The Blog

Weekly insights on the markets, economy, and financial planning

Spending With Purpose

Money Stacks e1423780446713

Earlier this week Bryan, Heath, and I attended a monthly meeting for the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA) Houston chapter.

Taken Your Temperature Lately?

temperature

When our 28-year-old daughter, Caitlin, was just four months old, my wife and I noticed she was running a fever. We had been parents for exactly four months and began to get nervous about it. We had no parents handy …

What’s Your Retirement Number?

Retirement Number

A couple of years ago, ING started a great marketing campaign to encourage people to start saving for retirement. The “What’s your retirement number?” slogan was undoubtedly derived from a common question that financial advisors hear from clients every day. …

Syria and the Market

Flags

The situation in Syria has gone from bad to worse over the last few weeks. The U.S. and allies are preparing for a possible military strike against President Assad’s regime in a country that has been torn apart by a brutal civil war. …

Great Divide: The Economy and the Stock Market Disconnect

divergence

If economic growth is so anemic, why are stocks so robust? This is the number one question I get these days, and for good reason. After all, since mid-2009 the average annual growth of the economy, as measured by growth of …

View Our 1st Qtr Newsletter

Inside this Issue

We are pleased to announce the redesign of our Quarterly Newsletter. Click here to view the 1st quarter newsletter, which was published on 4/15/2013. Feedback and comments are welcome.

The Annual End of the World

Time mag

There are millions of intelligent people in this country (don’t laugh- seriously!), many of whom invest their money in the securi­ties markets. Why, then, are there so few genuinely successful investors? In my opin­ion, the answer is simple – they …

Is Your IQ Overrated?

IQ Brain

My three-year-old daughter, Dawson, has been learning her ABCs, and for the very first time, on Sunday, she wrote her name. My wife and I were so proud. We awed over her, as parents tend to do, because we wanted …

Benchmarks and Investor Psychology

Busines Man Trees

Growing up on the east coast, your per­ception of Texas is what you might see in old John Wayne westerns. When I told my friends and family I was planning on mov­ing here, I could see wild visions floating through …

How Much Farther Can It Go?

Market Indicators

As I write, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has closed at over 14,397, a 120% increase since its bottom of 6,547 at the market’s nadir exactly four years ago on March 9, 2009. Countless articles are being written on the …

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