Happy 2019!

It is 100% true that the years fly by faster with time, and 2018 was no exception. I could never have imagined on New Year’s Day 2018, that I would be writing this blog by late July, as an advisor at Ritholtz Wealth Management. The first six months of the Belle Curve were amazing. Thank you for reading, commenting, subscribing, sharing, and pointing out my typos.

These were the most popular posts in 2018.

Life Insurance is Not for Saving – While I do not revel in slamming another’s livelihood, the misuses of permanent life insurance products are a black eye for financial services. This post touched a nerve, led to a reprint in InvestmentNews, and prompted several trolls to harass me online and call the office. Life insurance is too important to allow abusive sales practices to continue.

Gatekeepers – My ode to the failures of a local firefighters’ pension earned a link in the Financial Times. State and public pensions are a massive lurking problem, and I plan to learn and write more about them next year.

High Cost Education – I have several clients with children in high school and spent a lot of time on college planning this year. It is a topic more complicated than I ever imagined. While the sticker prices are astronomical, most families do not pay full boat.

One Million Dollars – I took some flack for saying that a million dollars is not a lot of money, but I’ve run too many financial projections where a million doesn’t work. If you are more than a decade from retirement and have a million, you are probably on track. But it all depends on your cost of living, and healthcare is a big chunk of retirement expenses.

The Allure of Private – The internet did not need another post slamming private equity, but you read it anyway. The problem that I and other advisors have with private equity is the expensive, low quality, crap that gets sold to our high net worth clients.

There is something cathartic about turning the page on a new year. Another finish line was crossed, and a new race begins. For me, life has gotten better with every year, and I can’t wait to knock it out of the park in 2019.

Happy New Year!

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