Voices

There’s a phrase you’ll run into sometimes: “things happen."  I believe the phrase doesn’t start with, “things," but whatever the phrase usually starts with…you get my meaning. So, what do you do when “things” happen and you have...

We had a rare weekend free of obligations last week. With nothing holding us down, my wife Tracy, 12-year-old Ethan and I headed up to Southwest Michigan to enjoy the day bumming around and searching out some locally made snacks to have on hand for...

I serve my clients as their fiduciary. Serving in that capacity requires me to identify, manage and mitigate situations where my firm’s business practices may conflict with the best interests of my clients. In situations where sufficient mitigation...

My oldest daughter was married about five years ago. Like all brides, she put thousands of hours into her wedding plans, including creating a 19-page instruction manual complete by listing the time I was supposed to be in bed the night before the...

I’ve been getting daily questions lately about I-Bonds. The current economic environment has obviously thrown these financial products into the forefront. First, while it seems like consulting with a banker or financial adviser to learn about these...

One of the best things about talking to people about money, markets and the economy every day is I get to stay on the leading edge of the worries and concerns permeating our collective experience as Americans. In the age of the internet, it’s not...

When I was in my early teens I went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago with my Uncle Oz (Oscar Lubke).  As a former NFL player and All-American in college he stood at 6’4” tall with very broad shoulders, he was an executive for...

I see a lot of things on my daily drive to and from Warsaw. I've been pushed off the road by semis, I've seen accidents, I've hit a deer, at one point my sister-in-law and I saw a man with an aluminum foil hat... it's been a journey. This morning...

We’ve had an interesting couple weeks in the world of finance and economics. Based on recent news and headlines, it’s clear to me at this point that finance itself is being used in radical new ways, some of them embraced and accepted, some of...

Effective leadership usually falls somewhere in a spectrum between the influence leader and the accountability leader.  The influence leader is one who will convince people to march with them. They excerpt control by getting people to do it with...