Welcome to the “Off the Wall” Podcast

Want the cliffs notes on what happened in the market and the economy in the first quarter of 2022? Monument's Portfolio Manager Erin Hay is back to discuss three highlights: 1) the Federal Reserve and the yield curve—and what this means for a recession, 2) inflation, and 3) trend. Listen to the end for our thoughts on planning for a recession (not the recession) and for highlights from Monument's managed portfolios during the first quarter.

What is a corporate trustee? And should you be considering one as part of your estate plan? Michelle Diamond and Heather Savage with Cumberland Trust make the case that corporate trustees are worth considering regardless of your net worth—people are fallible, family dynamics are complex, administering a trust is a lot of work, and beneficiaries need education and support to successfully manage trust assets.

Business owners: listen to this episode! Valuation expert Chris Anderson, Managing Director at Intrinsic, shares his expertise on valuing closely-held businesses for sale, succession planning, and gift and estate tax planning. He explains what a valuation is based on—and why what you think your business is worth may be different than reality. We then dive into when you need a valuation and what the process and end product look like.

Are you actually standing in your own way when it comes to maximizing your investment returns? Dr. Daniel Crosby, Chief Behavioral Officer at Orion, bestselling author and a behavioral finance expert, joins this episode of our Off the Wall podcast to share the psychology behind investing decisions and what investors can do to mitigate their behavior's role in managing money—or, more bluntly, how to protect yourself from yourself.

Erin Hay and Ro Punyani from Monument’s Portfolio Management Team join Dave Armstrong to dig under the surface of the 2021 headlines to uncover what was REALLY going on in the market and how that will impact us moving forward. They review the big 2021 takeaways so we can use history as our guide.

Don't we all wish things would just go according the plan? But that's not life. What happens when things don't go as planned? Or if we don't actually know what our future looks like? Our guest, Terri Trespicio, says don't be wed to an outcome, which we can't control; instead be wed to something we can control: the planning. The best outcomes result from planning and preparation, and those are skills we can develop.

Looking to make a charitable impact AND save on taxes? Jessica Gibbs, CFP(R) discusses how to maximize the benefits of charitable giving, both for your personal finances and your charity of choice. Jessica shares her suggestions on how to define your charitable goals, and planning opportunities and solutions to consider that may help lower your taxes.

Is there a way to have have both long-term growth AND the risk management of bonds and cash? In this episode, Erin Hay and Ro Punyani are back to explain Monument's Flexible Asset Allocation strategy, which strives to have less drawdown and more upside relative to a static portfolio of 60% stocks and 40% bonds. Our strategy attempts to balance limiting drawdown while participating in upside by tracking momentum and following trends in the market.