Things I promise never to do (in no particular order):
- I’ll never dye my hair or moustache or goatee. Looks ridiculous on a man, IMO.
- I’ll never wear shoes with Velcro straps.
- I’ll never wear horizontal stripes. Haven’t since I was about 10.
- I’ll never wear...
Mr. Downing, if you please
Picture it: I’m checking into a hotel after two different flights. Just taken the shuttle to the hotel. I know the drill, so I hand my driving license and credit card to the bright young thing behind the counter, who says, Welcome, Glenn!
Am I...
Frenchy Duffnuts
We had a family friend growing up named Evelyn. Evelyn was a widow of many years, and a professional travel agent. Fascinating person. She’d gather groups of travelers together and take them all on a trip somewhere – usually in Europe. My...
Collections vs. Experiences
This is another topic that arises from my financial planning practice.
It is my generation’s habit to make collections of prized or valued items. To this day I have my book collection and my music collection. Mrs. Downing collects Wedgwood Blue Jasper...
Now for the fitness part.
Watch some older people walk: they shuffle, or their steps really aren’t steps at all; they’re merely shifting weight from one foot to the other. This is the result of muscles not being worked – they tighten and contract. I am...
At a physical crossroads
At 68 there are many times I can feel my age. But it is only about the last year or two that I’ve noticed a definite slowing down. Which begs the question: What am I going to do about it? Fight it or accept the inevitable?
As I look around at...
Airports and Tattoos
As many of my readers know, I’ve done a good bit of traveling over the last several years, teaching 4-day Live Review classes to students preparing to take the CFP exam. The exam is offered in March, July, and November, so the months before that are my busy travel...
Job Fulfillment
Is this ever a relatively new concept.
I remember in my MBA program, completed in 1984, in the human resources classes, the new way of getting employees to work hard for you was this: give them work they enjoy doing and actually have aptitude for and see a...
Introduction
I recently attended my Connecticut high school’s 50th reunion. I’ve got to say, it has given me pause. Was the class of ’72 really 50 years ago? Couldn’t be – but it is. I had a great time, and even my wife commented on what a...
Have we reached a stock market bottom yet?
"Are you kidding me? After the big price drops we've seen the last few days?"
We get it. Pessimism is popular right now. But here we give you an optimist’s case for the market:
Look at the three major stock market benchmarks – the Dow...
By Jonathan Cameron, CFP®
We have not seen a prolonged stock market decline like this since 2008! The year 2022 has been an awful year in markets. You don't have to go far for the media to remind you of this every hour on the hour. But this is not 2008, of course. Here's what you need to know...
By Glenn J. Downing, MBA, CFP®
I began Part I - New Asset Class with this statistic: one in five people in the US have invested in or used cryptocurrency. As Bitcoin becomes more widely accepted – indeed, Fidelity is offering it in 401K accounts – it is high time for...
