Investing
In Support of the Fiduciary Standard
It’s one of the most fundamental and dear characteristics of the work we do at Empowerment Financial Guidance: earning the trust and confidence of our clients. We strive to do this in various ways, of course, including the intangibles of demeanor, openness, and honesty. We also have been very intentional in creating a structural business…
Read MoreLet’s Talk About Cash
If you haven’t compared the interest rate you’re currently earning at your bank or credit union against available alternatives, now is a good time to do so. This is especially true if you hold a meaningful balance in a savings account, as we encourage you to do. Cash reserves are the first “bucket” of money…
Read MoreYour Name Here
When my favorite hockey team of my youth, the New York Islanders, moved into their new arena a couple of years ago, my college friend Jim was eager to attend. “This place is awesome!” he reported to me some 3,000 miles away. I believed him. I was a hockey player and a fan long before…
Read MoreSilicon Valley Bank: A Perspective
We’re following the story of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday March 10. While this is the largest bank failure since 2008, it’s not that unusual for a regional bank to fail. Between 2016-2020 there were 16 bank failures, half of which occurred prior to the pandemic. SVB was a large player in…
Read MoreSimple but not Easy
We’re all plenty familiar with the axioms of investing: spend less than you earn; keep investment costs low; create clear, appropriate investment goals; choose an appropriate risk profile and a balanced asset allocation; diversify; rebalance; to name just a few. They’re pretty straightforward – true? – and not so difficult to believe. 2022 has also…
Read MoreResilience
Investing is like life itself; wishing to avoid periodically going sideways or backwards is not realistic. Rather than seeking to avoid all hardship or setback, we should instead focus on developing stronger resilience. Peggy and I have just spent the past couple weeks watching tennis from the US Open in New York, happily recounting the…
Read MoreMaking Sense of our Economic Landscape
“Cast me gently into morning,For the night has been unkind.” -Sarah McLachlan, “Answer” With so many developments and crosscurrents in our current economy and investment markets, it can be difficult to make sense of where we are, not to mention where we might be going. Here, we’ll take a look at some of these forces…
Read MoreWhen Life Gives You Lemons…
…you capture capital losses, of course. In declining markets, the wish to do something is natural. After all, humans have evolved and thrived in part by being attentive to perceived risk and acting to mitigate threats. Ironically, however, doing nothing with your investments is often a wonderful demeanor, including when prices are falling. After all,…
Read MoreEconomic Commentary and Investment Update
In 2022, the war in Ukraine and resulting sanctions, COVID supply chain shocks, and a re-ordering of global trade have leveled a solid bodycheck on the US and global economies. Even the strongest skater is likely to wobble under such circumstances. We’ll highlight a few themes which have occupied and at times confounded investors in…
Read MoreTranslate This Page
Recently I saw these words at the top right corner of my computer screen: “Translate this page.” My mind was deep in critical thought at the moment, and at first the message didn’t register. Momentarily, however, my eyes wandered back. “What?” Then I started laughing, realizing that Google was offering to translate this page into…
Read More