The Wealth Consigliere

Our monitoring of attendance has never been more important.   Recently major sporting events have made the decision to have no fans at their events.   What impact will this have on the financial services industry?   Our blog this week will examine how we are social distancing and measuring attendance at the same time.   Status Quo The methods we used to track our progress have been neutered by COVID.   It is no longer a good practice to look at the bottom of a box score to see the attendance. We know that the attendance is zero and time will tell if fans meant more than the trophy acceptance speech.   Early on, LeBron even questioned not having fans, but realized that attendance matters but has a larger impact on his compensation.   Businesses and Universities have drunk this medicine too.   Acceptance rates, monthly production and asset growth are correlated to tuition and revenue.   COVID does not care if you are an elite school or...

As we approach the deadlines for our government “assistance”. We need to start building our own safety nets. Our blog this week will examine the support and also discuss what our improved business and personal life will look like after we have a vaccine. We don’t have the answers, but we do have some wishes.   Government Our government stepped up and created a bi-partisan CaresAct .  The trillions of dollars allowed most of us to pay our bills and buy essential items through Amazon.  This support runs out this month and several politicians want to give us more.  Unfortunately,  there are others who believe that their support is enough and we should take it on our own from here.  I always wanted a larger allowance and pushed back on the question of what I spent it on.  Truth be told it is was no bodies business, I am an adult now and an Amazon Prime member.     Family and Friends In troubled times we can always turn to our family f...

When huge events take place in our country our reaction is to demand change.   This week we read about how many people want to defund our police.   The power of our checks and balances system is alive and well!   Our blog this week will summarize other times in our past that our citizens demanded change.   Many demands die, but the ones who do not die create lasting change.   Occupy Wall Street   In 2011 a group decided to camp out in Zuccotti Park near Wall Street to protest many historic issues starting with Income Inequality.  The issues were real, but the movement wasn’t well organized, and the issues didn’t resonate with enough people.  Unfortunately, most of the issues remain.  As Malcolm Gladwell writes in his book Tipping Point the tipping point must be exceeded to promote change.  Occupy didn’t reach a tipping point.   Police   The Police killing of George Floyd reached a Tipping Point.  History, racia...

What will we tell our grandchildren about the 2020 economic slowdown?  Many of our living relatives have some spotty memories of The Great Depression.  Time plays tricks on our memory and it is normal to exaggerate.  Before our memory starts to wane, we hope you will write down your experiences.  Our blog this week hopefully will be a good reference for us and our grandchildren.  Social Media We use social media like we use cable news.  We read social media that agrees with our opinions.  That is limiting and we are trying to expand our social media perspectives to include opinions that are different.  We start with a YouTube channel from a black man , famous football player and a smart student from St. Mark’s Schoolof Texas.   We also are educated and had our perspective expanded by two people on twitter, Peter Henry and Masha Gessen .  We hope you learn something new and that makes you feel uncomfortable.  Diver...