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Category: My Money & Me

A hand holds a puzzle piece labeled "Market Volatility" over a financial chart showing fluctuating candlestick patterns.
  • My Money & Me
4 min read

Steady Wins: The Hidden Advantage of Value-Driven Portfolios

Does taking on more risk actually improve long‑term returns? To examine how varying levels of portfolio volatility can influence long‑term compounding, consider a simple illustration comparing two hypothetical investors under the same set of assumptions.
  • Financial Planning, My Money & Me
4 min read

The Power of Quiet Compounding: A Perspective for Tech Executives

You have a rewarding, challenging, stressful and life-juggling career. What you don’t have is a lot of time to think about transforming your substantial earnings into lasting wealth – wealth that will sustain you and support your family’s desired lifestyle for years to come. Perhaps you try to max out your 401(k) and also set aside at least some of your bonus or RSU income toward your long-term wealth goals. But it’s hard to know if you’re making any real progress. It’s hard to be sure that it’s enough.
  • Investing, My Money & Me
4 min read

Financial Literacy: How to Gain Confidence and Take Control of Your Future

Struggling with financial decisions? More than half of Americans lack basic financial literacy. Learn how to take control, avoid costly mistakes, and build a secure future with expert guidance from Griffin Black.
Close-up of a waving United States flag showing stars on a blue field and red and white stripes.
  • Current & Economic Events, My Money & Me
6 min read

After the Election: Thoughts on Financial Priorities

Politics touches so many aspects of our lives, from our financial stability to the future we envision for our families, that it's natural to feel personally and directly impacted.
An older man is teaching a group of students in a classroom, standing in front of a chalkboard filled with complex mathematical equations.
  • My Money & Me
8 min read

Are You Looking for The Perfect Career (or Life) Plan? Forget It.

You’ve probably done it all your life. First you (or your parents) enrolled you in a good kindergarten. From there, you ‘graduated’ to a solid grade school. Then came an excellent high school, after which you were lucky (and hard-working) enough to be admitted to a top-notch university. It’s been a step-by-step – and well laid-out – progression your whole life. Isn’t that how careers (and lives) are supposed to work? All nicely laid out with one pre-ordained step after the other?
A smiling family of four, including two children, are sitting at a table placing coins into a gray piggy bank.
  • My Money & Me
8 min read

Do You Know What Your “Money Culture” Is?

Yes, investment returns matter. But your basic assumptions about and behavior toward money will probably impact your finances – and your eventual wealth – more than you currently imagine.
A tortoise with a patterned shell is resting on dry grass in a sunlit natural setting.
  • Investing, My Money & Me
3 min read

Quick! Don’t Do Anything!

We’ve written recently about the relationship between personality and financial behavior. And it’s a well-known fact that wealth accumulation and investment management is affected as much, if not more, by non-financial factors as by financial ones. Because financial outcomes depend so heavily on behavior, how you manage your emotions in connection with your finances plays a huge role in the type of investing and financial management experiences you have. In particular, the emotional urge to “do something” in response to short-term changes in market conditions often delays or derails many investors’ progress toward their long-term financial goals.
A colorful word cloud centered on "PERSONALITY" with words like "LOYAL," "MODEST," "ENTHUSIASTIC," "CLEVER," and "ELEGANT" in different sizes, surrounded by related terms in varying colors.
  • My Money & Me
4 min read

Does Your Personality Predict Your Wealth?

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal explores an intriguing proposition: “How Your Personality Can Affect Your Portfolio.” It’s worth paying attention to, especially given the effort that so many of us expend to improve our financial outcomes.
An elderly couple sits on a couch, looking concernedly at a smartphone and documents on the table in front of them, next to a laptop. They seem to be discussing something important.
  • My Money & Me
3 min read

The High Cost of Bad Financial Decisions

There is a good reason why money frustrates so many people. It frequently works in ways that are simply unnatural for our hunter-gatherer brains to grasp.
A stethoscope rests on top of several hundred-dollar bills placed on a wooden surface.
  • Financial Planning, My Money & Me
4 min read

Some Pro Tips for Your HSA and FSA Contributions in 2023

For 2023, the Internal Revenue Service has increased the allowable maximum contributions to health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs). For HSAs, the new limit is $3,850 for single-individual plans and $7,750 for family plans. For FSAs, the new limit is $3,050 for healthcare plans, while the limit for dependent care plans remains unchanged at $5,000 per household. In addition to the new, higher limits for contributions, there are some points to consider for those using or considering the use of either an HSA or an FSA. Let’s take a look.
A man holds a child on his back while another man high-fives the child outdoors.
  • Financial Planning, My Money & Me
4 min read

What Are You Really Worth? The Answer Is Probably Not on a Balance Sheet

At Griffin Black, we spend a lot of time thinking about our clients’ accounts. After all, our clients expect us to guide their investment strategies in a way that enables them to build wealth. But the most important conversations we have with our clients often center on matters that don’t boil down to dollars and cents. In fact, we’ve written previously about the importance of integrating your financial planning with the core priorities in your life: your “why,” in Simon Sinek’s terms.
A scattered assortment of American currency bills in various denominations, including $100, $50, $20, and $5 notes.
  • Current & Economic Events, My Money & Me
8 min read

Special Edition: Is My Money Safe?

The events of the past several days provide us all with an instructive backdrop for several important financial topics. Even folks who don’t routinely pay attention to financial goings-on are now likely to have heard about the collapse (and subsequent rescue) of Silicon Valley Bank. The first and most obvious of these is a reminder that stock investing always comes with risks. When the economy is booming and companies are doing well, it’s easy to forget about risk. But it’s always there. That’s why the first thing we think about when investing in the stock market is how to manage risk.
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