Insights, Advice & a Whole Lot More
Elf
To follow up on Nathan’s post from last week, I hate the Elf on a Shelf. Ours arrived a few years back and was especially clever, hanging paper snowflakes in the kids rooms, staging elaborate battles with other stuffed animals, and making snow angels out of flour…now, ages later,
Sarah YakelDec 17, 2019
US Labor & Elf on the Shelf
Both hard at work! Anyone with Santa-believing-aged children is likely familiar with Elf on the Shelf™. It’s yet another invention that I’m mad about not thinking of first! If you are not familiar, the elf is simply a small elfin-looking doll dressed in a Santa outfit. The short
Nathan GilbertDec 10, 2019Harvest time is not over yet!
Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, and we’ve crossed the mark of December 1st, it is the official Christmas season now. We went this weekend to cut down our tree, the house is decorated, and the first Christmas party has come and gone… BUT, at Meridian, we are still in the middl
Sarah YakelDec 3, 2019
Your Investment Time Horizon is Longer Than You Think
Recently, my wife’s grandmother (my grandmother-in-law?), affectionately known as Ging, celebrated her 94th birthday. While she has had some medical complications along her journey, her quality of life has mostly been very good if not excellent. She is certainly lucky to have a l
Nathan GilbertNov 26, 2019Best of…
37 days until Christmas. Holiday decorations are starting to creep through our neighborhood—the stores are decked out with full Christmas regalia and sale signage—and our calendar is starting to fill with kids Christmas concerts and parties. Although I will allow a little Christm
Sarah YakelNov 19, 2019
Smart vs. Dumb
News flash: Predicting when markets go up or down can be almost impossible. Some people can get it right some of the time, but no one can get it right all the time. We’ve shown plenty of evidence of this in many of our blog posts, but I reacquainted myself with an interesting cha
Nathan GilbertNov 12, 2019Growing Up – and growing old
At Meridian, we just did our annual family pictures—and we are again shocked at how big our kids are getting—they just keep growing up! Speaking of growing up…our US expansion just keeps growing older too! It is now the longest US economic expansion on record: Janet Yellen famous
Sarah YakelNov 5, 2019Children & Money
As a parent and investment manager/planner, I want to teach my children good money habits. It can be relatively straightforward to teach them what to do, but actually setting up accounts for children, it can be difficult and confusing. Probably the most talked about account type
Nathan GilbertOct 29, 2019Lost Things
At our house, “Have you seen my _{insert lost thing} ?” is a common refrain. This morning, I couldn’t find the carpet cleaner (that I had just used last week on a different pet incident), Ben couldn’t find the belt for his school uniform, and Ethan couldn’t find his History boo
Sarah YakelOct 22, 2019
Fund Flows & Huge Cucumbers
Recently, there have been record outflows from equity funds and record inflows into bond funds. This is likely due to the negative sentiment around the current market environment. As we continue to enjoy the longest bull market in history, many investors feel that it can’t last a
Nathan GilbertOct 15, 2019Report Cards
With over a month of school behind us, grades are starting to come in for Yakel kids—for the most part, it’s all good news. Everyone’s doing ok for first quarter—except Melanie…she’s working on pulling up her C in PE!! Apparently, the new PE teacher at school is a little more str
Nathan GilbertOct 8, 2019
Risk vs. Return (or Cute vs. Stinky)
As investment managers, we are constantly trying to walk the line between risk and return. And, more importantly, we are trying to find the right mix for our clients’ particular situation. Typically, the more risk you take, the more return you can expect over time. It’s a fairly
Nathan GilbertOct 1, 2019