Olympic Trials & Tribulations
The Olympics reliably provide great drama. Whether it’s enough to justify the cognitive dissonance of hammering forward with the Games amid a health crisis is another question
The Right Amount of Liquidity
As you build wealth over time, you start to develop a portfolio of investments beyond cash, which provides other options for funding your financial needs.
Cycles of Recovery
Q2 2021 Market Commentary
Global economic activity has picked up over the last three months, reflecting pent-up demand but still faces several road bumps as the pace of recovery varies between nations.
They Who Have The Gold
Diverse boards and diverse management teams - both in terms of gender and racial diversity - can anticipate a broader set of needs, and come up with more innovative solutions.
Echoes of Past Excess
Investors face the question of whether high equity prices are a sign of speculative excess or a reasonable conclusion based on pandemic-altered demand and a recovering economy.
Using Capital to Create Opportunity
Impact Highlight Report
We highlight specific investments that address the historic lack of access to capital in housing and business funding via both loans and venture capital.
Innovation Begins with Investment
In a showing of bipartisan support, the US Senate voted for the Innovation and Competition Act. It provides widespread support for research and development in technology and science, representing a long-term view that will hopefully drive needed patterns of change.
There and Back Again
To navigate the boundary between your portfolio and your needs in life, your choices and priorities should be front and center when deciding to buy, sell, and reallocate equities.
The Hemingway Law of Motion
Life is full of tipping points, and change isn’t always smooth and linear. Response to certain crises can take much longer to develop than expected, and when it does coalesce, change can occur faster than anticipated. Rapid change may be coming for the oil industry.
Help Wanted
The national employment headline numbers don’t tell the full story of a fraught employment landscape, with ‘help wanted’ signs outpacing job applications in recent weeks.
Goodbye Masks, Hello Volatility
The economy has recovered substantially from the lows of last year, but this week offered reminders that there are risks to market resiliency beyond the pandemic.
Your Retirement, Your Values
A successful transition to retirement must express your values. Understanding the motivation behind your decision, and being prepared for how you will spend your time post-retirement, are key steps to achieving a fulfilling retirement.
History as Context
Tax rates and mortgage rates are both on the rise. For some investors, these shifts may indicate negative trends for market prices and economic growth. If we zoom out for perspective, history tells us that these increases may not be such a bad thing.
Pinch Points
Many industries have been unprepared for rapid surges in demand caused by the pandemic. Notably, the lumber and microprocessor industries find themselves rationing scarce quantities through higher prices.
A Dash of Perspective
One method of gaining perspective when faced with overwhelming data is to zoom out and understand how recent activity fits into a larger pattern. By doing this, we can gain a better understanding of the ‘relative progress’ during the pandemic versus the ‘absolute progress’ over a longer timeframe.
Money, Cryptocurrency, and the Value of Trust
Cryptocurrency is an evolution of money that currently hinges on its ability to solidify widespread trust in its functionality as a store of value and a medium of exchange. Trading platforms like Coinbase may add legitimacy and security to ownership of cryptocurrency.
The Impact of Interest Rates on Everything
Q1 2021 Market Commentary
In the current pattern of growth, interest rates are likely to be volatile while both production and employment are recovering, and equity prices are likely to behave in kind.
Soil Health and Societal Health
Impact Highlight Report
We examine the interconnection between soil health and societal health and the opportunity for investors to align their financial resources with their desire for a positive impact.
Sam Wood-Bednarz is Now a Partner with North Berkeley Wealth
North Berkeley Wealth Management congratulates Lead Advisor and Director of Financial Planning, Sam Wood-Bednarz, CFP® on his new role as Partner.
Bottleneck at the Canal
Traffic on the Suez Canal is fully halted in both directions after the Ever Given became lodged in the embankment. Fascinating as it is, the bottleneck and the slowdown that it’s caused will ultimately be a short-term detour in the long-term trajectory of global trade.
Growing Pains
We are now probably getting into the second act of the pandemic, and can’t yet see clearly the possible twists in the plot that will set us down in an entirely new landscape. Like a Shakespearean character, though, we continue to accommodate to circumstance.
Another Block in the Chain
The potential for blockchain as a technology is easy to recognize. Much harder to know at this point is how that potential will be applied.
Better Business – Our Journey as a B Corp
Receiving the B Corp certification gave us a way to look outward and reminded us that our impact travels in many directions, reaching well beyond the walls of our office.
Two Things in Life are Certain
Taxes is one of life’s certainties and we have seen countless times that having the right professional and effective collaboration can make all the difference.
When Bad News is Good News
Rising interest rates are a natural process in the re-opening of the economy and show that the market relationship between stocks and bonds is normalizing.