Economics Professor Gallaher’s No Free Lunch Finds a Young Disciple
Note: This post is from our intern – Chris Ensch. Chris attended a recent Rotary meeting with me and ran into his old economics professor from High School (College Equivalency), my friend and fellow Rotarian, Mike Gallaher. Chris will graduate from Baylor University with a BA in Economics next month. Economics Professor Gallaher’s No Free […]
20 Moves: Investing in a Complex Market
Today’s post was inspired by the excellent book: Team of Teams, by Gen. McChrystal Modern destroyers use gas turbine engines for propulsion and electrical power. As a young junior officer, I was required to learn all about these marvelous machines. A gas turbine engine is complicated, but it’s not complex. Everything about it’s operation is […]
Step 1 to a Great Investment Portfolio: Ditch the Salesperson
Most people trust their financial advisor. Problem is, most advisors should not be trusted. I know that’s a strong statement, but after spending over twenty years in this industry, I know it’s true. I review investment portfolios all of the time. What is difficult for an untrained consumer to evaluate takes me only about 30 minutes […]
How Uncle Adrian Saved Christmas
As a young child, my great uncle would arrive at our house with my grandparents just before Christmas. Most years, he would bunk up with me. My room was down a long hall from the living room, past the entryway and my sister’s room. As you entered, model rockets lined the top of my bright […]
Bitcoin Mania
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few months, you’ve probably heard about the Bitcoin craze and other cryptocurrencies using distributed ledger technology. I’m a borderline technology geek, so I have been reading about, and tracking, Bitcoin for awhile. A few years ago, I looked into funding a bitcoin wallet in […]
Record Market Levels = Time for a Gut Check
The market is hot right now – to say the least. We all know it’s cyclical in nature so in a way it feels like we’re just waiting on the inevitable downturn: we just don’t know when, and we don’t know by how much. At current valuation levels, both domestic and international, we are well beyond […]
Making Your List, Checking it Twice – Holiday Budgeting Tips
Without a plan it’s easy for things to get out of hand over the holidays. Here are some simple steps you can take to make sure all of your gifts get handled reasonably and efficiently: Make a list. Write out everyone you need to purchase a gift for this season. Create a budget. Decide how […]
Morningstar Tarnished by WSJ: My Thoughts
A recent Wall Street Journal front page story, “The Morningstar Mirage,” stated what most advisers should already know: Morningstar ratings don’t mean much. In my experience, those who rely upon star ratings do so for one of three reasons: Selling. Any typical run-of-the-mill rep knows how to screen for five-star funds and put together a […]
Beware of the Advising World’s Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
When I first decided to start my own Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) firm, my longtime peer and friend responded incredulously, “You’re going to walk away from all of your trail commissions? Are you crazy?” Maybe I was crazy, but I was about to embark on a new business journey and had decided to voluntarily leave […]
Could a Roth IRA become your safety net?
Created by Congress twenty years ago, the Roth IRA is starting to show up in seasoned retirement plans in a big way. I remember when the Roth IRA first came out, I thought of it as a tool best suited for younger people in lower tax brackets. Now with real data available, I have come to realize that most […]
