May 15, 2022

To long-time clients, let me start by saying: “Here we go again.” To newer clients, I’ll say: “Don’t worry; this is normal.” And to everyone else: “Buckle up for the ride.” I am referring, of course, to the latest, and current, stock market correction.

May 15, 2022

Inflation has been lifting prices lately, and with that comes a barrage of news articles, TV talk show segments, and social media posts about how best to beat inflation in your portfolio.  One of the hottest tools on the market currently is Series I bonds.  They're "hot" since they currently have a published rate of 9.62%.  With a rate like that, who wouldn't want to invest?

May 15, 2022

The chart below from Dimensional Funds¹ depicts in graphic form how much the S&P 500 Index has gained (or lost) in every year since 1926. While the average annual return is approximately 10%, “it’s important to remember that returns in any given year may be sky-high, extremely poor, or somewhere in between.”

March 31, 2022

When you work with as many families as we do, there’s always a story. Some are comical in nature, and we get to share a laugh, while others are profoundly serious. Based upon lessons learned over the past 26 years, this Stan’s World is for every client who has living parents or adult children. 

March 31, 2022

Michael Bloomberg is credited with saying: “…the best financial planning ends with bouncing the check to the undertaker.” The man was right when he first said it, and he’s still right today. Who would have ever thought that living too long could be a bad thing?

March 31, 2022

If you have assets, you may unknowingly be at risk from a personal liability claim. (If you don’t have assets, you’re probably covered by a line from the Bob Dylan song, Like a Rolling Stone: “When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose.”)

February 15, 2022

Recently, a friend and I engaged in a fairly profound conversation. He wondered what he was going to leave behind after he died. He asked me about his contribution to society and how to assess the good that he did. I told him the question is one I’ve heard before. Frankly, it’s one I’ve periodically asked myself.  

February 15, 2022

If you’re of a certain age, you may recall the classic TV show, The Odd Couple. The show focused on two friends who became roommates, played by Tony Randall (Felix Unger) and Jack Klugman (Oscar Madison). In one especially memorable episode, Felix used a blackboard in court to disassemble the word assume: “When one assumes, you make an ass of ‘u’ and ‘me’.”

February 15, 2022

During bull markets, it may appear as if anything an investor buys will go higher. For individual investors, up is up, and they may even be more emboldened when hearing of others who have made a lot of money. It’s hard not to want in on the party. (How hard can it be? Even so-and-so is getting rich.) Unfortunately, there’s a lot that can go wrong when discipline is lost. 

December 31, 2021

Since moving to Westfield more than 15 years ago, Pearl and I have celebrated New Year’s Eve the same way. We start with elegant hors d'oeuvres (think cocktail franks), attend a concert at the high school by the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, and conclude with a dinner that would be appreciated by any transplanted New Yorker.