In a new video, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNING PROFESSIONAL Morgan H Smith Jr., Partner & Advisor with WorthPointe discusses opportunities for investors to participate in the growing field of AI. A secret, it’s really his AI-generated avatar communicating his thoughts on this topic. His unique perspective comes from an academic and disciplined approach for long term investors who have trusts, retirement assets, or simply any investment assets they cannot afford to lose.     Morgan H Smith Jr. is an investment advisor with WorthPointe, LLC, a registered investment adviser in San D ..read more

After periods of robust stock market performance, many investors feel like they might want to reduce their risk or exposure to stocks as they foresee an inevitable downturn right around the corner. They may be right, they may be wrong, they really can’t know but as a financial advisor, these are the types of concerns I need to genuinely listen to and address either by education, planning, investment adjustments, or a combination therein. As such I’d like to lay out three ways to reduce risk in an investment portfolio. First I’d like to emphasize a reason why you should not reduce risk in your ..read more

Everyone I’ve been speaking with lately agrees that 2024 has hit with a bang and everyone seems to be very busy. Thankfully, it seems that it’s a good-busy with family, work, travel, and projects. The double-edged sword of a relaxing holiday season is coming back and trying to get back into the groove which can sometimes be a struggle. It’s moments like these that remind us that we can’t do it all ourselves. Well, we could try, but we’d be miserable. So, I thought I’d share a couple of resources for busy people as a small reminder and refresh of some positive things you can do to help you with ..read more

Here’s a fourth quarter “Top 10 To Do List” of items that have a year-end deadline: Make sure you take out your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) if it applies to you or be liable for a 50% penalty on the amount that should have been withdrawn.   If your income tax bracket is low this year, consider whether doing a Roth conversion is appropriate. Sell your losing positions in taxable accounts to harvest these tax losses to offset gains. And losses can be carried forward until they are used up.* Max out your 401k, 403b (make sure you get your match) and IRA contributions. Make your ..read more

Quick Quiz: What do you think I feel is the most important role as an advisor with my clients? Financial Planning Behavioral Coaching Investment Management Resource Due Diligence I’ll answer below but let me provide some insights first. A study by Russell Investments calculated the potential value of a financial advisor at 5.12% annually before fees. When thinking about whether to do things on your own or partnering up with a financial advisor it would certainly be beneficial to think about the potential long term wealth benefits for you and your family with say a net 4% annual benefit to yo ..read more

  WorthPointe has been named on Financial Advisor’s annual survey and ranking of independent registered investment advisors (RIAs) for 2023. The list ranks firms based on assets under management as of December 31, 2022, based on firms that voluntarily complete and submit FA Magazine’s survey. RIA Firms from across the country are invited by Financial Advisor Magazine to complete a survey that evaluates various data points, including year-end assets, growth in assets, and growth in clients, among other factors. The criteria ranked WorthPointe alongside other firms in the $500 million to le ..read more

Here are two observations I have on life: Motivation does not sustain itself. Discipline and continued effort is a challenge. Staying motivated in one specific area of your life is a very challenging proposition. In reality, we are multitaskers juggling the various demands of our lives and it’s next to impossible to always stay motivated with everything all of the time. With family, careers, social lives, technology, and health routines, we have to focus our energy on separate areas at different times.  I suppose it’s technically impossible to maintain a disciplined and continued effort ..read more

When investing, it would be awesome to be super awesome all the time. Unfortunately, unlike the fictional world of Lake Wobegon or The Incredibles, reality is not very accommodating to over confident fantasies of perpetual awesomeness. As a father of a nine year old son, I’m cognizant of the dangers that superhero shows and movies might have on the expectations of what might be possible in life. Yes, those movies are fun and have some good lessons but they are often completely unrealistic. The art of parenting is educating children on the distinction between the fantasies and expectations of t ..read more

Danger can be defined as “something or someone that may harm you.” My role working with families as a financial advisor is to help them try to avoid dangers involved in our financial world which I believe is interestingly influenced by emotional and psychological factors. A recent article in the New York Times, “Rookie Traders Are Calling It Quits, And Their Families Are Thrilled” illustrates a danger quite effectively, namely, losing everything; “In early 2022, Mr. Garcia lost everything in his portfolio on a bad options bet, leaving him in a foul mood.” This, despite the fact that Mr. Garcia ..read more

Recently the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, as a supplement to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook Report October 2022 stated in his blog that “Overall, this year’s shocks will re-open economic wounds that were only partially healed post-pandemic. In short, the worst is yet to come, and, for many people, 2023 will feel like a recession.” Of course, the media has picked up on this and I’m sure many of you and other investors are not only reading about these issues but also experiencing them with higher prices and recent negative investment returns. I ..read more