much more meaning. One win or loss at this stage can make or break an entire year's worth of practice, preparation, and dreams.
I'm not a huge football fan. But I grew up in a family of Buffalo Bills fans and watched my share of games. I remember the quarterbacks of that generation as a kid. The Jim Kelly's. The Dan Marino's. All the kids pretended to be one of them in the backyards through the neighborhoods.
Getting Paid To Be Prudent
November 2023
A rapid rise in interest rates has brought a welcome scenario for prudent investors focused on
the long-term investment horizon.
Short-term US treasury bills and bonds are now attractive and yielding solid returns for investors
using the treasury bills and bonds on the short-end of the yield curve to generate interest income
while avoiding the greater risks present in the global equity markets.
Commercial Real Estate Goes Bust and Other Predictable Follies
July 14, 2023
 Quick Summary
• Markets are highly over-valued but moving in the right direction back towards historical averages.
• Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates which is terrific news to prudent investors and savers with ample dry powder for reinvesting at better values. We now get paid adequately for our savings. Dividend stocks still yield too little to justify the risk.
REVISIONS OF BELIEF
May 12, 2023
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Investors are constantly bombarded with messages from Wall Street positioned as “Wall Street proudly looking out for our best interests.”  The messages seem innocent enough as the messages imply that we all want many of the same things financially, which is very reasonable. Who doesn’t want to retire in comfort one day? Who doesn’t like the idea of earning passive income? Who doesn’t like the idea of wealth compounding over long periods?
The Next Phase
March 17th, 2023
 The past week brought about some surprising news to many investors. Three major banks failed in the United States.
US regulators seized Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, March 10th, 2023 making it the second-largest bank failure in US history. Signature Bank failed, as well as Silvergate.
Portnoy's Follies
February 10, 2023
During this last bubble, there were plenty of examples of outrageous investor behaviors in different financial market sectors. We could choose from the crypto world, SPACs, meme stocks, technology start-ups, commercial real estate, venture capital, private equity, and then old-fashioned over-valued stocks (STONKS!).
