Cardboard and Glue - Steve Larsen

When I was in high school physics one of the projects that we had to perform was to create a boat with only two ingredients…cardboard and white glue.

The boat had to be strong enough to hold two people and the team that did the most laps in the pool got the best grade.

I teamed up with my cousin and we spent hours finding cardboard, cutting shapes with exact-o blades, and used gallons of white glue. By the end of the project we were proud of our canoe shaped cardboard boat.

When race day came we saw boats of all shapes and sizes. Some of the boats sank right away. Others made it a lap or two.

We rowed as fast as we could and did quite a few laps until the cardboard and glue started to disintegrate and we lost confidence in the boat and abandoned ship. Although we didn’t win first place we finished in the top three and thus earned a decent grade.

Most of you have heard by now that the FED has once again increased rates by 0.75%. The market had baked in 50bps and once the inflation numbers came in scrambled to back in another 25bps.

But the more subtle nuance is that some didn’t recognize that the FED increased their target rate (the rate they will be willing to raise to) by another 100bp (1%).

I believe that this is the bigger news that is sending the markets into a tizzy. It is showing that the markets have lost confidence in the ability of the FED to effectively correct inflation and are worried that it is impotent.

Now is the time to really take a look at how you are invested. If a high percentage of your assets are in stocks, bonds, real estate and other risk based assets, there may be a narrow window for you to get that into a more protective and powerful vehicle.

We have specialized tools to use your data and show you, your risk score and what year you will run out of money in retirement.

With everything going on in the markets our calendars are filling fast but reach out and let’s see what we might be able to do for you.

Remember — It’s Your Time…

Steve