If you’re sitting on some cash that you don’t immediately need, it may be worthwhile to review options for socking it away. First off, you should always keep enough cash in case of an emergency or for a looming expense. This is called a cash reserve, and it’s generally suggested that you keep enough cash equal to 3 to 6 months of expenses on hand at all times. If you already have that accounted for, consider the following options for putting away your extra cash: High yield savings Short-term interest rates are set by the Federal Reserve and Chairman Jay Powell has announced a rate increase of .25% to 2.25%^1. One year ago it was 1.25%. Interest rates are rising. This allows banks to credit

Life insurance is more than just a strategy to provide for your kids should something happen to you; it's also a wealth accumulation tool. Generally, you should first consider life insurance if you have dependents who would suffer financially should something happen to you. Having said that, life insurance can provide tax-free accumulation of assets for the purpose of retirement income or fund an expense further down the road. There are two types of life insurances. Term, or temporary, life insurance only lasts for a fixed number of years, say 10 or 20. Premium remains fixed, is determined when you apply for this insurance, and is based on your age and health status. The other type of insura

A strong dollar combined with overly sensitive institutional investors, emerging markets weakened in 2018, down 16% year-to-date (YTD). If you are properly diversified, your portfolio will own likely a small, yet very noticeable holding in emerging market stocks. You may be the first to notice a lag in total portfolio performance as a result, while being witness to the continued growth-run of the S&P 500, up 8.79% YTD. Fear not, markets are victims of their own making. You will see a recovery in emerging markets. As long as you don’t need the money today, your time horizon should be long enough for you to hold out for a recovery. It does help, however, to understand the rationale of emerging

If you're in the market for a new home you may be wondering how you can afford it when prices seem to be out of control. San Francisco housing prices showed a 9% increase since this time last year, according to Zillow, and Palm Springs prices increased by 2.9%. Don't let this news completely disway you as you may have more resources than you think to buy into this market. Along with housing prices the stock market also increased in value significantly. The S&P 500 is up 16.7% since one year ago. You may have stocks that have participated in this market that could potentially be used as a down payment on a new house. If you sell your stocks this could be a taxable event so it's prudent to dis

The global battle over humanity’s 2nd most traded resource after oil, coffee, continues to heat up as Coca-Cola announced its bid to purchase huge, European coffee chain, Costa Coffee, for $5.05 billion. This comes a year after Nestle's purchase of Blue Bottle Coffee from San Francisco for $500 million^1. These two conglomerates, after Starbucks, now compete in the $80 billion coffee market. There's a lot I can say about coffee. Just about nothing makes me happier than being able to dip my croissant in a cappuccino laced in chocolate or cinnamon. The experience sets my mood for the day and allows for some work to get done in the moment. The coffee market knows this and now competition seem