Author: Peter Lazaroff

These days, holding a college diploma is table stakes to qualify for a decent job. Because more people than ever attend a four-year college and that degree is the minimum qualification for many positions, we’ve also seen a spike in students who continue their education to pursue a graduate degree. Read more…

For most of your life, preparing for retirement probably wasn’t a high priority. But as the years count down on your career, nerves set in and rhetorical questions start flooding your head: Have I saved enough? Did I invest too aggressively? Do I have the right kind of insurance? Read more…

The current impact that the global coronavirus pandemic has had on our daily lives is obvious. This event has touched every one of us in various ways, but you may feel particularly affected if you were thinking about retiring in the near future. You may wonder how the fallout and long-term Read more…

A growing number of investors are interested in Environmental, Social and Governance investing, known as ESG. That term is becoming more common, but ESG still means different things to different people. Read more…

In late 2017, I was tasked with building Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) portfolios for Plancorp. To be honest, I was initially less than thrilled; my past experiences with these types of portfolios were not necessarily positive. Read more…

As people across the globe are being told to stay put in their homes, it’s not surprising to see some companies suffering more than others. Our normal routines are turned upside down, and so are our normal consumer spending habits. Read more…

We are facing risks unlike any we’ve dealt with in our lifetimes. Being told you’re in danger triggers all your evolutionary defense mechanisms intended to keep you safe. Unfortunately, none of these instinctive reactions are useful in the arena of long-term investing. Read more…

A partial Roth conversion is one of my favorite tools to help clients manage their retirement income taxes, so I get frustrated when I see that tool used in the wrong way. Read more…

New ideas are always difficult to accept at first. This is never more true than when those new concepts conflict with our existing beliefs. Read more…

On October 7th, Charles Schwab started offering commission-free trading. TD Ameritrade nearly fell over themselves to follow suit and match their competitor, but neither brokerage was the first to make this offer to their customers. Vanguard, J.P. Morgan, and Interactive Brokers all beat them to Read more…