Keeping you informed
Resources
Leaving Financial Planning & Investment Management to an Expert—Part 1
Confessions of a die-hard DIYer. I must confess, I’m a die-hard DIYer (Do It Yourselfer). My parents instilled this nature in me: Why pay someone else when you can do it yourself? In my younger...

Leaving Financial Planning & Investment Management to an Expert—Part 1
Confessions of a die-hard DIYer. I must confess, I’m a die-hard DIYer (Do It Yourselfer). My parents instilled this nature in me: Why pay someone else when you can do it yourself? In my younger...

The First Earth Day
I remember participating in the first Earth Day in 1970 at the 8-room rural school I attended outside the town of Marengo, Illinois. Riley School doesn’t look much different today! Mr. Desmond, our science teacher, organized us. I dug up Sugar Maple saplings from the grove at our home and we...

Taking the shame out of dining out (a lot).
Does the thought of learning what you spend on restaurants and carry-out each month make you uneasy? If you answered “Yes,” you aren’t alone. As a financial advisor, I regularly hear the stress in a new client’s voice when we come to the “Dining Out” category of their expenses. “I’m not sure I...
Workplace injustice. Silence is no longer an option.
I’ve noticed on LinkedIn many executives expressing their concern for those who have faced injustice in this imperfect world. They encourage us all to be part of solutions, making the world a better...
Close your books. We’re having a test.
It’s as if every business – large and small – was handed the same dreaded pop quiz. Vested stakeholders – employees, customers, shareholders, and communities - are sitting in the Teacher’s chair,...
How to thrive in a financial crisis.
The effects of a financial crisis can be devastating. As an employee, you may lose your job or get a cut in pay. As an independent contractor your gig pipeline may dry up. As a business owner, you...
An ESG success story… and a little goat.
Amid the stress and grief of this pandemic, I encountered an ESG (environmental-social-governance) investing intersection that made me smile. It started when I was scanning Bloomberg's newswire and...
The other crisis upon us.
Feeling brain-numb from crash-coursing CORONAVIRUS? Doing your part to flatten the curve? Everyone hunkered down here in Central Iowa seems perfectly healthy. Yet I was a math major. The numbers...
Day of Reckoning at Davos
Big Business has seemingly awakened to the costs created by fossil fuels and social inequity. While "corporate social responsibility" and "diversity and inclusion" have been popular thematics...
“I’ve got you.”
"I've got you." Those words and the grip of a strong hand helping you up to the ledge on a long, exhausting climb. I find myself reflecting upon this image tonight. Tomorrow's a big day, for I will:...