Not Just Numbers: Honest Conversations with a Financial Advisor (and Lawyer!)

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In this episode Mike and Maddie discuss how Yardley Wealth Management decides which asset allocations make sense for clients, which mutual funds or ETFs to use, when we change funds, and when we re-balance. While we use 3rd party software (Fi360 and Tamarac) to help with our decision-making, it is mature, rational financial advisors who make those decisions, not a computer algorithm. We also discuss whether it is worth paying a premium to invest like an accredited investor by buying Venture Capital, Private Equity, Hedge Funds, Non-Traded REITS, and BDCs.

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In this episode, Mike and Maddie talk about how we invest money for our clients with mutual funds and ETFs at Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade, including why we prefer funds to individual stocks. Then we talk about all the money people are giving up by keeping their savings in low yield accounts at mega banks like Wells Fargo. Mike goes on about the credit union he uses and loves (Police & Fire Federal Credit Union or PFFCU for short) and says as long as the bank or credit union account insured, moving from a low paying one to a high yielding one is free money. And we all like free money.

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In this episode, Mike and Maddie discuss how we work with clients, how Mike stays current with the financial and legal landscapes, and how clients should take appropriate risks. That means for different goals they should often do different things with their money. We go over a story from the New York Times where a guy lost a lot of money not realizing the amount of risk he was really taking.


Link to NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/05/business/cryptocurrency-investors-ftx-blockfi.html

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In this episode, Mike and Maddie discuss our process for onboarding new clients, a little about the financial planning process and the 60/40 portfolio. In a podcast and an article, the Wall Street Journal said a lot about the 60/40 portfolio that Mike and Maddie take issue with. Short story: its not bulletproof or dead, its an asset allocation that can make a lot of sense for many people.

Link to article:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/investment-retirement-stocks-bonds-market-11668015638

 Link to podcast:  https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal/a-historically-bad-year-to-retire/338a8c8d-a905-4804-bc2e-1b07b67cd0cc

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In this episode, Mike and Maddie discuss the purpose for the podcast, give an intro to our fee-only firm, and discuss how to handle things when a loved one dies and you have never handled the family's money. 
Spoiler alert: we discuss the "F" word, yes fiduciary