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The recent market volatility continued in February with an initial sharp decline to a low on February 11 followed by a second-half of the month recovery for most major stock indexes.  The net effect of the wild ride was that the S&P 500 ended the month just slightly lower for its third straight monthly decline, though not nearly of the magnitude of the sharp selloffs in December and January.

After a volatile six month period for the market, investors may be a little concerned and surprised by the daily ups and downs. After all, bear markets have been in hibernation since 2009 and volatility has been low since the 2011 U.S. budget crisis. Now that bear markets have emerged in many parts of the world and U.S.

In my home office, I have a bankers box that has financial documents that have accumulated over the last 20 years.  The box includes tax returns from the 1990s, sales invoice and loan documents for my first car, and a savings bond purchased by my mother-in-law for my daughter. Like the service we provide to clients, I have scanned, saved, and organized the important financial informat

When I look at the investment landscape, it just seems to me that most investment alternatives are quite expensive by historical standards. This is what happens when we have a relatively long period of rising prices as we’ve seen since the depths of the Great Recession in March of 2009. The question is – “how do we invest when assets are expensive?”

Many people have aspirations of retiring while still in their 50’s. The idea of being able to relax and do what you want at a relatively early age after decades of working can be heartening. However wonderful retiring early may sound, there are several things that must be considered.

Health Care

Once again I find my attention drawn to the Federal Reserve and the impact of this greatest monetary experiment in history. Back in the late 1970s, while majoring in economics at Stanford, I took a quarter of directed learning with a professor on the topic of “Money and Banking”. I’m not sure exactly why, at age 21, I found the topic interesting enough to pursue in depth.

Sadly one of the co-authors of The Millionaire Next Door was killed in an automobile accident this last March. While most people probably are not familiar with the name Thomas Stanley, millions have read the book he co-wrote with William Danko in 1996.

Brief and to the Point

Darn, John’s article about time puts me on the spot to respect your time commitment in reading this article. I will attempt to be brief, but I will also use headings liberally to break out the different sections so you can jump to whatever interests you the most.

If you had to answer the question “What is your most valuable investment or asset class” what would you say? If you asked your friends and family, how would they respond? They may rattle off some hot stock they recently bought like Tesla, Apple, Facebook, or Netflix. You may respond that your career, company stock, or large U.S. stocks are the most valuable investments.

Last month I deviated a bit from my usual path in my articles to simply expound on what I’m watching and what I find interesting in the markets and economies around the world. While it was nice to get some positive feedback,it was strongly suggested that I shorten my comments but write more often.