The Blog

Our hearts and prayers continue with Houston, and with those in the path or wake of the western wildfires. And now, of course with the entire state of Florida. Fortunately, some of the most dire Irma scenarios did not play out, but we are still dealing with a storm that is the 7th-worst such storm ever to hit the mainland … Read More

As Houston continues to recover from the devastation of Harvey, if you’ve been paying attention, you also have gotten a bit of a refresher on the greatness of humanity when pushed against the wall. Aside from the outpouring of financial assistance flying towards Houston, here is another short roundup of humans doing wonderful things: An armada of private boats headed … Read More

All of our hearts are with Houston, and the areas surrounding that have been devastated in the past few days. It feels a bit like Katrina did, though the true measure of the disaster is still yet to be understood (as in New Orleans). What *is* clear is that many lives, businesses, and families have been radically altered. How have … Read More

How was your TOTAL ECLIPSE experience? Did you get to see the totality? Did you travel for it? Would love to hear about your experience. Well, the world is still standing, even after all of the chaos that we’ve been experiencing as a nation. Social media remains an extremely divided (and divisive) place right now and even the upcoming football … Read More

Open (and evil) racial violence in Charlottesville. Political turmoil all over Washington. An ever-inflating stock market. War drums from North Korea. TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE. Every summer, it seems we hit a point in which it feels like everything is fraying at the edges and we’re in danger of falling apart. Not only do we seem to be more divided than … Read More

We work a great deal with asset sheets and financial numbers for our Oakland clients. We’re always on the hunt for ways that we can minimize tax burdens and be strategic about every available resource on behalf of the Oakland families and people we serve. But what is becoming increasingly clear in this 2017, always-online, world is this: our most powerful … Read More

Sometimes the best stories are the old ones. Variations of this yarn have floated around the culture for some years now, but in my opinion, that’s because the lesson from it is so instructive. And I’ll admit from the jump, that it’s self-serving to some extent. Because in the age of AI, point-and-click software and ROBOTS, it’s tempting to think … Read More

Working with my Oakland clients’ finances over the years has given me a bit of a crash course in human behavior. Often, I’m floored by the generosity I see displayed by many clients — even those without significant means. Other times … well, I think that we all could use the reminder that our human flaws show up very clearly … Read More

Well, we are right in the thick of summer. It’s hot. It’s also tempting to just sit back and hit the cruise control for the next 6 weeks or so, and do nothing different, make no changes, plan no plans. Like many, you’re probably averting your eyes from the national political scene — because whichever “side” you favor, nobody seems … Read More

I have more to say about financial independence today (since I received some great feedback the last time I wrote about it). But before I get there, I’d like to speak some encouragement to you. A few people in Oakland wrote me saying that they were feeling pretty dispirited about their personal situation … and that anything discussing “financial independence” really seemed … Read More