Calculated Risk
FEBRUARY 26, 2025
From housing economist Tom Lawler: Treasury Secretary Wrongly Says Fed Has Been Big Seller of Treasuries In an interview last week, Treasury Secretary Bessent said that any plans by the Treasury to extend the maturity were a long ways off. One of the reasons cited by Secretary Bessent was the Federal Reserves current balance sheet runoff policy. Here is a quote from Bessent.
Nerd's Eye View
FEBRUARY 5, 2025
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) have become an increasingly popular tool for financial advisors and their clients due in part to the 'triple tax savings' they offer: tax-deductible contributions, tax-free growth, and non-taxable distributions for qualifying expenses. However, HSAs require individuals to be covered by a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), which has tradeoffs compared to traditional health insurance plans.
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Clever Girl Finance
FEBRUARY 11, 2025
Do you ever feel like your money disappears the moment you get paid? Maybe you have mounting credit card debt or an emergency fund thats dangerously low. If you want to take control of your finances, break the cycle of overspending, and build lasting financial stability, then a low-buy year could be the perfect reset. Table of contents No-buy year vs low-buy year?
Financial Symmetry
FEBRUARY 20, 2025
Two years ago, the concentration of the U.S. stock market in its largest companies looked high compared to recent history. Today, some might say market concentration appears really high. At the end of 2024, the 10 largest companies in the S&P 500 Index made up 37.3% of the index by market capitalization. This means that just 2% of the 500 largest U.S. companies represent nearly 40% of the weight.
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The office of the CFO is rapidly evolving, with more and more demands being placed upon the finance and accounting team each year. Join us in this webinar, where we share 8 things to NOT do when it comes to helping the CFO office advance in supporting the business. Learning Objectives: This course objective is to understand how best to support an organization's finance leadership.
Darrow Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 13, 2025
When starting to search for a financial advisor, investors may not realize the different types of advisors out thereand theyre not all trying to sell you something. If youre looking for a fee-only financial advisor or wealth manager, its probably because you know fee-only advisors don’t sell products. Finding the right financial advisor is so important.
Harness Wealth
FEBRUARY 5, 2025
The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) is a provision that allows U.S. taxpayers to exclude a portion of their foreign-earned income from U.S. taxation. The rise of remote work and digital nomadism has made FEIE a common tax minimization strategy for Americans living abroad. Given FEIEs increased popularity, were going to explore the provision in this article, provide some understanding of how FEIE works in practice, and examine some of the other exemptions that U.S. expats can benefit from.
Financial Advisor Source brings together the best content for financial advisor professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Nerd's Eye View
FEBRUARY 12, 2025
When the Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on January 5, 2025, it came as a relief to many recipients of state or local government pensions whose Social Security benefits had been, up until now, reduced by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) for individuals claiming retirement benefits under their own name, or the Government Pension Offset (GPO) for those claiming spousal or survivor benefits under a current or former spouse's name.
Clever Girl Finance
FEBRUARY 11, 2025
Have you been overspending and want to get back on track? Maybe you just want to boost your savings or finally break free from impulse purchases. A no spend month could be exactly what you need! Table of contents What is a no spend month? The benefits of a no spend month Expert tip: A no spend month can make you more intentional Mistakes to avoid during your no spend month Commonly asked questions about doing a no spend month Articles related to spending less Try a no spend month!
Steve Sanduski
FEBRUARY 4, 2025
Guests: Jim Gold , CEO, Founding Partner, Board Member, and member of the Executive Leadership Team at Steward Partners Global Advisory. In a nutshell: In a recent article , one of Jim Gold’s colleagues described his leadership style as “fun, fair, but firm.” When I asked Jim about that quote and his firm’s culture, he swapped in “flexible.” All four of those words speak to how intentional Jim has been about creating a firm whose employees love where they wor
Darrow Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 9, 2025
The idea of living off dividends in retirement sounds nice, but investors often don’t realize how much money they’ll need invested to generate enough income from dividends to cover lifestyle expenses. Over the last 30 years, the S&P 500’s average dividend yield was 1.98%. So historically, every $1 million invested would yield annual dividend income of $19,800 on average… before tax.
Speaker: Dylan Secrest, Founder of Alamo Innovation and Construction Digital Transformation Consultant
Construction payment workflows are notoriously complex when you consider juggling multiple stakeholders, compliance requirements, and evolving project scopes. Delays in approvals or misaligned data between budgets, lien waivers, and pay applications can grind progress to a halt. The good news? It doesn't have to be this way! Join expert Dylan Secrest to discover how leading contractors are turning payment chaos into clarity using digital workflows, integrated systems, and automation strategies.
The Big Picture
FEBRUARY 5, 2025
At the Money: Are Hedge Fund Right For You? (February 5, 2025) At five trillion dollars, hedge funds have never been more popular — or less hedged. Investors have lots of questions when allocating to this trading asset class, including how much capital do you need? What percentage of your portfolio should be allocated? Are all answered in our conversation.
Calculated Risk
FEBRUARY 20, 2025
This was a new record for imports in January, eclipsing the previous recent (Jan 2022) by 17%! Container traffic gives us an idea about the volume of goods being exported and imported - and usually some hints about the trade report since LA area ports handle about 40% of the nation's container port traffic. The following graphs are for inbound and outbound traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in TEUs (TEUs: 20-foot equivalent units or 20-foot-long cargo container).
Nerd's Eye View
FEBRUARY 10, 2025
To earn the CFP marks, candidates must fulfill four key requirements: Education (holding a bachelor's degree and completing the required coursework through a CFP Board registered program), Exam (passing the 170-question CFP exam), Experience (gaining hands-on experience providing financial advice to the public), and Ethics (acting as a fiduciary). Among these, the Education component offers the greatest flexibility in how it can be completed.
Clever Girl Finance
FEBRUARY 11, 2025
If you’re thinking about using the cash envelope system to budget effectively, having the right cash envelope wallet is key. A well-organized wallet makes it easy to divide, access, and track your cash, helping you stay committed to your budgeting goals. Without one, managing your envelopes can feel chaotic, making it harder to stick to your plan.
Speaker: Victor C. Barnes, CPA, MBA
In the climb from contributor to leader, the rules quietly change. If you’re aiming for the summit, the air gets thinner—and what got you here won’t be enough to get you to the top (a concept first popularized by Marshall Goldsmith in his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There ). What made you successful early in your finance career—technical accuracy, sharp analysis, flawless execution—won’t be what carries you to the next level.
Yardley Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 18, 2025
The post Waterfall Wealth Management: A Strategic Approach appeared first on Yardley Wealth Management, LLC. Waterfall Wealth Management: A Strategic Approach Table of Contents Introduction Understanding Waterfall Wealth Distribution Benefits of Waterfall Wealth Management Waterfall Wealth vs. Traditional Investment Strategies The Role of Income Tiers and Priority Levels Case Studies Key Considerations Conclusion Introduction Waterfall Wealth Management is a financial strategy designed for high-
Diamond Consultants
FEBRUARY 11, 2025
While the model has become a go-to for advisors seeking independence, understanding the variety of types and options can be challenging. Heres a breakdown of what advisors need to know. In an industry brimming with jargon, acronyms, and opaque terminology, its no surprise that advisors find it challenging to keep up with the ever-growing variety of models that exist in the industry landscape.
Abnormal Returns
FEBRUARY 5, 2025
Podcasts Peter Lazaroff talks with Benjamin Brandt author of "Retirement Starts Today." (peterlazaroff.com) Michael Easter speaks with Sahil Bloom, the author of "The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life." (twopct.com) Carl Richards talks spending money with Joel Stein. (podcasts.apple.com) Housing The housing stock is aging.
Calculated Risk
FEBRUARY 3, 2025
Today, in the Real Estate Newsletter: ICE Mortgage Monitor: Lowest calendar year home price growth of any year since 2011 Brief excerpt: Here is the year-over-year in house prices according to the ICE Home Price Index (HPI). The ICE HPI is a repeat sales index. ICE reports the median price change of the repeat sales. The index was up 3.4% year-over-year in December.
Speaker: Kim Beynon, CPA, CGMA, PMP
The most overlooked, yet most critical, element of transformation is preparing people for change. Automation and AI aren't just technical upgrades, they’re cultural shifts which can challenge identities. That’s why change management isn’t a side project—it’s the foundation. In finance, where precision and process rule, navigating change can feel especially disruptive.
Nerd's Eye View
FEBRUARY 24, 2025
Early in a firm's life cycle, a founder might take on nearly any client (and their fees) just to generate enough revenue to 'keep the lights on'. However, as the firm grows, some of those early clients may no longer be profitable to serve – especially if they generate lower fees than newly onboarded clients. Which leaves the firm founder faced with a difficult decision: Should they continue serving these unprofitable (or less-profitable) clients or 'graduate' them to a different service mo
Tobias Financial
FEBRUARY 11, 2025
Dreams and financial goals are important, but reaching them would be rather impossible if no plan exists to save money for those goals. You can reach your goals and live life on your terms by paying yourself first. The Reason Lets use a simple illustration to demonstrate the impact your priorities have. Envision a large jar. You have some rocks, pebbles, and sand, and you need to fill up your jar.
Don Connelly & Associates
FEBRUARY 3, 2025
A significant challenge for financial advisors is translating complex financial concepts into terms clients can easily digest. For many, presentations serve as an effective medium for closing the gap between what advisors know and what clients can understand. However, many advisors struggle with transforming intricate concepts into accessible content and maintaining their clients interest throughout the presentation.
Random Roger's Retirement Planning
FEBRUARY 1, 2025
A couple of interesting points today related to fund categories that we talk about here all the time. First up is that Locorr just launched a fund that combines US equities and managed futures 50/50, the Locorr Strategic Allocation Fund (LSAIX). Also, TIL Locorr is a play on words, low correlation. The fund just started trading a day or two ago but the results of funds that do this combo have been pretty good for the most part.
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Where are top advisors focusing in 2025? AcquireUp’s 2025 Industry Index reveals it all. Based on insights from 200+ financial professionals nationwide, discover why 74% say seminars and referrals deliver the best ROI, how automation is helping advisors scale faster, and why only 8% are tapping into niche marketing (a major growth opportunity!). Whether you're refining your client acquisition strategy or scaling your practice, this report gives you the real-world data, benchmarks, and action ste
The Big Picture
FEBRUARY 24, 2025
Last weeks comments, Tune Out the Noise , was my suggestion that investors should not get drawn into the firehose of noise, partisan wrestling matches, and trolling generated by the new administration. My emphasis was on staying focused on the long term. This includes setting goals, having a financial plan, and acknowledging our collective inability to predict the outcomes of geopolitical events (either domestic or overseas).
Calculated Risk
FEBRUARY 4, 2025
From the BLS: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary The number of job openings decreased to 7.6 million on the last business day of December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and total separations were little changed at 5.5 million and 5.3 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (3.2 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.8 million) changed little. emphasis added The following graph shows job openings (black line), hires (dark blue), Layoff, Di
Nerd's Eye View
FEBRUARY 20, 2025
Many financial advisors approach prospect meetings with a mindset of giving potential clients ample space to consider the relationship before making any commitments. Asking them to "think it over" after an initial meeting is a common strategy designed to help clients feel comfortable and avoid the perception of being pressured into engaging in the relationship right away.
Discipline Funds
FEBRUARY 28, 2025
Here are some things I think I am thinking about this weekend: 1) A Negative GDP NOW Print!?! It was a wild week in the markets, but the biggest news of the week dropped on Friday when the Atlanta Fed revised their GDP Now estimate from +2.3% to -1.5%. Yes, you read that correctly. NEGATIVE 1.5%. That’s a reduction of 3.8%. What in the world just happened?
Speaker: David Worrell, CFO, Author & Speaker
Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.
Truemind Capital
FEBRUARY 14, 2025
To create wealth from investments, you need to let your investments compound. To let compounding work and create exponential gains, you must stay in thegame for a long period of time. To stay in the game for long, you must not panic and withdraw during marketdownturns. To ensure you do not panic during market crashes, you need to set the right expectations for your investments.
Darrow Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 26, 2025
Although past performance is not indicative of future results, history can be a helpful lens to view bond performance during past recessions and bouts of volatility. Swings in the financial markets also highlight the benefitsand limitationsof diversification. During times of economic, financial, and political uncertainty, investors often wonder where to invest or what changes to make to their portfolio.
The Big Picture
FEBRUARY 25, 2025
The transcript from this weeks, MiB: Charley Ellis on Rethinking Investing , is below. You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube , and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here. ~~~ This is Masters in Business with Barry Ritholtz on Bloomberg Radio.
Calculated Risk
FEBRUARY 16, 2025
What this means: On a weekly basis, Realtor.com reports the year-over-year change in active inventory and new listings. On a monthly basis, they report total inventory. For January, Realtor.com reported inventory was up 24.6% YoY, but still down 24.8% compared to the 2017 to 2019 same month levels. Now - on a weekly basis - inventory is up 27.5% YoY.
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