Posts by Steve Pollock
October 2022 – Economic and Market Update
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A strong dollar is making foreign travel cheap and exports expensive. This will likely continue to weaken our economy by exacerbating the current trade deficit. Housing is expensive and the real estate market is slowing down. Our current investment thesis is a focus on domestic value equities and high quality short-duration fixed income…
Read MoreProjected career earnings for college graduates
Pick a major wisely, because estimated career earnings vary widely. A degree is an investment for the future. While future earnings should not be the primary motivator in choosing a field of study, they should help inform how much you plan to spend in obtaining that degree. Check out our various resources on planning for…
Read MoreYour kids’ college: How much will it cost?
In financial planning, people love to ask what their “number” is for retirement. One of the most frequently asked questions is: How much do I need to have in order to retire? A lesser-asked question is: How much do I need to save to pay for my kids’ college? This is a complicated question for…
Read MoreJuly 2022 – Economic and Market Update
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY It will likely be months before a recession is officially called, but it is certainly feeling like data coming out of the 2nd quarter will not provide much solace. Economic indicators are divergent with both encouraging and discouraging data points. Remember that missing the best days in the market is a recipe for…
Read MoreSaving for college: Start here
When it comes to building a financial plan, our goal is to help you achieve your goals. Often, clients want to help their children pay for college. And while we love helping families work toward this goal, we’ve also noticed a number of misconceptions around how college fits into a broader financial plan. In this…
Read MoreCongratulations to Jessica Folsom on her CPA Certification
SAN DIEGO – Reason Financial is committed to the development, training, and support of our entire team in the financial services industry. It gives us enormous pleasure to congratulate one of our star employees, Jessica, on obtaining her CPA certification in Q1 2021. Jessica worked incredibly hard to accomplish this achievement – she obtained her Master’s in…
Read MoreHow the Fed impacts rates
We get a lot of questions about the role of the Federal Reserve in interest rates. These questions range in specificity and are often influenced by the high volume of headlines speculating about what the Fed will do next or analyzing its role in the stock market and economy. With the Central Bank forecasting a…
Read MoreApril 2022 – Economic and Market Update
Executive Summary What a year so far. It has been up and down, with mostly downs. The market bears are out in full force and the headwinds feel like a windstorm not a breeze. The only positive performing asset class to date is commodities, with all other major asset classes posting losses. The big news…
Read MorePandemic Pet Boom
This Chartr graphic stacks two line charts from July 2019 through April 2022. The top panel shows relative U.S. Google search interest for “puppies for sale” (0 to 100). Interest jumps when the pandemic hits in March 2020, reaches the scale maximum soon after, spikes again in early 2021, then drifts back down. The bottom…
Read MoreQuick Take on Russia-Ukraine
The situation between Russia and Ukraine is evolving rapidly. After gathering on the border with Ukraine, Russia has now started a broader invasion of the country. Initially Russian troops moved into disputed areas in the Donbas region, but Russian strikes in other parts of Ukraine are now underway. In addition to the obvious humanitarian concerns,…
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