The Dow is at around 28,000, so what should investors be doing? Well, a lot, actually. Most people remember that last year around this time the market was not doing very well. Reflect back on how you felt when the market went down almost 20% by Christmas Eve’s close. It impacted everyone – even really, really wealthy people. Just as …
Tanger: Short Term Turkey
Good afternoon everyone! I’m sure your Thanksgiving preparations are in full swing. I’ll be spending the holiday in Arlington with one of my best friends and his family. We’re going to…a Chinese restaurant. Kinda excited, not going to lie. Don’t fret though: Mom and Dad are FedEx’ing some pies to my apartment, which I will be enjoying with a glass …
Are Your Kids Prepared to Inherit Wealth?
Look, I get it, talking about money with your adult kids feels taboo. When they were young, you wanted them to feel taken care of, but it wasn’t important they understood what money conceptually meant to you, how much you had, or how you managed it. But this goes without saying, your kids grow up. They become responsible, contributing adults with their own careers and their own money, and—not to get too …
When the Cost of Being Wrong is Zero
It’s the fourth quarter of 2019 and predictions on where the market will end up at the end of the year are popping up all over. The problem with these predictions is that there is no cost for being wrong. Take for example an article in last weekend’s Barron’s, where they published the “Big Money Poll”. Here’s the first paragraph: …
Vlog: The Economic Cycle – How it Works in Everyday Language
A lot of people ask how our MONCON Recession Plan works. I’m going to refrain from discussing the exact data it looks at, but in general, it’s data that are representing the economic cycle. Economic cycles have a fairly predictable chain that can provide signs of accelerations or decelerations – but problems start when we look at actions that have …
Vlog: What Will Your Day Look Like in a Bear Market?
Important Disclosure Information Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by Monument Wealth Management), or any non-investment related content, …
Four Yards Per Play: Army’s Ground Game is a Model Portfolio
For those of you whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet: welcome to my first post! I recently joined Monument as a portfolio manager, having previously been a research analyst here in the D.C. area and before that an advisor to high-net-worth families in Oklahoma. I was drawn to Monument from the moment I read the job …
A Well-Deserved Makeover
Before I dive into the details of Monument’s makeover, I’ll start by tagging on two REALLY EXCITING updates—we have two new Team members, and quite a few recent awards! Monument’s New Team Members Over the summer, we hired Erin Hay, CFA, our new Private Wealth Advisor and Portfolio Manager, as well as Brittany Gabel, a local multimedia artist and designer …
Get Them Straight – Hedge Funds, Pension Funds and Your Funds
I’ve been working in wealth management for over two decades now. It’s changed a lot, mostly for the better, but the one thing that has remained consistent is investor behavior. One of the most often repeated statements I hear from investors is something along the lines of, “I want to have returns that outperform the S&P 500 without the same …
Vlog: Dealing with Volatility
Here are Dave’s words of wisdom on how to deal with the current volatility… Important Disclosure Information Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product (including the investments and/or …
Vlog: Inversion Aversion
I received a lot of great feedback and encouragement on yesterday’s video, and wanted to further dive into two questions that have come up: What did I mean by “distortion”? Why does a yield curve actually cause a recession? Interesting to note that the current inversion process is very different from the past. In the past we have had inflation …
Vlog: The Yield Curve Distortion
What is the Yield Curve Distortion? Putting things into perspective…There are trillions of dollars of debt that are exposed to negative interest rates. (For example, this means, when you give the bank $100 bucks, they give you $96 back.) That sucks! The U.S. has the safest and best paying bonds in the world. So people are taking their money …