For years now, there has been a war in the investment industry, driving down fees as fund companies compete for business. At first glance, lower fees may seem like the answer to investors’ prayers. After all, keeping costs as low as possible is an important pillar to maximizing one’s invested wealth, as it is one of the few things you can control in an uncertain market. While our firm’s investment thesis agrees with this idea, we constantly remind ourselves and our clients that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

The age when you leave the workforce is one of the most vital factors that determine how much money you will have available in retirement. Working longer can be a good way to improve retirement security. After all, working longer not only provides more years to earn and save, it results in fewer years to rely on retirement savings. Many Americans seem to have gotten that message. According to the Center for Retirement Research, the share of workers reporting that they expect to work past age 65 rose from 16 percent in 1991 to 48 percent in 2018. However, their research also indicates that over a third of workers involuntarily retired earlier than anticipated.

Nervous yet? I can't imagine why not. After all, aren't we living in the age of the "everything bubble?" Real estate, stock prices, crypto-currencies, credit, you name it, valuations seemingly lurch from one peak to the next...and each peak ratchets the altimeter up to a level never before seen. Like poor Daedalus escaping the bonds of captivity while watching his reckless son Icarus soar higher and closer to the sun, investors yearn for the rewards of flight and are simultaneously scared witless whenever they glance down.

It’s long been said that home ownership is the escalator to wealth in this country. But with residential home prices continuing to advance well beyond the high water mark set prior to the Great Recession, both existing homeowners and prospective new home buyers may be starting to wonder if the escalator more closely resembles the stairway to heaven they're hoping for, or the conveyor belt to oblivion they fear.  I wanted to know too.

 "I would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar." -- Andrew Carnegie

Let's blame it on parental DNA. Somewhere deep in the marrow of our bones, many of us believe it is an act of love, generosity--or pursuit of forgiveness--to leave our children an inheritance. Sometimes we even convince ourselves that the more money we leave, the greater our act of love! However, is it possible the assumption that our kids will benefit from, and appreciate, our gift is flawed? Could it be that leaving money to our children after we die is a zero-sum game? Said another way, is it possible that for everything we give our children, we take something else away?

In 2018, Zillow released a report estimating that nearly one third of college graduates will move back home with their parents. For some parents, that outcome is a dream come true. For others, it’s a nightmare. Regardless of how you feel emotionally, it’s important to understand the financial impact of indefinitely supporting children after graduation day.

How can this increase in aid towards children be explained? The sudden expansion in support for adult children is usually linked to rising education expenses, increasing housing costs, stagnant wage growth and numerous additional factors.

2019 is shaping up to be a big year for tech company initial public offerings (IPOs). Uber, Pinterest, Airbnb, and Slack are looking to follow in the footsteps of Lyft which was first to the party in April. These unicorns - privately-funded startups with a market value of at least $1 billion - are just a few examples that are making headlines for the large windfalls early investors are expecting to receive as a result.

Naming beneficiaries to retirement accounts is a seemingly simple task, yet it’s quite often misunderstood, especially when it includes a trust. For many individuals, retirement accounts represent the majority of their assets. Therefore, getting this piece of estate planning right is crucial and should not be overlooked.

In the spirit of women’s history month, let’s talk about the future of women. In the past few weeks, two of my colleagues blogged about financial issues affecting women today. The pay gap, advancement gap, investment gap, time out of the workforce, and extra longevity risk are some of the unique headwinds that make it harder for women to attain financial security. As we learn about challenges women face, we are all left with the question of what to do about them. If you don't identify as someone who could be facing these unique challenges, you might be wondering what any of this has to do with you or, perhaps you’re eager to learn how you can help the women in your life get ahead and take control of their future.