I was recently honored to be asked to appear on an episode of The Active Advisor Podcast.  Along with our firm’s president, Ted Durkin, we share our experiences on growing the business with great people and a client-first mentality, the little things that make a big difference for advisors, goal-based wealth management, and MUCH MORE!

I hope you find it to be fun and inspiring, while learning more about our perspectives and behind-the-scenes stories!

If you are interested, you can listen via the below links:

This video discusses 2021 data concerning who really pays income taxes in the USA as well as the various revenue sources of our nation. Interesting stuff.

Dawn D’Orlando passed away at home on March 16th with her loving husband, Brett Danko, and precious children at her side. After a long and bravely fought battle with colon cancer, Dawn is finally at peace.

Dawn was a wonderful wife, a daughter, a sister, and a friend, but most importantly, she was a devoted mother to her two beautiful children. Abigail and Nicholas were the greatest joys of her life and inspired her courageous fight against cancer. Her strength and love for her children gave Dawn five years beyond what her doctors initially predicted.

Below is a link to a Wall Street Journal article on Daniel “Danny” Kahneman who recently passed away.

Danny was a pioneer in the field of behavioral economics and winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Economics.  He viewed himself as a psychologist first and his insights have helped this new generation of financial advisors (dare I say it “financial psychologists”), help clients realize their short, mid and long term goals.  I have been reading his musings for many years and they have deeply impacted the way I work with clients.

The Department of Labor (DOL) sent the final version of its fiduciary rule to the White House last week, which suggests it may take effect soon. Lawyers studying the rule think it won't differ much from the proposed version. Word is the DOL is moving fast to make sure that Congress or a new president can't easily undo the rule.

Attached 2024 Tax Contribution Guide. We realize lots of firms/mutual fund companies do these, but we like to do one every year. So here it is . . . 

No real excitement here: IRAs ($7K from $6.5K), 401Ks ($23,000 from $22,500) and gifting ($18K from $17K per person) as well as other retirement/estate numbers that ticked up a bit with inflation.

 

Industry thought leader Michael Kitces had me on his latest podcast. I was both honored and humbled, though jokingly asked him if he had run out of guest options. He declined to answer.

 

Given the debt ceiling drama going on, I thought it appropriate to address the situation as many subscribers have asked for my thoughts.

The following email comes from Nicolas Valdes-Fauli, one of our advisors at Main Street Financial Solutions (and former student) who sent it out to his clients last Friday.

The Greatest Chart Ever

 

 

Today’s video discusses “The Greatest Chart Ever” revealing the yearly INTRAyear volatility as well the annual growth of the S&P 500 each year from 1980-2022 including dividends.  We also discuss managing equity return expectations with clients going into 2023.

This video discusses “sweep accounts” and how advisors need to be cognizant of the rates being earned on excess cash in client portfolios in an increasing interest rate environment.   The “sweep accounts” at most firms usually give a very low interest rate compared to even money market funds or short term CDs.

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