Darren Straniero
8 Lessons I Learned From My Dad

My father passed away on September 8, 2018. He was 70 years old. I find it somewhat ironic I'm publishing this post today, September 11. Social media is rightfully flooded with "Never Forget" posts.

This past Sunday marked the one year anniversary of my dad's passing. I was having my morning coffee when it hit me. I felt sad, again. I still vividly remember getting the call from my brother this time last year.

8 Lessons I Learned From My Dad
Investments
Darren Straniero
Wits & Wagers

Last week we were on vacation at my in laws house. Close family friends joined us for the trip and a couple of nights were spent around the table competing in the board game called Wits & Wagers. We paired up into teams of two with each team consisting of an adult and a kid. If you know anything about our family, we trend toward the "more competitive" side of the ledger. It was an intense couple of nights. Well, about as intense as a game of Wits & Wagers can get!

Wits & Wagers
Financial Planning
Darren Straniero
11 Years Later...

On Friday, Jill & I will celebrate 11 years of marriage. Hard to believe it’s been 11 years. Seems like just yesterday I was smashing wedding cake in her face.

We've been through a heckuva lot in those 11 years. Obviously we had our gaggle of kids in a short period of time and, I imagine like many other married couples, we've dealt with our share of challenges, too.

To quote my father-in-law, it's been the best 10.5 years of my life! Haha.

11 Years Later...
Financial Planning, Investments
Darren Straniero
Kaizen

Our youngest son, Sutton, is playing baseball again this season. The team is comprised mostly of 7 year olds. So far, we've had a few practices and two games. And let me tell you…they stink.

Seriously. They're not good. After our last game Jill said to me, "It's like watching The Bad News Bears."

And she's not wrong.

Before you start thinking "Wow that's horrible,” or “How can they say/think such things," hear me out.

Kaizen
Darren Straniero
Should I refinance?

Interest rates have gone down again. In fact, last week the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 4.4 percent, the lowest point in over 13 months. I imagine you’ll be getting calls from your lender, banks, etc. about refinancing. This tends to happen when rates go down.

I have a confession: I think refinancing a mortgage is a bad idea.

Should I refinance?

saving

Give that Budget the Bird!

Budget. It's a dirty, dirty word. Go ahead and say it out loud. See how many people around you avoid eye contact with you or give you nasty looks. I'm telling you! It's right up there with the dirtiest of the dirty words. It conjures up feelings of anxiety, fear, and even downright disgust in many people. Why? I'll tell you why.

Budgets can feel constricting, suffocating, and demanding. They ask of you to stay within the confines of the box. They come with defined borders.

You must color within the lines!!!!

And we don't like them! For many reasons.

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Kaizen

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Kaizen

Our youngest son, Sutton, is playing baseball again this season. The team is comprised mostly of 7 year olds. So far, we've had a few practices and two games. And let me tell you…they stink.

Seriously. They're not good. After our last game Jill said to me, "It's like watching The Bad News Bears."

And she's not wrong.

Before you start thinking "Wow that's horrible,” or “How can they say/think such things," hear me out.

Persistence Pays Off

If you don't know about the Nintendo Switch - well I didn't know much about it, either. All I know is it was one of the hottest items for the holidays. As the kids ramped up for Christmas, all we heard about was the Nintendo Switch. And they put on the full court press. Like Nolan Richardson Arkansas basketball circa 1990’s full court press. Honestly, it was exhausting. Every list for Santa included it. And they must have made like 15 lists each.

Jill and I talked about it and ultimately the kids did not get a Nintendo Switch from Santa.

Before you go yelling “Bah Humbug!” and calling us Scrooges, hear me out.

5 Years = 33%

Time really is flying by in our household. And I imagine many of you are experiencing the same phenomenon. Only it's not a phenomenon. This is what happens. Time waits for no man or woman. It just keeps going.

So today I want to talk about the importance of saving, and the impact of delaying our long term savings. We never really feel this impact, but it happens silently. And it happens over time. Oh yeah, and it's real.

The Opportunity of a Lifetime

This summer I've been fortunate to coach the All Star baseball team our son, Thomas, plays on. I've been coaching our kids' sports teams for nearly 10 years now, but this is my first time coaching a team where every kid is a good player. They are all good at catching, throwing and hitting. They're All Stars but they're not Major Leaguers (yet!). In fact, they're only 8 years old. A few are only 7.

And as 7 & 8 year olds are prone to do, they make mistakes like missing a ground ball or throwing the ball to the wrong base or any other number of mistakes we can make on the ballfield. So this summer we've created a catch phrase:

“It’s okay to…