I was about twelve when my father purchased a used pickup truck for the purpose of “helping you boys go to college”. That pickup became the means for the Johnson brothers to put three boys through a combined twenty years of undergraduate and graduate degrees of college (combined 3 undergraduate and 3 graduate degrees).
Last January I wrote a column after an exceptionally difficult and divisive 2020 and a very rough start to 2021. Unfortunately, as I look back on the completion of 2021 it does not appear that the fraying of our social fabric has improved any in the completed year.
Before you put a bow in this year’s finances here’s a list of things you can do between now and the end of the year to either reduce taxes or put yourself in a better position financially going into 2022:
We are living in unprecedented times! It's not just all the hate re: vaccines, elections, and public policy but the actual data! I try to wrap my mind around this morning's reported 6.2 percent inflation at the same time the average 30 year mortgage is funded at less than 3 percent. Both measures have intrinsic ties to the ten year treasury bond which currently trades at around 1.5 percent. That's an extremely unusual disconnect! To me, it portends trouble ahead...
I love the Chinese proverb: "The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, the second-best time is now." When I became aware of the proverb a couple years back, I began to suggest to clients and prospects that the same is true for investing as well. The best time to plant or invest is now if you didn't in the past.
What is ransomware? It is malicious encryption software which gets installed on the computer system which is intended to prevent the systems from working correctly. Criminals install this software through hacking and sometimes through phishing emails - which unwary employees click on links or open attachments. The criminals that have created this software then extort the victim for payment (usually paid via cryptocurrency) for keys or passwords which decrypt the files and enable the system function properly. Sometimes even after payment the files remain encrypted and unusable.
