Over the past few weeks, there is one story that trumps all in the world, and that’s the Russian war against Ukraine. Like all of you, I have been bombarded with stories from mainstream sources on TV and print, as well as the legion of armchair geopolitical experts on social media. Despite the firehose of everchanging information, it seems there is no shortage of opinions on what we (the US,... READ MORE

Although most of the focus has been on stocks lately, it is bonds that have arguably had the more interesting year. Interest rates (which we will use the 10-year treasury yield to represent) have been climbing rapidly, starting the year from about 0.9% to 1.52% today. This often neglected number is extremely important. It represents the cost of money. Where the 10-year rate sits influences the... READ MORE

Lately, the topic of refinancing has come up many times when talking with our clients, given how low interest rates currently are. However, in order to justify the cost of refinancing your mortgage, we typically advise that your new interest rate should be at least 0.5% to 0.75% lower than your current rate, depending on how long you plan to stay in your current home. Additionally, we've noticed... READ MORE

Another decade came to a close last year. I thought it would be interesting to compare the last decade to the previous four decades. The table below shows returns for 5 primary asset classes and a globally balanced 60% stock/40% bond portfolio. For each decade the highest returning asset class is at the top while the lowest returning is at the bottom. A few observations: Stock returns across... READ MORE