Everytime you turn on the news there is another story about the southern border or immigration. The U.S. economy continues to create more jobs than expected, largely due to "foreign born workers" The Bible teaches that we should love foreigners and refugees. But much has been written about migrant workers stealing jobs from Americans and driving down wages. So how do we reconcile all of that? In this episode of the podcast, we examine the data for immigration and employment in America. 0:00 Intro 2:14 Legal vs. Illegal Immigration 3:28 Immigration Facts 3:58 Impact on Economic Growth 8:19 Are ..read more

Feeling down about the economy and markets? Paying high prices at the store while watching the S&P 500 hit all-time highs? Often, how we feel about the market and our investments doesn't jive with what's really happening. In our Q2 outlook, we look at the data to get a better picture of what's really happening in the economy and financial markets. 0:00 - Inflation Feels Different Than Reality 3:03 - What's Happened So Far This Year? 4:06 - Why Long-Term Perspective is So Important 6:00 - Job Market 8:36 - Layoffs 11:04 - Inflation 12:28 - How Are Companies Doing? 17:19 - Stock Prices and V ..read more

Wondering whether Bitcoin should be a part of your investment portfolio? In this episode we share our perspective on how to consider a crypto investment. What about the new Bitcoin ETFs, should those be a part of your investment portfolio? We discuss: (0:00) Intro & Thesis on Bitcoin (2:53) Blockchain & Distributed Ledger Technology vs. Cryptocurrencies (6:35) Is Bitcoin a Currency? (8:58) Is Bitcoin a good Inflation Hedge? (11:37) Bitcoin as a Safety-Net (12:53) Cryptocurrency Volatility (13:52) New Bitcoin ETFs (15:55) Should Bitcoing Be Part of an Investment Portfolio? Blog Post: ht ..read more

The superbowl is over. Taylor Swift clearly won. Its baseball season and all of that means it's time for taxes in 2024. In this episode, we cover things you can do to reduce your tax bill for 2023 and we also discuss strategies you can use for long-term tax planning. More than 90% of filers are using the standard deduction each year. That means tax reduction isn't about a "hunt for deductions" each year, its about long-term strategies that lower your tax bill over time. Listen to the episode for more insight on all things taxes for 2024! Want to Start a Conversation About Your Long-Term Tax Pl ..read more

It's hard not to notice, but we are in an election year. Did you know that the stock market does better when Democrats hold the oval office? Well... sorta...not really. There is lot's of discussion about the impact of the election on the stock market, interest rates and the economy. In this episode we will break it down and discuss the real impact elections have (or don't have) on markets. We cover: What impact might the election have on stock market returns in 2024? Does it matter if a Democrat or Republican wins the election? Does the stock market actually perform better during Democrat or ..read more

Happy New Year! It's resolution time, but instead of focusing on 5 "check boxes" for a financially successful 2024, what if we took a step back to make a giant leap forward? In this short episode, I dive into a better approach for financial resolutions: aligning your life with your resources. Here are four questions to ask yourself as you kick off 2024: Why am I here? How am I uniquely gifted? How am I creating opportunities for my family to thrive and grow? What am I passionate about changing in my community? What areas of my life are well-resourced? What areas need more resources, either ti ..read more

Will we have a recession in 2024? How will inflation and interest rates impact my job, my investments and the economy? Where should I consider investing in 2024? We dive into those questions and more in our latest outlook. Topics: (0:00) - Intro (1:13) - Post-Covid Economic History 101 (4:29) - Normal vs. The Sugar High (6:08) - Where are We Really on The Investment Journey? (8:21) - Recession Debate and GDP Components (8:55) - Job Market & Strong Consumer (14:52) - Consumer Debt Increasing (16:17) - Consumer Spending Over the Holidays (18:40) - Business Investment & Activity (22:18 ..read more

TAX TIME IS NOW! Not in March of next year. Now is the time to start thinking about strategies to manage your 2023 taxes and it’s also a great time to find professional support to help prepare your tax returns. In this episode we discuss year end planning, including: Tax Loss Selling in Bond Portfolios Retirement Account Contributions, Distributions and Charitable Contributions ROTH Conversions Managing Stock Options Year Trust and Estate Planning Year End 2023 Planning Tips Article: https://www.thecapitalstewards.com/learn/tips-for-2023-year-end-tax-planning Have investment or financial pl ..read more

The interest rate on the 10-year U.S. Treasury has risen from less than 1% in 2020 to almost 5% today. Everyone is talking about mortgage rates, but the implications of higher rates are broader than simply higher mortgage payments. In this episode, we discuss the changes we believe investors should consider for their portfolios and financial plans in this new interest rate environment. We discuss: Re-thinking your investment allocation, i.e., the mix of stocks, bonds and other assets New wealth transfer opportunities created by higher interest rates Read Our Article on Rising Interest Rates ..read more

In part two of our series on real estate investing we discuss our outlook for the real estate market. We cover both the residential and commerical real estate markets from the perspective of a long-term, generational investor. We discuss: The different types of real estate investors should consider owning Our outlook for residential real estate The profitability of current and new short-term rentals (Airbnb and VRBO) with real-time data Our outlook for commercial real estate The impact of higher rates on properties Learn More: https://www.thecapitalstewards.com Have investment or financial ..read more