US and China Trade War The headlines are filled with rumors of a trade war between the United States and China. You’ve probably heard by now that both nations have announced tariffs on many of each other’s goods. This has many economists concerned about a trade war. A trade war, in case you’re not familiar…
Spring Season in Laos – The Songkran Festival Good news! Spring has officially started. Around March 21st the spring or vernal equinox occurs, traditionally marking the beginning of the spring season. I always remind the kids because from this time forward, the days continue to grow longer with sunlight taking precedence over darkness. Spring brings…
He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed! Each holiday is special in its own way, but of them all, there is no other celebration like Easter. Easter is about resurrection of life, rebirth, hope, spring and every other good thing that comes along with it. As you prepare for your Sunday Easter celebration we encourage…
Walk out? Walk up? What’s all this about? Many of you (especially those with high school children) will have heard about the walk out that happened across the country at 10 AM yesterday. High school students across the country ‘walked out’ to protest gun or school violence. Which I hope we can put an…
How Is This Plan Going To Affect You? Please open your economic textbooks to page forty-seven, class, because it’s time to talk about something you probably haven’t thought of since college: tariffs. On Thursday, March 1, President Trump announced a new plan to institute a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on…
Shakespeare on Finance For centuries, people have studied Shakespeare for his wit and his wisdom. Shakespeare never actually wrote about finance, of course. But I believe many of his most memorable lines contain important financial lessons. Let’s look at a quote from perhaps the Bard’s greatest play of all: Hamlet. “This above all – to…
Emotional Currency As this New Year gets underway, consider this wisdom, widely attributed to Charles F. Banning: If all the gold in the world were melted down into a solid cube, it would be about the size of an eight-room house. If a man got possession of all that gold—billions of dollars’ worth—he could not…
Do you make this common mistake with your investments? Last week I sent an email following the big gyrations in the market. The opening line was, “Hello volatility, my old friend.” A cousin of volatility is risk. Different people can tolerate different amounts of risk. Someone who thoroughly understands long-term investing may have a relatively…
Hello volatility, my old friend. By now, you’ve seen or heard the headlines, full of scary-sounding words like rout and storm, plunge and crash. Whatever you want to call it, investors have certainly endured a rough time over the past few days. The Dow, dominating the media’s coverage as usual, dropped more than 600 points…
Your “Financial Plumbing” Questionnaire What areas of your financial plumbing are you most concerned about checking in 2018? □ Reducing tax liability □ Increasing retirement savings □ Saving for child/grandchild □ Caring for a loved one □ Charitable giving □ Establishing a travel budget □ Moving to a new home/area □ Health care expenses □…