Is Debt a Four-Letter Word? Imagine delivering a word association exercise with “debt” as the subject word. Would you expect responses like “opportunity”, “easy”, “cheap”, or “investment”? Probably not. Debt can carry a negative connotation due to our association with bad debt, such as high-interest credit cards or payday loans. What can be lost is […]

To Inspire:  Years ago, one of my college-age sons invited his girlfriend at the time to our family Christmas gathering. After dinner, we all sat around playing Catch Phrase. Are you familiar with it? You divide into two teams and when it’s your team’s turn, one of your teammates gets 60 seconds to offer clues […]

To Inform:  Earlier this week, I had a client ask if we could talk later in the day about the recent market volatility. When he sent his email that morning, the Dow was down -400 points… when we talked a few hours later, all of the market indexes were showing green and the Dow was […]

To Inform: China watchers have noted a marked shift in the attitude the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has taken towards the business class in China. Chairman XI has been using the phrase “common prosperity” to describe the CCP’s philosophy of narrowing the country’s wealth gap between rich and poor. This philosophy of common prosperity has […]

To Inspire: Last week Lisa and I (Matt) spent Sunday afternoon with our family out at Lynd’s Fruit Farm – picking apples, going on a hayride and enjoying time with our children and their families. It was a beautiful fall day and we LOVED the entire outing. There’s a reason F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that “life […]

To Inform:  One of the biggest tailwinds to the strong stock market returns in the US over the past decade is the expanding profit margins in publicly traded US companies. Expanding margins, the result of lower interest rates, steady input costs (materials and labor) and modest price increases have contributed to this rise in profit […]

To Inspire: Most of us recognize Milana Vayntrub as the quirky lovable Lily from those fun AT&T commercials. But it’s her work helping refugees that’s really making a difference. In this issue of WealthNotes we share that part of her great life – via excerpts below from an article by Jessica Toomer and posted back […]

To Inform: We’ve seen a few personalities in the financial media call this month “The September to Remember” because there is a lot going on in the world. Let’s take a look at a non-exhaustive list: The Federal Reserve is meeting next week and talk is they will preview a “tapering plan” to reduce bond […]

To Inspire:   You may already know the story of Gander, Newfoundland and its role in 9/11. After all, the story was turned into a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical and that musical has now been made into a movie, just released on streaming service Apple TV+. I was fortunate to originally hear this story from […]

To Inspire: This weekend is a time to remember the many lives lost twenty years ago on 9/11 as well as their family members and the many first responders. We recall with gratitude the great sacrifices made and the sacrifices that continue to be made to help ensure that such an event never happens again. […]