Blog

A Financial Advisor’s Point of View: What & When to Teach your Kid’s about Money

As every father or mother knows, being a parent can be challenging. There are so many important aspects in life you need to share so that your child is ready to leave “the nest” and become a self-sufficient adult. Some of those lessons revolve around money. I would describe the core money lessons in three categories: budgeting, investing, and developing a healthy attitude to money/values. While countless books have been written on this subject, I will break it down into about 500 words.

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5 Things to Consider when Buying Luxury Real Estate

Published in the Baltimore Business Journal on October 21, 2019

While there are some readers of this column who can afford a two, three, or four-plus million-dollar home, most of us only get to dream about living in a massive estate by viewing pictures of Cal Ripken’s old home in the BBJ, watching Selling Sunset on Netflix, or finding reruns of MTV’s Cribs. If you are considering a luxury home purchase, as a discerning buyer, you should contemplate many important points. 

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What working in the restaurant business taught me about life

Published in the Baltimore Business Journal on Jun 13, 2019

How can teens today learn about grit, a hard work ethic, and staying calm under pressure – key attributes of any successful business person? My answer would be for all teenagers to work in the restaurant business as a busboy/girl or as a waiter/waitress. 

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Investing in Technology Stocks

If you have been investing for at least twenty years, you have seen both the good and bad times for technology stocks. The late nineties may even be considered legendary. Technology stocks rose to epic proportions and anyone that could throw a dart could pick a winner. Everyone felt like they should become full-time day traders.

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Commercial Real Estate Investments

When most investors think about investing in real estate, residential real estate is the natural thought that comes to mind first. On the other hand, commercial real estate which includes the ownership or partial ownership of the office properties people work in, the retail properties people shop in, industrial buildings where products are manufactured and the hotels people stay in when they travel has become a more common investment in investors’ portfolios.

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What We Can Learn from the World’s Largest Bankruptcies?

Originally published in the Baltimore Business Journal on March 8, 2018

The first decade of the twenty-first century was the backdrop to some of the largest bankruptcies the world has ever seen, affecting banks, insurance companies, utility companies, and retailers. No business is immune to the threat of bankruptcy; even countries, such as Argentina, have defaulted on their debt.

Despite the different industries affected, the issues that led to bankruptcy were often similar.

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Should You Sell or Rent Out Your Home - Nine Considerations for Homeowners

You’ve decided to move. Your next thought might be: “Is it smarter to sell or rent out my home?” Owning a rental property can prove to be a savvy financial move. Who doesn’t want a steady source of income while building equity in an appreciating property?!

But before you decide you want to be a landlord, here are some questions to ask yourself.

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Retirement Planning: Can Alternative Investments Help You Weather Volatile Markets?

When planning for retirement, you have to balance taking too much risk and too little risk with your investments. Being too conservative creates the potential risk of outliving your savings or losing purchasing power due to inflation, and, at the same time, you can’t take too much risk, since once you’re retired, there’s no easy way to make back large losses.

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4 Points to Consider When Selecting a Health Insurance Plan

You know the old saying, “The only things you can be sure of in this life are death and taxes.” Well, we think that should be revised to, “The only things you can be sure of in this life are death, taxes, and rising health care costs …”

As health care costs continue to increase, choosing the right health insurance plan for you and your family is more important than ever. And due to how complicated the health care world has gotten, oftentimes, choosing the right plan can feel like navigating a minefield. 

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Risks and Rewards: Investing in Venture Capital

Originally posted in the Baltimore Business Journal on February 1, 2019

Venture capital (VC) is one of the best-known alternative investment classes. Whether we are ordering an Uber, staying in an Airbnb, riding a Peloton bike, or eating an Impossible Burger, venture-backed companies are part of our everyday life. But, for every unicorn (venture terminology for a company valued at more than $1 billion), there are scores of companies that we never hear about due to the high rate of start-up failures.

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