Picking a date to retire is a big decision, even in the best of times. What does one do in an environment of rapidly rising inflationary pressures? After all, being retired means living on an income that is likely to be the same or less than you had when working, and there will be no… Continue reading →

For many folks, retirement planning comes down to their personal “number,” the savings level at which you can leave work behind and relax in a folding chair on a beach. That milestone number for many of us seems to be $1 million. If we can get to $1 million in the bank, well, that’s plenty… Continue reading →

“Never bet on the end of the world, it only happens once and the odds are long.” — Unknown  “The way to make money in the market is not by timing the market but by your time in the market.” — Unknown  The war in Ukraine is creating an environment that is unpredictable and full of humanitarian… Continue reading →

Nothing about the news cycle these days is remotely “normal,” which is understandable considering events in Europe. So you probably missed the most recent letter to investors from Warren Buffett. Usually, his annual missive to shareholders in his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, is front page news for a few days each year. It is a… Continue reading →

A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline, as the saying goes. So what does your dream of retirement life look like, and I mean really look like? Making a commitment to your retirement goals requires getting your financial life in order today. That means writing down a financial plan, and I… Continue reading →

The Great Resignation, the Big Quit, the Extraordinary Exodus — whatever you want to call it, 4.5 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs this year, according to current government data, while job openings hover around 10.6 million. A recent analysis of 4,000 companies identified mid-career professionals as the most prolific quitters, a trend that held… Continue reading →

How each generation invests is a fascinating topic.  For instance, the generation that grew up in the Great Depression is known for over-the-top frugality. What people today might call “life hacks” often are nothing more than the way great-grandma and great-granddad got by. Vegetable gardening, sewing old clothes, fixing things instead of replacing them, sharing… Continue reading →

Investors of a certain age, almost all, remember the last bout we faced as a country in terms of serious inflation, back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Those years of rising prices baked into the economy came to head with double-digit price increases and, shortly after, a rapid increase in interest rates in… Continue reading →

Over the past decade or so, a lot of well-meaning investment writers have tried to explain what is “special” or “different” about index investing. After all, American savers have put literally trillions of dollars to work in index funds over the years. There must be something going on, right? There must be some reason legacy… Continue reading →