The Master’s Minute

Helpful Tools and Tips

The Master’s Minute – The Alignment Model | Generosity and Wealth Management Series 2025

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College student in front of her family, whose financial goals alignment allowed her to continue her education.

In last week’s blog post, Charlie introduced our summer blog series, entitled “Generosity and Wealth,” by discussing the joy and fulfillment that people can experience by living a life of generosity instead of a life of purely personal consumption.   In fact, judging by the daily deluge of marketing and advertising we all experience living in the twenty-first century, you would be forgiven for believing that personal consumption and instant… Read More

The Master’s Minute – The Wisdom of Generosity & Wealth Management

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A hand moves money generously across the table to a wealthy person.

We open today’s blog post with a fundamental “core values” question: Are you integrating generosity into your use of personal wealth?   As we begin to dig into the topic of Generosity and Wealth, I would like to share some observations gleaned from working with financial planning clients for the past 35 years.   Let’s review these observations together, as shown in the following formulas:  Wealth + Generosity = Contentment, Fulfillment, and… Read More

The Master’s Minute – Sector-Specific Performance & Outlook

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Pie-graph visually representing sector-specific performance for 2025

As we near the end of the second quarter, we felt it would be interesting to take a dive into the performance of various equity market sectors this year and give an outlook for the remainder of the year. We explore sector performance and weights for industries like Tech, Financials, and Energy, and discuss how to determine the most attractively valued for an investor’s portfolio. Enjoy! Returns & Valuations by… Read More

The Master’s Minute – Same Returns, Different Outcomes: Retirement Risk Awareness (Sequence of Returns)

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Retirees talking to their advisor about the sequence of returns risk

Bob and Alice are fictional retirees who will help us explore how market conditions can impact even the best planned retirements. Both retired after working hard and following careful saving strategies for their later years.   Both of them are values driven and both of them are investing in the same things. They even enter retirement with the same amount of money.   However, Bob is facing the results of… Read More

The Master’s Minute – 4 Strategies for Maximizing Tax-Advantaged Accounts

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Investors discuss maximizing tax advantaged accounts at a conference table

Maximizing tax-advantaged accounts means utilizing them to their fullest potential in your portfolio, and that starts with ensuring that you are aware of all your options. Today, investors are fortunate to have access to a wider variety of these tax-advantaged investment accounts than ever before. Once your financial goals are established and sufficient cash reserves are in place, funding these accounts is typically one of the first priorities in any… Read More

The Master’s Minute – What Are Wealth Advisors?

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Couple discussing what are wealth advisors with a professional.

A wealth advisor is your financial architect—someone who understands your vision, creates a personalized financial “blueprint,” and brings in the right professionals to help you build a strong financial structure.   Think of your financial life like building a custom home. You wouldn’t start pouring concrete or picking out countertops without a blueprint.   In today’s blog, we will clear up a few very common misconceptions about financial advisors, explain… Read More

The Master’s Minute – Regular Investment Analysis and You

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Couple with their financial advisor talking about investment analysis, smiling.

Your portfolio may seem to be running at peak efficiency, but how do you know for sure? Regular investment analysis is an essential piece of the puzzle. Personal financial planning, or business planning, will always be the primary focus of our relationship with you. Does that make our investment management unimportant? Certainly not! Perhaps you can think of it this way: financial planning is “the vehicle” that gets you where… Read More

The Master’s Minute – Understanding Market Corrections: A Normal and Necessary Part of Investing

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image of stock market ticker with red and green characters and the words "market correction" in white.

Between February 19 and March 13 of this year, the S&P 500 index declined by 10%. This was the first 10% pullback since August to October of 2023. When stock markets decline by 10% or more from their recent highs, especially when it has been nearly a year and a half since the last occurrence, many investors become anxious. However, these corrections are not only normal but also a healthy… Read More

The Master’s Minute – It’s Time for a Family Meeting!

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Older adults talk to their adult children during a family meeting regarding financial health.

Several weeks from now, Colleen and I will host our children and their spouses for our inaugural Family Financial Meeting. We feel it is the right time to start this valuable practice!   They are all in the 30-40 age bracket, making wise financial decisions, and living lives consistent with our faith and values. During this time together, we will share our financial story, talk about God’s faithfulness, and the… Read More

The Master’s Minute: Lemonade and Smart Money Management

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Glasses of lemonade sitting in the morning sun.

There is an old saying, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade!” The problem with that old adage? Making lemonade from lemons requires more ingredients than wishful thinking. Recently, Lyle wrote a blog post highlighting a client’s experience dealing with an unexpected job loss and how, through this stressful time, he ended up finding something more fulfilling. In the blog, Lyle wrote one sentence that stood out to me: “At… Read More