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?

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…

Knock Knock

What did you do this morning? If you're like most, you woke up, got ready for your day, and headed off to the office. Maybe you drove, maybe you took the train or bus, or maybe you walked down the hall to your home office.

No matter your route, you went to work. And you probably got paid.

Stop reading this if you could retire today.

I'm Feeling Uncomfortable

How many times have you thought about doing something, only you didn't do it because it made you feel uncomfortable? Think about it. Maybe it was asking your high school crush out on a date. Or it was running in that 5k race, and you hadn't run in ages. Or it was starting a blog and sending out content to people you weren't sure were going to read and/or like it.

Okay, guilty. That last example is me. And it's true. When I first started writing these, every time I went to hit send on my latest blog post a tinge of panic would…

Busted!

In my pre-kid life, I consumed ALL of college basketball. I knew about every team in the tournament and watched as many games as I could all season long. This year, I think I watched maybe two college basketball games from start to finish. I'd never even heard of Lipscomb.

So I'll let you in on how I picked my bracket this year, you know, if you want some expert advice:

How Do You Do It?

Some of you may not be familiar with my personal story. Long story, short: my wife and I went from having 1 kid to 5 kids in a span of 2.5 years. Five kids. That was over 6 years ago. Today, they are 14, 8, 7 & 7 (twins!), & 6 years old.

Raising kids, being a parent, it's not that much different than dealing with your financial life. And of course, both are intertwined. Because let's face it, kids are expensive! Let's discuss:

Timber!

Last fall, my wife and I decided to have some trees trimmed and removed from our yard. We took a stroll through the yard and discussed which trees needed attention. Then we discussed and decided how much we were willing to spend on this particular project.

There was one tree in particular we discussed. It was a tree I "wanted" removed, but it didn't "need" to be removed. It wasn't dying, or a safety hazard to the house or our kids playing in the yard. It wasn't a high priority tree.

When our proposal from the tree company came back, we…

The Backup Plan

Whether it's the regular season or the playoffs, many teams in the NFL have been doomed by a situation like this. Just as many of us would be in trouble if our "financial" starting quarterback suffered a significant injury.

Think about your "financial" starting quarterback. Maybe it's your…

New Year, New...Toothbrush?

My wife recently purchased an electric toothbrush. Of course, she told me I should get one too. I resisted for a few days. Then one day I tried it*.

*I used a new toothbrush head, so don't get too grossed out.

Fast forward two minutes later and...WOW!! My teeth felt much cleaner, almost straight-from-the-dentist-clean & I immediately, I mean my wife ordered one from Amazon and two days later (thanks, Prime!), I had my very own electric toothbrush.

Over the past month or so, I've noticed two distinct improvements:

How Good Do You Want It To Get?

Recently, my wife had to travel for work. She was gone for 4 days during the school week and 2 days on the weekend. And since Sutton started kindergarten this year, it also happens to be the first year we haven't had full-time child care.

No problem, right? The kids are on the bus at 9a and off the bus around 4:30p. I'm a very engaged parent. Plenty of time to work, too. I got this!

Only it happened to be a week with two half days at school (SERIOUSLY?!). Thomas decided it was a good week to channel his inner Mike Tyson and use his siblings as punching bags. Oh, and it was Sutton's…

Riding The Waves

I love the ocean. Being a kid at heart, I still love to ride the waves, too. Bodysurfing. Boogie boarding. I just love it. There's just something about catching an awesome wave, the rush. Maybe it's little bit like flying, if we knew what flying really felt like.

Our kids are getting older and they love the ocean, too. It fills my heart. And now they're getting big enough to ride the waves and bodysurf with Dad. It's amazing, really.

This summer I was…

Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

The past few weeks have had me thinking a lot, and worrying a bit too. I'm a bit of a weather geek and the barrage of hurricanes in the Atlantic has been both amazing and horrifying. Hurricane Harvey and the impacts on Texas, Hurricanes Irma and Maria and the destruction in the Caribbean Islands and Florida. Even the 16th anniversary of 9/11. These events have all been dramatic, catastrophic and life altering.

Luck vs. Skill

Luck vs. Skill

"I'd rather be lucky than good."

I understand the meaning behind the statement. I just don't get why we'd rather be lucky than good, especially when it comes to investing.

Yes, luck plays a part in most of our lives. I am lucky to have met my wife. Okay, very lucky. I am lucky to be blessed with five kids. Also very lucky. On the other hand, being lucky doesn't automatically make me a good husband, nor does being lucky make me a good father, either. These are skills we have to work at.

On the golf course, I'm pretty good. I have some skill - I happen to be…

Lessons From The British Open

The Open Championship concluded yesterday, and it did so in thrilling fashion. If you're not a golfer, the Open Championship (aka The British Open) is one of professional golf's biggest events of the year. One of the four "major" championships. As I followed the tournament, I began to see parallels in golf and investing. While we can draw parallels over the game of golf or the British Open itself, I want to focus on…

Are We There Yet?

Imagine taking a cross country road trip in your car, but you don't have a spare tire. You might be okay, and your trip could go off without a hitch - you don't get a flat. And that would be ideal, right? But there's also a very real chance of the opposite happening - you do get a flat tire. If you're lucky, it's in an area where you can readily get help or assistance.

Or maybe you're not. You're in a barren stretch of road, the middle of the desert or on a mountain or in the countryside somewhere. Anywhere, really. Now what happens?

Are You Falling for Fake News?

The headlines read like this:

"How to Beat the Market," "7 Stocks You Could Buy to Beat the Market," "Five Steps to Beating the Market,"

And my personal favorite, "How to Beat the Stock Market - A Guide to Outperform the Market."

Google it. It's a thing.

Let's step back and talk about what beating the market really means. What we're talking about is investing in…

The Secret to Financial Success

Not many things worth having or doing happen right away, or quickly. It just doesn’t. Change takes time for most people, and for most things. Remember: Simple, not easy. But we all want the quick fix, the diet that yields instant results, the get-rich-quick schemes, etc.

Your financial future is too valuable to depend on lottery tickets. And while miracles and winning the lottery would indeed be the quick fix, they are quite rare and unpredictable. Or factors not in…

What Are You Focusing On?

As humans I do not believe we are wired or preprogrammed to worry. I'm not sure when we pick up the "worry" trait, but it happens. And it's not when we're kids. Think about it.

Maybe you see it in your own kids. I know I see it in mine. Maybe they're doing something around the house, wrestling or running full speed MACH 2 around the living room - you know, just being completely crazy kids. Whatever it is, the ending is likely not going to be good. Think trip to the Emergency Room. As parents, it's our instinct to blurt out something to effect of…

The Ostrich Effect

I came up with this concept very early in my career after realizing a lot of people I was meeting with were ignoring their financial life. Turns out I wasn't the first one to think of the concept! In behavioral finance, the Ostrich Effect is an attempt made by investors to avoid negative financial information. And the term? It comes from the common legend that ostriches bury their heads in the sand to avoid danger.

This bias takes its name from…