Mid Q1-2026 Article Summaries (What's the deal with Trump accounts?)

How Can They Guarantee That Return?
You're at a BBQ and someone says they can get an annuity that will pay them 7% the rest of their life--guaranteed! You know the sequence of returns makes a 5% withdrawal rate a reasonable number--how can your BBQ friend be getting so much more?
Turns out, some "investment" products--those that take your money and then give it back to you--are able to include the principle in the returns calculation.
Don't get fooled by this sleight of hand.

Trump Accounts
A new type of retirement account has been established thanks to last year's OBB bill. We've looked at it every which way and can find very few reasons to use the new Trump accounts. This article goes into depth, if you're interested.

It's worth getting the free $1000 if you have any children born from 1/1/25 to 12/31/28--reach out if you need help with that.

Otherwise, it seems there are better options for each situation we've thrown at it.

Chart Telling a Story
How has the last 100 years of investing looked? Stack up the bad returns on the left and the good returns on the right and take a look at the distribution.
(75% of the time the market was positive, 25% negative).

Different Chart, Different Story
We are hitting new highs for the stock market. What should be done?

In the past how has the market looked 1, 3, and 5 years after hitting new highs? This chart has the answer