The gift giving season is rapidly approaching. May I suggest a thoughtful gift that will cost you very little money but could be a great benefit to your spouse and/or children at an important time in life? I am referring to a comprehensive inventory of your financial assets, legal documents, and other important papers. Here are the things you might include: Bank, Savings & Loan, Credit Union accounts: account numbers,… Read More
Invest in a Stranger
Steve Hartman’s “On the Road” reports on the CBS Evening News tend to bring tears to my eyes. These human interest stories are meant to add a pretty bookend to the news of misery, injustice and suffering just reported in the prior 20 minutes. The sugar that helps the medicine go down. On February 28, 2014, Steve met up with Myles Eckert. His interview with the then 8-year old boy… Read More
“Who We Are” Blog Series – Planning and Service
In this fourth and final article in our “Who We Are” Blog Series, I will address our philosophy as it relates to financial planning and client service. There are three key philosophies that shape our planning and services to our clients: the client is the center of what we do, wise financial decisions come from understanding and applying fundamental financial principles, and financial products are only tools to implement broader… Read More
“Who We Are” Blog Series – Investing Philosophy
As we continue in our “Who We Are” blog series, we turn to the core of our business: investing and managing money for our clients. Recently, our Investment Review Committee (IRC) has worked to clarify our investing philosophy. We have been wrestling with the academic research available to us, the strategies we have employed in the past, and how those two things affect the advice we give our clients. We… Read More
“Who We Are” Blog Series – A True Team Practice
At the inception of Master’s in 1994, the founding partners endeavored to create a team practice. In this environment, we wanted clients to experience the benefits of working with a diverse team of financial professionals. In 2000, we made the business transition to a “true team practice.” At that time, we dissolved each advisor’s “book of business,” or personal clients, and all clients became clients of the firm. Also, at… Read More
“Who We Are” Blog Series – Branding and Messaging
During the last year and a half we have enjoyed communicating with you through our blog, and we have given you our perspectives on various topics. Over the next few weeks, we will be using a consistent theme in our posts: Who We Are. This blog series will focus on Master’s Advisors’ foundational principles as well as some insight on our beliefs regarding some of the current topics of the… Read More
The Farmhand
“A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the old farmer asked for his qualifications, he replied with confidence “I can sleep when the wind blows.” The statement puzzled the farmer, but he liked the young man nevertheless and hired him. A few days later, the old farmer and his wife were rudely awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things… Read More
Being “On Time”
I hate being early. Whether that is to pick someone up from the airport or to arrive at a party, I do not enjoy the attention that being early brings or the time I feel it “wastes.” I also hate being late. Being late adds a serious amount of stress in the journey to my destination and greatly increases my chances of receiving a ticket for a traffic violation. It… Read More
Why Take the Risk?
In one way or another, I believe we all strive for comfort even if that is as simple as getting out of the heat and humidity on a hot summer day into a climate controlled house or office. Generally, we seek to avoid pain and discomfort. Sometimes we will go to great effort to avoid an experience that we believe will be painful. Recently, I have been asking myself if… Read More
The Tale of the Wooden Bowl
A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight blurred, and his step faltered. During the nightly family dinner together, the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he tried to grasp the glass, milk spilled onto the tablecloth. The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the… Read More
