In today’s polarized climate, politics is no longer confined to elections or legislation. It is also influencing how people invest. From rainbow logos during Pride Month to high-profile donations to advocacy groups, companies are increasingly taking public stances on controversial social issues. This trend, known as corporate sociopolitical activism (CSA), has grown rapidly in recent years, sparking consumer movements, shifts in brand loyalty, and as recent research shows, changes in investor behavior. But how exactly does CSA impact the average investor? Do personal political beliefs influence how we allocate capital? Researcher, Tim Sturr, and I published an experimental study in…

Last week, the start of the Trump administration’s tariffs sent many politicians, economists, and businesspeople into worry. Many markets took a beating. But that is the least of concerns. Even after the worst of tumbles, markets tend to spring back within a year or two. By at noon on Monday — roughly five days after the April 2 tariff announcement — the major indexes, although still down compared to Friday’s closing figures, were up from the greater depths at which they opened. (That is probably because market professionals typically buy at dips when less disciplined investors sell shares in a…

America ― and perhaps the entire world ― seems to be on the brink of another recession. This should not come as a particular surprise to anybody. An economic bubble was created by the combination of a flood of cheap money during the pandemic and then pent-up post-pandemic spending. This particular bubble seems to have been popped by the recent tariff wars. Busts come in cycles and the last true economic bust was in 2008 so we were overdue anyway. The purpose of this article is not, however, to examine how or why a recession arose but rather to talk…

When President Trump announced the size and scope of the new “Liberation Day” tariffs, I knew the markets wouldn’t take it well — but even I was surprised by just how fast and far everything dropped. Major indices are now down double digits, and the impact on individual companies has been brutal. There’s real fear out there — about trade wars, about a possible recession, and about what this means for our financial futures. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably been staring at your red portfolio, refreshing the news, and wondering “what should I be doing about this?” This…

President Donald Trump recently announced extensive reciprocal tariffs with a baseline 10% tariff on all goods from other countries, including up to a 54% duty on Chinese imports and 20% on goods from the European Union. These tariffs could affect everyday consumer goods such as coffee, cars, and even iPhones, raising concerns that prices could increase significantly. For example, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said that such trade measures could reignite inflationary pressures, noting that the central bank remains prepared to respond should price stability be threatened. As such, this article outlines tips and strategies on how you can…

As the Trump administration moves forward to create new rules that could significantly narrow eligibility for a popular federal student loan forgiveness program, millions of borrowers could wind up getting denied relief. Last week, the Department of Education announced that it was initiating a formal rulemaking process, in part to begin drafting regulations to put President Donald Trump’s recent executive order targeting Public Service Loan Forgiveness into effect. PSLF offers federal student loan forgiveness to borrowers who work for nonprofit or government employers for at least 10 years while making payments on their loans under qualifying plans. When Congress enacted…

Trump Student Loan Transfer: What Student Loan Borrowers Need To Know President Donald Trump has directed that the federal student loan program – a portfolio of roughly $1.6 trillion owed by 43 million borrowers – be shifted from the Education Department to the Small Business Administration. Announcing the move in the Oval Office, Trump said, “I’ve decided that the SBA… will handle all of the student loan portfolios… [out of] the Department of Education immediately”, adding that SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler and her team are “all set” and that the federal loan program will “be serviced much better than it…

As a financial advisor, I have set my eyes on thousands of portfolios—but none as compelling or meaningful as the one Dr. Meir Statman described to me. In our recent conversation to discuss his newest book, A Wealth of Well-Being, the behavioral finance professor at Santa Clara University referenced a portfolio not simply consisting of financial assets, but a portfolio of life. Like any good portfolio, it is purposefully diversified, but the asset classes are far broader than those we typically think of populating a 401(k) account. The portfolio of life consists of four types of capital: Financial Capital Social…

DOGE may be an acronym for the Department of Government Efficiency, but it is far from efficient in its plans to cut up to 25% of the IRS staff which include significant cuts to the staff of the IRS Criminal Investigations unit. The Criminal Investigation unit of the IRS plays an essential role in combating drug and human trafficking, terrorism, tax crimes, financial crimes and money laundering. Through the Criminal Investigation Unit’s Asset and Investigative Service, it seizes assets used by criminal enterprises and then sends those forfeited funds to the Treasury Forfeiture Fund which returns funds to crime victims,…

The latest jobs numbers were a surprise: 228,000 jobs instead of the expected 140,000. Unemployment went from 4.1% to 4.2%, but that’s deceptive as those are rounded; the actual unemployment rate was flat, going from 4.14% in February to 4.15% in March. What wasn’t surprising was where the new jobs came in and, more importantly for this discussion, where they didn’t. The biggest increases were in healthcare (54,000), social assistance (24,000), retail trade (24,000), and transportation and warehousing (23,000). Manufacturing, however, rose by roughly 1,000 month-over-month. February was up 8,000 over January, which in turn was down 7,000 compared to…