The expensive mistake: dividing assets without reading the tax map Here’s the part most families miss: what you give matters as much as how much you give. Split everything 33/33/34 and it looks fair, until your highest-earning child inherits the…
The quiet trade-off Wall Street actually talks about Here’s the insider bit no one brags about at cocktail hour: when rates fall, stocks usually cheer while retirees quietly frown. Lower yields tend to push equity multiples higher, your P/E gets…
The costly mistake: buying the wrong housing play when rates fall The headline bait is always the same: the Fed hints at cuts and anything with “home” in the ticker rips 8-12% by lunch. I’ve watched that tape for two…
Wait, Shelter drives a third of inflation. So why aren’t rents falling fast? Wait, shelter drives a third of inflation. So why aren’t rents falling fast? It’s the question I keep getting over coffee (and yes, sometimes over a stressed…
The pricey leak you don’t see: selling costs vs. debt costs The pricey leak you don’t see during layoffs isn’t always the 22% credit card in your face. Sometimes it’s the decision to sell the house to “wipe the slate…
What pros wish you knew about refi vs sell in a rate-cut cycle If you’re staring at your mortgage statement in Q4 2025 and thinking, “rates are easing… should I refinance or just sell and reset?”, you’re not alone. The…
When rent eats 40%+, the retirement math changes. If your monthly payment feels like a second job, you’re not imagining it. The data is brutal: in 2022, 22.4 million renter households were cost-burdened, spending 30%+ of income on housing, the…
How pros think about home equity (and why they sleep better) Here’s what seasoned finance folks do differently with home equity: they treat it like a tool, not an ATM. The point isn’t “how do I slash my monthly payment…
No, one hot CPI print doesn’t handcuff the Fed No, one hot CPI print doesn’t handcuff the Fed. It grabs headlines, sure, and it definitely rattles the front end of the curve for a few sessions. But the FOMC doesn’t…
No, the 4% rule isn’t autopilot, especially with steady 3% inflation The 4% rule has great PR. Bill Bengen’s 1994 paper showed that a retiree starting at 4%, then adjusting that dollar amount for inflation each year, survived every 30-year…