Financial Advisors: Shit or the Shittiest?

Photo by Shane on Unsplash

Retirement planning is hard. Sure, there are simple techniques anyone can use to map a path. Yet those techniques require data and effort. Most people don’t want to spend precious free time crunching numbers and making tough, life-impacting decisions. Most people – myself included – would rather find someone who can just take care of it. You know, a Guy (here used in the gender-neutral sense).

I know more than a few people who have found their Guy: a personal finance manager who promises to make retirement all anyone could ever hope for. They’ve got products that minimize risk and maximize gain. They promise they can beat the market and, in return, ask for a mere few points off the top. You know, for the effort.

I don’t buy it for a second.

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Good News yet no Good Vibes

Photo by Bob Coyne on Unsplash

I’m delighted to see inflation coming down. Add to that, all the good news around unemployment, consumer demand, and gains in The Market paints an increasingly rosy picture. It’s all awesome, right?

Not so fast.

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Well hasn’t this been a fun month?

Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash

September 2022 looks to be the worst financial month in recent memory. Until October. I guess we’ll see.

The Fed raised interest rates. The tech sector – led by Adobe Systems acquisition of Figma – bombed hard, with the S&P 500 losing 7% in the first three weeks of September. Inflation, while possibly slowing, is still no bueno. Even if you’re not following finance it’s hard to escape gloomy news tracking the spiral.

It might be easy to assume this doesn’t touch anyone outside the moneyed classes. Well, that would be wrong. Remember, pain always rolls downhill. We’re all in a place where making informed financial choices is more important than ever.

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Inflation is a Risk

I’m fairly risk-adverse so it was a revelation when I realized how damaging inflation can be to any plan. The scary headline? Things that cost $100 today could cost twice that in 20 or 30 years!

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