Start saving for your child’s college by estimating how much it may cost. Education is incredibly important. I talk about it regularly on the Minority Money Podcast, and I make sure to prioritize it with financial planning clients. One of the most common questions from parents is: “How much...
Sometimes it’s helpful to think of investing like football. You need an offense, a defense, and special teams. When the stock market is increasing, you want your offense playing. When the market is down, you need to put the defense in. And in weird scenarios, like when there’s an...
Picture this: You get your first real job. You’re adulting. You’re excited to get out there and get to work. Then you get the piles of paperwork. One of those piles is probably tied to the employer’s 401(k) plan. Most of the people I talk to know vaguely what...
Estate planning is one of the most important things we do as financial advisors. It can also be the hardest because it involves thinking about what happens when you die. It’s actually one of the financial planning tasks that I put off, even though I’m a planner and know...
In my experience, owning your own home is a big part of the American dream. A house is often our biggest financial asset, as well as our biggest liability (via a mortgage). Deciding whether to buy a home is one of the most important financial decisions you can make,...
We sometimes use "the market" as a catchall term. But what do we really mean when we talk about the stock market?
Bonds — also known as fixed income — are one of the main tools investors and advisors use to add stability to an investment portfolio. Nevertheless, how bonds work and how they provide stability remains a mystery to many. So let’s recap some of the basics, including what bonds...
When people ask me about stocks, they mostly want to know my opinion about investing in specific companies. One thing I rarely get asked about, but that’s actually really important, is how stocks work. Stocks are the backbone of a lot of investment portfolios. And while many people know...
Being a fiduciary is a topic that is near and dear to me. It might be the most important word that you need in your vocabulary when you work with any financial professional. Therefore, we need to get past the idea that it sounds like an intimidating word, and...
When the economy is uncertain, like in 2020, people tend to get nervous. And that often means they want to make changes to their investments. But that may not be the best strategy. In fact, I recently talked to Daniel Crosby, a psychologist who specializes in money, about this...