Capitalize Your Fridays!

In our simplifying economics series, Mike and Taylor discuss the concept of diving into economics books that we personally prefer when trying to dive into economic principles. We discussed how there could be differences in preferences due to age or generation, as well as male versus female preferences and personal preferences—the ultimate goal being to simplify economics. In this episode, we cover Freakonomics.

In this episode, Mike and Taylor discuss corporate governance and the role of proxy voting between advisors and investors.

Book Review of Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means. Mike and Taylor discuss the cost of health, its impact on your finances, and their review of Good Energy.

An exploration of how banking has evolved across generations, focusing on the rise of digital banking and what it means for the future. Mike and Taylor unpack the challenges facing small, local banks—and whether they might be on the decline. 

Mike & Taylor dive into an exciting evolution in the investing world: FAANG 2.0. Unlike the tech giants that dominated the original FAANG group, FAANG 2.0 shifts the focus to other market sectors that are possibly shaping our future—fuel, aerospace & defense, agriculture, renewable energy, and precious metals. These industries drive innovation differently and might be crucial for resilience in today's economy. So, what exactly is FAANG 2.0, and how does it fit into the broader investment landscape?

Mike and Taylor introduce the concept of tariffs then dive into recent political policy changes. To understand how this impacts the everyday consumer at the micro-level, one must understand the strategy and impacts on the world at the macro level. They discuss the potential impact of tariffs on the economy, financial markets, consumer spending, and more.

Estate Attorney Ryan McGuffey (Long Reimer Winegar) joins Mike for a special Capitalize Your Fridays episode on estate planning. They cover common questions about estate planning, such as why it is important, how to start, how to navigate family dynamics, and what digital assets to consider when estate planning.

Mike and Taylor start Capitalize Your Fridays' new 4-part series - Economics Simplified. In this first episode, they discussed the books to look at when trying to dive into economic principles and the concepts behind those principles. The literary works discussed are Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt and I, Pencil an essay by Leonard Read. Key takeaways are the importance and consideration of long-term effects, avoiding policies with hidden costs, and focusing on coordinating resources to create wealth. Tune in to hear more!

In this episode, Mike interviews guest Bill Johnson, VP of Mountain States at Evertree Insurance. They cover the core principles of Property and Casualty insurance, as well as the real-world applications and benefits of P&C Insurance, including what to look for in a policy and how to avoid common pitfalls.

Timeshares are a common vacation option, but are they worth it? Mike and Taylor discuss the appeal & downsides of timeshares, as well as what to do when you want to get out of one and other vacation alternatives.

2024 has been a remarkable year for ALTIUS Financial. From welcoming new life to celebrating our legacy, from personal retreats to team-building events, we've achieved so much together. Thank you for being part of our journey, and here's to even more growth and success in the coming year!

When it comes to tailoring Social Security (SS) strategies, many factors play a part including individual circumstances, age, and financial status. But more importantly, it's best to focus on personalized financial planning, reducing independence on SS, and staying educated around potential SS reforms. We've had many clients ask us about the state of Social Security and tips/strategies in making claims, so in this episode we discuss how ALTIUS navigates today's realities and future uncertainties around social security for its clients.

In this episode, Mike and Taylor provide an introduction to 529 saving strategies as well as consider the new 529 to Roth Conversion Rule. 529 accounts are a savings plan used primarily for college savings, but have been expanded to be used for K-12 tuition, apprenticeships, and even career based education programs These new changes have the potential to be beneficial to clients and listeners when navigating the best strategy for education savings and what to do with remaining 529 savings after children or grandchildren graduate.

As we approach the end of the year, it is crucial to review tax trading strategies including the practice of tax loss harvesting. Tax loss harvesting is the selling of securities at a loss to offset capital gains taxes. Tune in to hear more about the process of tax loss harvesting and why it's a it's a valuable tool that ALTIUS Financial uses to not only reduces tax liabilities, but also allow clients to rebalance their portfolios.

After a hiatus over the summer and while Taylor was on maternity leave, ALTIUS Financial's podcast Capitalize Your Fridays is back! We missed our listeners, so we're back in the studio excited to release new episodes coming soon. Catch up with Mike and Taylor and take a sneak peek at what's to come on Capitalize Your Fridays.

Let's talk Tik Tok. Is Tik Tok going to get banned? And does even apply to me if I'm not a current user? Mike and Taylor dive into the Tik Tok news and what this could mean for different areas of the US economy.

We want to look after our service professionals, but has Tipping gotten out of hand? Mike and Taylor cover what's the big issue with tipping? What's typical for tip protocol? And more.

In this episode, Mike and Taylor cover the top 3 relationship risks when transitioning into retirement. Retirement vision and timeline for that vision Financial harmony Health and longevity

What's an RMD and why do I have to pull money from my account each year? Or do I? In this episode, Mike and Taylor dive into these common questions about required minimum distributions (RMDs), how they're calculated, and the history of them.

ABC's it's easy as… wait, no, what business Entity is best for me? In this episode, Mike and Taylor review what a business entity is and the different types of business entities.

Where do you fall on the financial readiness scale? This episode answers questions many of our listeners may have regarding their current financial security relative to social norms.

Santa is coming to town and as he takes off on his sleigh, he may bring the stock market up with him this year. Let's dive into the concept of the Santa Stock Market Swing.

Tune in to hear about Taylor's first home buying experience and learn more about the home buying process.

What do my statements even mean and why do I need them? In this episode, we demystify common financial statements and dive into how to understand them.

It's spooky season! To help prevent being financially ghosted or financially ghosting, Mike and Taylor review the basics of estate planning. If you're interested in this topic or have any questions, sign up here to attend our upcoming workshop on Estate Planning with guest speaker Ryan McGuffey.

In this episode, Malcolm Theobald joins the ALTIUS team to discuss the rise in electric vehicle demand and the current global energy crisis. Malcolm has 30 years of industry experience in energy along with the recent experience in purchasing an electric vehicle.

Over the summer, the ALTIUS team read the book "10x is Easier Than 2x" by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. We thought it was a unique idea and that the book was so good that we had to share it with our listeners. So, in this episode, Mike and Taylor review the basic concepts and why 10x really does seem easier than 2x.

In this episode, Mike and Taylor dive into 1031 exchanges - what it is, how you can utilize it when buying and selling rental real estate, and Mike's own experiences with these.

Earlier this year, ALTIUS had a virtual workshop with Gerry Hollis, who presented on Health Savings Accounts (HSA). If you missed that workshop or need a refresher on HSAs, then this is the episode for you! Mike and Taylor dive into how to utilize HSAs for investing and tax benefits.

It's been a long time since the official purchase of TD Ameritrade by Schwab, but the full transition date is coming up this Labor Day (September 4, 2023). At ALTIUS, we've been preparing for this transition and staying on top of the updates from TD and Schwab in the last couple years. So, in this episode, we answer the questions many of our listeners may have regarding the transition from TD to Schwab.

Given the recent debt ceiling debate and worldwide economic uncertainty, many of our clients have asked us about the issue of reserve currency status...will the US dollar continue to function as the currency that the world uses?

The most common types of alternative investments include real estate, collectibles, commodities, private equity, and derivatives. But in this episode, Mike and Taylor cover a couple new unique alternative investments in the wine and art industries. They discuss the potential risk and benefits of these newer investments.

With summer travel coming up, Mike and Taylor review the process of travel credit cards, and how to maximize credit card points. In this overview on credit card points and benefits, Taylor goes over some tips & tricks and things to look out for when considering a credit card.

The Secure Act 2.0 will likely have an impact on ALTIUS' clients, so in this episode Mike and Taylor give an overview of the Secure Act 2.0 and outline how they're thinking about it in the long-term. At the end of the episode, they also discuss the process of stock buybacks and how they affect shareholders.

What is this Chat GPT I hear people talking about? Listen along as Mike and Taylor introduce you to and implement the world's fastest growing new tech - Chat GPT. We cover the new artificial intelligence (AI) language processing chat bot technology that is currently at the forefront of bringing AI to the masses and how it relates to investing.

In this episode, Mike and Taylor discuss the current banking situation (SVB, Credit Suisse, etc) and explain the recent and historic events that led to this predicament.

In this episode we discuss some of the recent layoff turmoil and how this has spread beyond just the tech industries. We share our outlook on causes of these layoffs, our perspective on how this may or may not present investment opportunities, and our suggestions to any listener who may be directly experiencing this difficult time.

Our guest this week is Kim Crea, Senior Vice President of Residential Lending at Draper & Kramer Mortgage. Kim has a wealth of knowledge about mortgage lending and has been helping people with their home financing needs since 2003. She loves working with first-time homebuyers, repeat purchasers, or those looking to refinance, and her goal is to make the loan process as easy and smooth as possible. In this episode, Kim walks Mike through the process of “locking in” interest rates, the typical closing timing in the current market, and answers questions about the current housing market and whether now is a good time to buy a home.

ALTIUS recently had a client ask about investing in tech and what is going on with many of the large companies losing trillions based on their share price. So, in this episode, we discuss the chaos around big tech's layoffs and loss of capital, and what that means for ALTIUS' outlook on current market volatility.

Let's dive into what Market Capitalization is and how it helps investors make allocation decisions.

In this episode, Mike and Taylor discuss what it means to become a new client. Such as, what questions to ask a new advisor, what it means to become a client with a financial advisor, and what the ALTIUS Financial client experience looks like.

Mike and Taylor discuss the 2022 market conditions and the failure of using the 60/40 Rule to protect one's nest egg. What happened and should you throw out the old asset allocation rules?

The recent FTX drama has everyone wondering what's in store for the future of crypto currency. Tune in to hear our thoughts on what has happened so far and our future outlook for decentralized finance.

Recently, we've had many clients ask about the Debt ceiling and with the government continuing to increase spending and assistance policies the current “debt ceiling” seems more of an open sunroof than an actual ceiling. So in this episode, Taylor questions Mike about his thoughts on government debt and how it may impact our client portfolios.

Let's clarify the employee healthcare policy election process by breaking down terminology and policy types to help you make the right selection. In this episode we cover coinsurance, copays, different types of health insurance plans, and most importantly how an HSA account can benefit your overall financial situation in the long-term.

Pets may be our furry family members, but we often overlook how their expenses quickly add up. Today we discuss the finances around adopting and supporting our favorite fluffy family members.

One of the main financial topics we discuss with clients is preparing for retirement, but here at ALTIUS we think being ready for retirement is not only about how much you've saved. So, in this episode, we discuss what it really takes to be retirement ready and how enjoying the journey shows that there's so much more to life than retirement.

With COVID on the downturn why are we still seeing challenges in our local and global supply chain? Mike and Taylor discuss their research on where these supply chain shortages are at and why - tune in to hear!

It's a bit harsh to say that a whole generation hates an individual, but it is interesting to point out that much of the millennial generation doesn't agree with Dave Ramsey's financial philosophy. Listen to this episode to find out why.

In this episode, Taylor tells Mike about some of her recent experiences of buying direct, which sparked the question "Is it always or ever cheaper to buy direct?" Listen to hear Taylor and Mike's thoughts on what is worth getting a deal for and what isn't. Also, at the beginning of this episode we give a brief update on President Biden's Student Loan Announcement and Updates.

Politicians have a knack for naming legislation to make it seem more palatable, especially in election years. This bill is no different since most people really are experiencing the effects of inflation with much higher prices on everyday items. Mike and Taylor discuss President Biden's most recent bill and its potential impact on the economy, markets and client portfolios.