I had a birthday during the week of the recent presidential election, so as an indulgence, I started writing this post to express my personal view on the election results. It was a bit of a whirlwind, with all but a handful of races decided within a day or two. Full disclosure: I voted for […]
Whatever you think about the discussion around economics and politics, it’s useful to have a framework for sorting things out. We’re expecting to hear more jargon on taxes and tax policy as the November election approaches. Below is a quick primer on some of the tax-related issues. TAXESWe all complain about them. But what is […]
I write a lot about women, and their roles – desired or expected – in economic life. I’m a big believer in each of us being able to use our gifts and talents to offer the best of ourselves to the world. Often, that offering is cut short, channeled into something smaller, or rejected entirely. […]
Advisors absolutely do not have a crystal ball, so this post isn’t going to tell you what hot stock to buy or whether Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will stay together. But there are a handful of themes that will play out over the course of the year, and those are important to understand. In […]
After two years of waiting, Washington has a new tax. Last week, the state Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of the new 7% tax on capital gains. At issue was whether it was an income tax or an excise tax. HOW THE NEW TAX APPLIES Before you panic, note that the new tax probably doesn’t […]
As we start the New Year, it’s hard not to feel like we are living in some kind of Groundhog’s Day hamster wheel, starting this year with so many elements of the last one. War in Europe, virus warnings, threats to democracy and the challenges of new technologies. We have experienced some major setbacks in […]
Around this time last year, inflation started to rear its ugly head in earnest. “Transitory” inflation was gaining traction. Over the next 12 months, prices jumped big time, and the Fed responded with interest rate hikes to slow the economy. We are seeing signs of the economy cooling: layoffs and some corporate downsizing, and mixed […]
Just as we have adjusted to everyday life with a global virus, and worked through waves of Delta, Omicron and BA2, BA4, BA5, our financial lives are beset with old fears about inflation, recession and financial market declines. We knew that we would not be able to just flip a switch and turn the post-pandemic […]
This month’s intended topic was taxes. We know that the best laid plans will hit one obstacle or another along the way. But having a plan – and sticking to it – is one of the best countermeasures to uncertainty. And so this week began with an escalating crisis in eastern Europe. With a 24-hour […]
Before we welcome the New Year, let’s take a quick look back at 2021. In my view it has been a terrible year. In addition to the ongoing and awful pandemic with all its associated economic difficulty, here in Washington state we had a disastrous roll-out of a badly-designed state long-term care plan (the WA […]