Blog

Social Security is going broke. It needs to be fixed, and quickly, or future benefits will be sharply reduced. That would be extremely unpopular among the high-voting population we affectionately call “Seasoned Citizens.” Currently, that population is about 61 million strong. Congress created the Social Security System, and, unfortunately, only Congress can fix it. For […]

Bank accounts of millions of Americans received a boost in July, as IRS issued the first round of payments under a new Child Tax Credit program. Roughly 60 million parents received Child Tax Credit payments in July, and others may be eligible. The new payments range up to $300 per child for eligible families. Similar […]

On July 9, 2021, President Biden added to his impressively high stack of Executive Orders (EOs), signing a three-part plan purporting to improve opportunities for workers. The stated goals are: (1) limit or ban Non-Compete Agreements (NCAs), (2) eliminate unnecessary occupational licenses, and (3) allow HR professionals to share more information. Before the ink dried […]

Today we look back at our blog posting from February 26, 2020, at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic. At the time, we issued a mass email to clients and friends, and also discussed these points on the Van Wie Financial Hour. How did we do in the face of that uncertainty? We’ll dissect the […]

Not everyone starts a tech company and becomes a billionaire. But Peter Thiel did, after his 1998 startup Confinity became successful and valuable. Within 3 years of startup, the company was handling over $3 Billion in annual online payments from over 10 million commercial customers. His success was rewarded and in a novel and unusual […]

On Tuesday, June 15, 2021, financial media was frantic with headlines claiming retail sales had fallen 1.3% compared to the prior month. This lead most economic reporting for a couple of days, and was surprisingly negative, given the true situation. Negative economic news from the mainstream media during this Administration is rare, so we wondered […]

“Actions have consequences,” our parents told us. “Elections have consequences,” warned Barack Obama. “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction,” Isaac Newton explained. “The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions,” goes an old English proverb. Good observations. We should all pay attention. Since I cannot resist one more cliché, “What goes around, […]

On April 13, 2020, we published a Blog explaining why it was a poor time to own Treasury Inflation-Protected Bonds or TIPs. A mere 14 months later, our position has reversed, but not because we are wishy-washy or undecided. The national situation has changed dramatically, so investment strategies need to be revised and updated to […]

Sometimes a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) can provide the frosting on the cake of your personal financial planning. Accountants, attorneys, other tax preparers, stockbrokers, and insurance agents all fulfill necessary functions. But for some important retirement decisions, more is better. Recently, we had an interesting client case involving a 1-time income windfall and its consequences […]