The final weeks of the year have a rhythm all their own. Financial markets slow, retail markets pick up with holiday shopping, and everyone seems to have a prediction about what the coming year might bring. It’s the perfect time to remember that sometimes doing less...
With holiday season ahead of us, thoughts turn to giving —or getting—that perfect gift. The one that earns a big smile or a spark of surprise. But research and real life keep showing the same truth: price doesn’t equal meaning, and thoughtful doesn’t have to mean...
Please pass the pumpkin pie—and that paperwork you’ve been putting off.Thanksgiving is about good food, friends, family, and gratitude. But it’s also a rare pause in our busy year, a moment when everyone finally ends up in the same room. Between the laughter and the...
When it comes to investing, the biggest threat to your portfolio isn’t the market—it’s your own brain. Evolution equipped us to survive in a world of immediate threats, not to stay calm in the face of volatile markets or abstract probabilities. As a result, our...
As Halloween approaches, we’re surrounded by ghosts, goblins, and things that go bump in the night. But there’s another kind of creep to look out for year-round—and it can haunt your long-term financial goals. I’m talking about lifestyle creep. Lifestyle creep happens...
In financial terms, burn rate describes how quickly money goes out compared with how fast it comes in. Everyone has one — it’s simply the rhythm of how we use our income to support our lives. When you understand your own burn rate, you gain insight into what keeps...
Financial planning is often portrayed as a matter of perfect prediction — spreadsheets, models, and forecasts that promise clarity amid uncertainty. Yet the truth is far gentler and, paradoxically, more powerful: the best financial planning accepts mystery rather than...
For decades, U.S. Treasury bonds were regarded as among the safest of investments—so reliable, in fact, that they came to be viewed as the foundation of the global financial system.But today we are facing an environment where those old assumptions may no longer hold...
When we think about estate planning, most of us naturally focus on financial accounts, property, and family heirlooms. Often overlooked, however, are the digital assets that increasingly carry so much personal, financial, and emotional value. These may include: Online...
A difficult truth in life is that if we are never wrong, we probably aren’t trying hard enough. There is comfort in sticking with what we know and in reinforcing our assumptions rather than questioning them. Psychologists call this confirmation bias: the inclination...