How Much Umbrella Insurance Do You Really Need?
Last week we mapped out the seven pillars of wealth preservation, the layered defense built to keep your assets where they belong: with your family. This week we turn to your first line of defense, personal umbrella insurance. Ask a standard property and casualty broker how much coverage you need and you will usually hear […]
Week of June 28, 2026 – Weekly Economic Commentary
As the US looks forward to a week of celebrations of the 250th Anniversary of its founding, it also takes a step into the second half of an extremely tumultuous and consequential year. “Resilience” is the term that keeps coming up in every economic conversation, but to focus on resilience is to potentially ignore the […]
Hawkish Warsh and Declining Oil Prices Impact Risk Markets
Executive Summary Major U.S. stock indexes ended the volatile week higher as cautious optimism around a possible U.S.-Iran agreement, declining oil prices, and continued broadening beyond large-cap technology shares helped offset mixed inflation data and volatility in artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks. Small-cap equities led the advance, with the Russell 2000 Index rising 3.9%, while the […]
The New Question Wealthy Families Are Asking
A significant amount of new wealth has been created over the last few years, and that trend is likely to continue. Some of it will come from business sales, some from stock compensation, and some from liquidity events that transform years of accumulated paper wealth into real wealth. When that happens, most families instinctively focus […]
Week of June 21, 2026 – Weekly Economic Commentary
Note: It is with great sadness we learn this week of the death of Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. His tenure as Chairman was not without controversy and his policies were judged, in hindsight, to be one of the significant contributors to the Great Financial Crisis of 2008-2009. However, […]
Is Social Security Running Out?
Social Security’s trustees moved up their projection again this year: the trust fund that pays retirement benefits is now expected to run dry in late 2032, a full year earlier than last year’s estimate. On a combined basis with the disability fund, insolvency arrives in 2034. This sounds like a countdown to zero, but it isn’t. Here is […]
Markets Target Escape Velocity: SpaceX IPO, Middle Eastern Deal, Fundamentals
Executive Summary The initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX was the largest IPO on record and traded up after its initial pricing per share. Broadly speaking, investors are navigating a market shaped by various forces. Geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and uneven consumer resilience are complicating the economic outlook. At the same time, artificial intelligence capex spending continues to support growth, though uncertain […]
Week of June 14, 2026 – Weekly Economic Commentary
The intersection of a possibly seminal Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) interest rate meeting this week with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to end the US conflict with Iran and open up the Strait of Hormuz is a good time to remind ourselves that the dual mandate of the Federal Reserve includes a commitment […]
IPO Markets Fighting Forces For Escape Velocity: Inflation, Rates, Labor and AI
Executive Summary Last month, the market faced a test, and it passed, at least on the scoreboard. There was a mid-month hawkish shock: back-to-back hot inflation prints sent the 30-year above 5% and put a Fed rate hike back on the table. Stocks flinched but quickly recovered as oil fell more than -13%, easing the […]
Inheritance: Preserving Both Wealth and Ambition
Wealth carries a quiet paradox. The inheritance meant to open every door can just as easily close the one that matters most – the drive to build something of your own. Parents and grandparents often worry that an unearned windfall will leave their children and grandchildren with less drive. Warren Buffett framed the goal as […]
Week of June 07, 2026 – Weekly Economic Commentary
US job growth in May was unexpectedly strong. Although the Federal Reserve says it continues to worry about the downside on US labor markets, it’s the upside on inflation commanding all the attention. More specifically, consumer inflation expectations are the concern. The impact of the Strait of Hormuz closure and global tariffs may be transitory (a now […]
Week of May 31, 2026 – Weekly Economic Commentary
Confidence in the durability of US labor markets seems to be rising, despite the extreme anxiety in many quarters over the role of artificial intelligence. Recent speeches by Federal Reserve Board members and Federal Reserve Bank Presidents have indicated that the emerging role of AI is undeniable but its near term effect on both jobs and productivity […]