Tag: personal finance

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Should I Buy A New Car?

For several years, I’ve been thinking about buying a car. This is a big deal for me, because I have owned exactly one vehicle in my life, a 2004 Ford Ranger. He’s my buddy. I feel bad about looking for a new one, but it’s time (or so I thought). One consequence of my vehicle loyalty is that I haven’t given any thought to buying a car since long before I was interested in financial planning.

It’s pretty confusing! So I want to share my thought process here to illustrate 1) a way to think about buying cars, and 2) how the economics of car ownership can be an example of how we can use a financial modeling approach to simplify other complicated decisions.

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Seven Layers of Investor Protection at Luther Wealth

Investor protection is probably the #1 thing I spend time thinking about at Luther Wealth. As an independent financial adviser, it can be tough for a prospective client to trust that I will safeguard their savings. Although I’m constantly looking to improve, I am very proud of the level of security I can offer my clients.

  • Diversification
  • Liquidity
  • Separating Custody from Advisory Services
  • Financial Health of My Custodian Brokerage
  • Segregation of Client Assets
  • SIPC
  • Insurance in Excess of SIPC Coverage
purple bank vault door
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Please Don’t Buy Penny Stocks

I can’t think of a worse investment than penny stocks. Maybe a Ponzi Scheme is worse? Debatable.

Penny stocks seem to be gaining popularity as a water cooler investment. They are esoteric. They seem to require a lot of research. Similar to cannabis stocks, crypto, and Gamestop, they are fun to talk about.

Piggy banks with spilled pennies
Putting pennies in cute piggy banks. A way better investment than penny stocks.
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Personal Finance Basics

The past 50 years have seen incredible advances in investment accessibility for average Americans. With the development of simple indexed mutual funds in the 1970s, average investors gained access to the equity and bond markets that had traditionally only been open to wealthy families and institutions. Further innovations such as ETFs, retirement savings vehicles, and online banking opened the gates even wider. Today, average investors by and large play on a level field with even the wealthiest among us. Yet, because of poor personal finance management, many middle and working class families are missing out on their full retirement potential.

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