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You Can’t Win if You Don’t Play
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership There’s a saying in sports that you can’t win if you don’t play. This has never applied to entire leagues before, but it does now, and it sets an example for the whole country. In the last month we’ve seen professional baseball, basketball, and hockey wrap up their 2020 seasons. It’s…
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Beware Simplistic Narratives for Complex Problems
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership Over the course of the campaign season I heard many negative political narratives. One side caused the problem, and once “we’re in charge” we’ll implement this obvious solution to make everything better. The narratives make sense, but oftentimes the issues at hand aren’t actually so simple, and imagining that they are…
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Are You Investing Enough for Retirement?
Investment December 17, 2021/Investment Some people intend to work until they die. Everybody else had better be preparing for retirement. Unfortunately, many American households aren’t saving enough. Depending on how you slice the data, the average household might have as little as a few thousand dollars set aside. That’s not nearly enough to provide a…
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Look Past the Doom and Gloom
Investment December 17, 2021/Investment There’s an old saying that economists have predicted nine of the last five recessions. Downturns are inevitable, but when it comes to the US economy, the pessimists are usually wrong. These days it’s particularly easy to get caught up in all the negativity. A pandemic has killed many Americans, millions are…
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Ant Group is Driving Very Interesting Financial Innovations
Financial December 17, 2021/Financial The fintech giant Ant Group is headed for one of the biggest IPOs of all time. This isn’t just a big deal for Wall Street, it’s also a big deal for main street. Because credit card adoption is low in Asia, consumers needed a way to handle online payments, and Ant…
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Vaccine Investments Will Have Significant RoI for America
Investment December 16, 2021/Investment There has been a lot of debate recently about how much money should be spent upfront investing in vaccine options to fight the virus, how to spend it, and who should pay. In my opinion, the business case is pretty cut-and-dry. So far, the federal government alone has committed ~$10 billion…
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What Do You Mean By “The Economy”?
Financial December 16, 2021/Financial There’s a lot of doom and gloom in today’s headlines. Sensationalized business reporting is leading many people to overly simplistic views about the state of the economy. The pandemic is taking a big toll on many businesses, but talking holistically misses a huge amount of nuance. As an experienced investor,…
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Short Sellers Only Profit From Others’ Pain?
Investment December 16, 2021/Investment In a time when people are suffering, there’s something uncomfortable about people who win when the markets lose. But even if profit from others’ failure is distasteful, contrarian investors play a vital role. Take the German fintech darling Wirecard. Until just a few weeks ago, Wirecard was hailed as a…
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Are You An Investor, Or Gambler?
Investment December 16, 2021/Investment There’s an old saying in poker. Look around the table. If you haven’t figured out who the patsy is within 5 minutes, you’re the patsy. In recent months, there has been a surge in amateur day traders. Robinhood is the most well known of several easy-to-use trading platforms that are seeing…
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What To Do When Interest Rates Are Extremely Low?
Investment December 16, 2021/Investment Mixed economic indicators and volatile markets lead many to tread lightly in making investment decisions. These conditions also create great opportunities for skilled, niche investors like Alliance. The headline indicator recently has been interest rates, and those are now at historic lows. Low rates mean borrowers can borrow more cheaply,…
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How Healthy is Our Economy Really?
Financial December 16, 2021/Financial Are we heading towards a great depression or a great recovery? Your views are probably influenced by where you live and how you get your news. Real, objective metrics on the health of the economy today do exist. But turning this data into a projection of where things are headed…
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Yes, You Should Take a Vacation
Lifestyle December 16, 2021/Lifestyle Summer travel plans have been upended, but that doesn’t mean you should stay home. I believe that in these stressful times, it’s more important than ever to get away. Many people want to avoid air travel right now, and overseas trips are off the menu. While these traditional “exciting” trips are…
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The Pandemic Is Pushing Business Schools To The Ledge
Financial December 16, 2021/Financial Warren Buffet once said that only when the tide goes out do you find out who has been swimming naked. The downturn is here, and business schools look very exposed. The value proposition for business schools was already looking shaky. Students often pay $200K+ while taking 2 years out of…
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No, We’re Not Out of the Woods Yet
Leadership December 16, 2021/Leadership Communities across America are re-opening for business. This is great, but we still need to be smart. Months of quarantines and lockdowns have served a great purpose. We’ve learned a lot about this virus, how it spreads, who is at risk, and how to contain it. And most people would agree,…
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For Real Estate (And Politics), You Need To Think Local
Leadership December 16, 2021/Leadership The coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protesting are two major challenges that America faces. This is a moment in history that will be written about for years to come. There are still many chapters left to be written on how America rose to the challenge. It’s natural to pontificate on ‘how to…
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