Blog
Complexity as a Way of Life
May brings the magnolias into bloom here in the Southeast. The complex process of time of year, diurnal time, soil composition and temperature, availability of food at the roots, sustainable leave and flower structure and the presence...
Read MoreWorking Together
Working Together Like a river rushing over a break in the terrain, our world now cascades over the precipice of change, change in the heart of civilization. Not for the first time has such change erupted across the deserts of the...
Read MoreEveryone Wins This Year’s Tax Lottery
Everyone Wins This Year’s Tax LotteryPlease see a summary of tax law changes made in 2025 here. So many changes, most of which are permanent.2026 Tax Planning Checklist (Client-Friendly)Retirement & IncomeRoth conversionsAdditional...
Read MoreWinter Reading - and throughout the year!
North Carolina has a bevy of brilliant authors. Please enjoy this list for 2026 from the monthly magazine, Our State: Devil Makes Three Ben Fountain The American Queen Vanessa Miller The Mad Wife Meagan Church The Sky Club Terry...
Read MoreHow the World Has Changed
How the World Has Changed In addition to the below images being reminiscent and funny, they are quite poignant!Eat wisely,Sleep wellLove With Abandon!
Read MoreShow All
Possibilities
Sharon, my wife and best friend, is invariably correct. When she makes an observation, I have learned to listen. More than 90% of the time she is ‘on the money’! Except regarding football: her love of a particular quarterback and...
Read MoreThe Basics of Asset and Personnel Management From the Birds to the Bees!
Lesson 1:A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door...
Read MoreWhere's Waldo?
Where is that pesky recession? Everyone has declared it is coming, or here, or has been here. Where is it? Or is there another explanation? Let’s explore a contrarian point of view. First, the sky is falling scenario: credit...
Read MoreGood News for Common Man
We are often beset with news of the problems of the world. From all sides we are told ‘the end is neigh’, ‘we only have(how many?) years left’, ‘be afraid; be very afraid: news at 11!’. I am here to tell you, ‘It ain’t so!’ Here is a...
Read MorePreparing for the loss of a loved one
The passing of a loved one is an exceptionally difficult time in life. To help you, we built a “financial checklist” that can be used by you, or someone you care about, to work through the financial issues. Steps may vary depending on...
Read MoreTake Two Aspirin and Call Me in the Morning Or What, Me Worry?
As many of you know who have been with us for a decade or more, I like gold and cash in a portfolio. They provide a degree of comfort and warmth when things get bothersome. Tumultuous. Frightening. They tend to give a solid foundation...
Read MoreDialectical Didactics
Dialectical Didactics or Speak Carolinian in 5 Easy Lessons! Summer fun, now that the first storm threat has passed! Walt Wolfram is the Director of the Language and Life Project at North Carolina State University. He is the William C...
Read MoreWho Was Haym Salomon?
Who Was Haym Solomon? Read this fascinating history of the $1 bill all the way to the bottom to know about Haym Solomon. You may be in for quite a surprise! On the rear of the One Dollar bill, you’ll see two circles. Together, they...
Read MoreJust Because You're Not Worried...
Just Because You’re Not Worried… A business associate of ours was keen on the expression, “Just because you’re not worried, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you”. Sean and I always admonished him for his obdurate pessimism – but...
Read MoreHeads-up Headlines Hide Hidden Horrors
Heads-up Headlines Hide Hidden Horrors
Read MoreAh what webs we weave
Ah what webs we weave When first we practice to deceive. Sir Walter Scott Quotes Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, 'Lillian, you should have remained a virgin.' - Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)...
Read MoreBusiness Owners Celebration
Business Owners Celebration Source: Breaking Down the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB): What the 2025 Tax Reform Means for You - Molen & Associates For those of us who own, manage or regulate businesses, here are the new law’s finer...
Read MoreTriple B: BBB
Triple B: BBB In the world of bonds, a BBB rating is at the top of the ‘junk bond’ world, while simultaneously at the bottom of the institutional rated debt. Let’s peer deeper into our new BBB Law of the Land as approved in Congress...
Read MoreThe Middle Kingdom
Betwixt heaven and earth, where the ruler is a godlike figure. Xi, the ruler of China, holds the current title and has been in command for a few decades. Notable for its ability to make a silk road out of a camel’s hump, the kingdom’s...
Read MoreSix Little Stories
Six Little Stories . Once all villagers decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer, all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That is faith. . When you throw babies in the air, they laugh because they know...
Read MoreCornpreneurs Save Us From Davos Elites - by Gale Pooley
Cornpreneurs Save Us From Davos Elites - by Gale Pooley Human resourcefulness will always amaze me. This story from Doomslayer - Humanprogress.org on corn tells ‘the tale of the tape’. She measures corn production in 1936 and compares...
Read MoreImages of Ignorance, or, how smart people really are (not)
Images of Ignorance, or, how smart people really are (not) Lest you think me too mean here, these are some of the funniest signs I have seen. As for the aging routine, Sharon and I do focus upon our ‘Modern Maturity' with an emphasis...
Read MoreUnter der Linden und Uber dem Fluss, Under the Linden Trees an
Unter der Linden und Uber dem Fluss Under the Linden Trees and Over the Falls River time may soothe you. Slower. The banks stream past the hull, drawing your gaze forward, amidship, ultimately aft as your vessel saunters past the hills...
Read MoreWhile We Are in Europe
While We Are in Europe As always, I shall keep you updated on our travels to Prague, Vevey & the Rhine. In the meanwhile, enjoy these ‘niceties’ from Sharon… My doctor asked if anyone in my family suffered from mental illness. I said,...
Read More"And Now for Something Completely Ridiculous"
“And Now for Something Completely Ridiculous” Monty Python Ah, the joys of Modern Maturity… Don't be worried about your smartphone or TV spying on you. Your vacuum cleaner has been collecting dirt on you for years. If you can't think...
Read MoreSpare Me a Dime, Fella?
Spare Me a Dime, Fella? Having done what I do for 40+ years, I have been here before. The wailing. The gnashing of teeth. The falling timbers of the global markets. Etcetera, etcetera and so forth, as the King of Siam said. We have...
Read MoreOne of America’s great entertainers and politician!
One of America’s great entertainers and politician! Will Rogers Sayings Never Squat With Your Spurs On! Will Rogers, who died in a 1935 plane crash in Alaska with bush pilot Wiley Post, was one of the greatest political country/cowboy...
Read MoreHere We Go Again
Here We Go Again Since I began this profession in 1984 (really?), we have been through some grit and some grift. Up and down. The downs have been sharp, quick and painful. The ups have been long, slow and usually languorous. And here...
Read MoreThis Won't Hurt a Bit
This Won’t Hurt a Bit So said the nurse in 1982 just before my 2nd visit to Africa. She was giving me a gamma globulin shot as a prophylactic against jungle diseases. It hurt. A lot. This won’t hurt a bit. So said the Federal Reserve...
Read MoreWinter Nostalgia, or how I forgot what it was I forgot!
Winter Nostalgia, or how I forgot what it was I forgot! "If you want to know how old a woman is, ask her sister-in-law." (Eva Gabor) "Old age comes at a bad time." (Ed Sullivan) "Inside every older person is a younger person wondering...
Read MoreThe Good Old Days
While waiting in line at the supermarket, the cashier tells an elderly man to bring his own bag because plastic ones are bad for the environment.The gentleman apologizes and explains, “Back in my day, we didn’t have this trendy...
Read MoreAll in Good Jest
Canada to Build a Border Wall YES…Canada considering building a border wall… The flood of "Trump-fearing" American liberals/progressives sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week. The Republican...
Read More2025 and Our Near Future
As you know, my crystal ball remains opaque. But here is a short list of ideas for consideration by various authorities in 2025. These are entirely economic, rather than political. Reduce regulations: these now represent more than 10%...
Read MoreWealth and Finance Award
https://www.wealthandfinance-news.com/winners/the-renaissance-group-llc/ Wealth & Finance International's Wealth and Asset Management Award winner, 2024. Nominations are accepted through self-submission, third-party recommendation, or...
Read MoreAll Our Tomorrows
All Our Tomorrows We have known many of you for decades. Gotten to know your financial concerns. Helped you plan for and enjoy your retirement. Watched your family grow. You have honored us with your trust and confidence. We have born...
Read MoreThe 1% Folks
The 1% Folks THE ONE PERCENTERS. 99% of people born between 1929 and 1946 (GLOBALLY) are now dead. If you were born in this time span, your ages range between 77 and...
Read MoreWhistling Past the Graveyard
Oft in the lone churchyard at night I’ve seen, By glimpse of moon-shine, Chequering through...
Read MoreReading List 2023
There was a time, long past when I could read some Arabic, speak it better. I lived in KSA, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for three years and in Turkey for one. Travelled extensively throughout the Moslem world. North Africa. The Levant....
Read MoreBoth Sides Now
Joni Mitchell penned this ‘70s song that is of some interest today. ‘Both sides’ is an old newspaper process. Give the readers both sides of a story. As if there...
Read MoreOctober Farmer’s Almanac
There is a pause after the autumnal equinox when the nights are warm and limbs along meadow edges bend low with fruit. Among the first to ripen are Concord grapes, one of the most widely planted and oldest varietal grapes in North...
Read MoreFarmer’s Almanac September ‘23
A little stir among the clouds before they rend asunder A little rocking of the trees and then comes the thunder...
Read More‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet…’
Juliet is in love with a handsome young man - who happens to be the oldest son of her father’s sworn enemy. Nice plot touch for the late 1500s. Romantic. Yet beneath the...
Read MoreInflation, Interest Rates and Dividends, oh my!
Let’s try to keep this simple. We know inflation. It affects us each time we spend money...
Read MoreAn Upcoming Debate on the Debt
This will be a longer than usual story. It is complicated, chaotic and complex. Yet I view this story as the most important financial event of 2023. Many others agree.I’d like to bring you up to speed on the tale unfolding in...
Read MoreApril is the Cruelest Month
At least according to T S Eliot. In his epic 1921 poem The Waste Land, he reflects on the horrors of the recent global war. Death and suffering are all that the spring brings us,...
Read MoreHuman Progress
If you click on the picture above, you will see a most interesting video-graph of human progress. Human Progress is real, historical, sustainable and ever more complex. Graphs are ‘representations’ of factual...
Read More