To Inform: In recent days, I feel like I’ve observed multiple examples of “opposite extremes.” Late afternoon on Wednesday I had a headline flash on the CNBC app I use to track stocks and asset classes on my phone: “Stocks have best day since 2020!”  Just 24 hours later, on Thursday afternoon, I had a […]

To Inform: It’s possible this has been said before in another time and place, but I like to think the maxim “You should always own something you don’t like” is an original thought of mine. An important corollary might be “be careful owning something everyone else loves”. I must say, however, that this rule should […]

To Inspire: We’ll come back to Matthew Kelly’s book on generosity in future WealthNotes. But today I want to reflect on some ideas shared by John Eldredge in one of his best sellers from a number of years ago, Waking the Dead: The Secret to a Heart Fully Alive. The book’s title reminds me of […]

To Inform: Like a spring morning rejoicing in the retreat of winter, we rejoice in the recent close of so-called “tax-season”. This past Tuesday, tax off-season began for most people. For financial professionals, especially CPAs, tax off-season is at best fleeting and at worst non-existent, much like springtime in our home state. Most folks, though, […]

To Inspire:   I just finished my Forty Days in The Desert retreat—an intense period of self-reflection and a focus on growth and transformation. Transformation begins when we take responsibility for our own life. Responsibility connotes the ability to make decisions and act on them; to have a choice. Life is all about choices—in decisions, […]

To Inform: We get a lot of investment research emails each week and if there was a common theme the last few days, it was the phrase “peak inflation.” Earlier this week inflation data came out for March. For the month, the consumer price index (CPI) surged +1.2% which equates to a whopping 8.5% on […]

To Inspire: Easter weekend is here! As a kid, I loved getting dressed up for Easter (although my favorite was getting my palm branch on Palm Sunday). And I loved going home to an Easter egg hunt and Easter basket full of chocolates and small gifts. As an adult, of course, I understand the real […]

To Inform:  I once had a boss whose mantra was “everything is cyclical.” She would say this when we were discussing investment trends and asset classes that were either in favor or out of favor. There is great wisdom in understanding this. The Byrds did an excellent cover of Ecclesiastes 3 in their 1965 hit […]

To Inspire: It’s Master’s week at Augusta and as I (Matt) write this, Tiger Woods has finished his first round and is one under par. While I’m not a golfer or even a big fan of golf, I am a big fan of heroic comebacks and learning what qualities people draw on to make those […]

To Inspire: The United Nations recently released its 10th annual World Happiness Report. The report is based on data from more than 150 countries worldwide, and ranks each country based on a list of factors. This year, for the fifth year running, Finland topped the list; the United States moved up three spots to 16th. […]