Investing

SAVE and OnRAMP

On Friday, June 30th, a date which will live in infamy (at least with student loan borrowers), the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration's student debt forgiveness program was unconstitutional.  No sooner had the ink dried that the administration announced their plan B, a double whammy of the SAVE and On-Ramp programs.  These programs were aimed at helping citizens with outstanding student loans to finally pay off their loans or have a path toward student loan forgiveness after a series of payments.  The ambitious SAVE program will replace the current REPAYE program and will, by July 1st of 2024,...

The ABC’s of Student Loans

The phrase Student Loan Debt likely inspires dread in the minds of many struggling to repay years-old loans for an education that may or may not have been worth the cost.  While many view student loans and the mounting debt crisis with disdain, student loans have funded the education of millions in the past decades.  Since the 80s college tuition inflation has outpaced both actual inflation and salary escalation leading to increase borrowing to fund educational goals.  This led to the ballooning of student loan debt and the student debt crisis I’m sure you’re sick of living through. When borrowers find...

Bananas and Bank Runs

By now, you’ve likely heard about the bank run on the Silicon Valley Bank and the subsequent failure and bailout of that bank.  You may have also heard about the failure of an unrelated bank in New York, Signature Bank, and about the bailout of the depositors at these two institutions. As with anything in the world of business and finances, the complexities of the bank run, bailout, and expected fallout will be very complicated and by the time they’re fully understood, will likely be forgotten.  However, through the magic of AI, I came up with another solution to explain...

I-Bond

Have you heard the recent buzz of I-Bonds, but are left wondering what they are and if they're right for you? We've got you covered. The rise in popularity of I-Bonds raises a lot of questions: How much/many can I purchase? Individuals are limited to purchasing $10,000 of I-bonds annually, couples can each purchase $10,000 for a total of $20,000 annually.  Though individuals can only purchase $10,000 in bonds there are ample opportunities to increase the total value of bonds purchased.  Business’s, living trusts and children can purchase up to $10,000 each of I-bonds.  Additionally, taxpayers that expect to receive a refund can opt...

How We Use Actively Managed Funds in Our Portfolios

Part of our core investment philosophy is optimizing the risk/reward relationship within our portfolios. In the context of portfolio design, the risk/reward relationship we are referring to is that for each fund category, relative to its benchmark index. Broadly speaking, index funds follow rules-based management and are meant to replicate the volatility and performance of their respective index, with very little variation, and low expenses. As such, we use index funds as the baseline when evaluating other funds in that category. On the other hand, actively managed funds have more discretion in what the fund is investing in, as long as those...