Should I (continue to) Buy Stocks Now or Wait?
We’re starting off this post with the question that’s on everyone’s mind: Should you wait before investing (or investing more) given the uncertainty of the economy? In one way or another, all my clients are asking this totally reasonable, million-dollar question. It reminds me of when we wrote about this topic in April of 2020 […]
Can You Stay Calm and Carry On? Here’s What Happens When Interest Rates Rise
In the past 10 to 12 years, we’ve seen two major crises: a global pandemic and a financial crisis. Both have brought about extraordinarily low interest rates as a policy response. But as we’ve moved through each of these events, we also start to wonder if higher interest rates lurk around the corner. You may […]
How to Build an Investment Plan that Works for You
If you haven’t already heard it from us, you’ve likely heard it somewhere that investing is an important way to build wealth. “Investing” is a broad term though, and it means something a little bit different for everyone. Not to mention there are a ton of different strategies, philosophies and recommended products out there depending […]
Thinking Big’s Approach to Socially Responsible Investing
One of the most important things we do as financial planners is help clients align their money with their values, and socially responsible investing (SRI) can be a meaningful way to do that. We offer our clients the opportunity to invest partially or fully in SRI portfolios that are carefully chosen to mimic the structure […]
What Speculation vs. Investing Has to Do With Tulips
It’s hard to imagine that just a year ago, we were in some of the darkest days in a generation, unclear about what the direction of our health and wealth would be because of the pandemic. Fast forward a year later and the stock market is hitting record highs, a bitcoin is worth more than […]
The Importance of Being Optimistic When You Invest
The importance of optimism when you invest can’t be overstated. In fact, it’s scientifically supported that having an optimistic mindset helps you build wealth! A study done by Michelle Gilean in partnership with Frost Bank showed that 90% of optimistic participants put aside money for a major purchase as opposed to 70% of the pessimistic […]
Worried about Stock Market Performance in Election Years?
As if 2020 wasn’t turbulent enough, the news is all over speculating about stock market performance in an election year. Personally, I hate to talk about short term stock market performance—or any type of investment right now for that matter—because, frankly, it’s just more noise you don’t need right now! But in many ways, I’m […]
Should I Invest Right Now?
When the stock market is down 20-30% and it’s scary. It’s emotional. And the last thing most people want to do is stick their toe in shark-infested waters. I can hear those familiar voices: “I just saw my portfolio go down how much, and you’re telling me to do what?!” Or conversely, “Now’s the perfect […]
What is Asset Allocation? And Why It’s Important for Your Investing.
With every client, my goal is to create a tailored investment strategy that manages what we can control. After considering variables like investment fees, taxes, and comfort levels with volatility and risk, we often settle on something called an asset allocation. The term gets thrown around a lot, so I want to delve into the […]
What is a custodian bank? (You should know)
The argument for knowing exactly what a custodian is can be summed up in two words: Bernie Madoff. If you need a refresher, Madoff was the operator of the largest ponzi scheme in the world. He was able to defraud over 4,000 clients for one reason: he was their custodian as well as their financial […]