Blog

While reading about legendary musician David Bowie, who died from cancer at age 69 last week, I was David Bowiesurprised to learn that in addition to music he also had a huge influence on Wall Street.…

Types of Buyers & Buyer Characteristics - John Mickelson will discuss the potential types of buyers for your business and what most buyers will look for when contemplating an acquisition.…

The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea From the desk of Wayne Johnson CFP®, AEP®, CAP®, HDP®, MBA The Go-Giver If your family is like mine, one of the more popular gift ideas at Christmas time is to give a thoughtfully selected book. A book that I will be giving this year is The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg and John David Mann. While the story of the Go-Giver does apply to business, it also applies to how we live our lives outside of our jobs and offices.…

Embrace Aging is a series of educational conversations on aging to the end-of-life featuring expert speakers and public discussion moderated by representatives from AARP Iowa. This program is brought to you by Calvin Community Foundation, a non-profit continuous care retirement community, and The Comparison Project at Drake University with special thanks to our sponsors.…

We are so thrilled to be participating again this year in the 2015 STAR 102.5 Combat Hunger campaign. Together, our associates donated 50 pounds of food and personal care products, and $370 cash to this year's campaign!…

James and I successfully made it to Boston to attend Charles Schwab's Annual "Impact" Investment Conference. Luckily we arrived before the rain started and squeezed in a tour of the Freedom Trail before the conference started this morning. We are excited to be here with a great opportunity to learn from investment experts and share ideas with other advisors.…

The 2015 annual Schwab Conference has been amazing so far; it's been exciting and educational. It's only day two of three and I've gained insight on where China's headed, what the Fed is going to do with rates, and the meaning of liquid hydro carbons (a fancy word for oil!!!). Below is a summary of what I've learned so far.…

For a finance nerd like myself, it doesn't get much better than listening to two investment icons debate about the best way to invest money. I got the chance to do just that yesterday between the "old school" Yale professor Roger Ibbotson and the "new school" researcher Robert Arnott. The title of the debate "Can Markets be Timed?" did not actually stir much arguing. Both agreed that it is impossible to time the markets by knowing when to buy and sell at the exact right times. They also agreed that investors should avoid the most "popular" stocks in the media because they are often too expensive.…

Achieving Work-Life Balance By: Matt Roberts, Sherpa Investment Management As my wife and I prepare for our first child, it has me thinking about how I allocate my time. Like many people, much of my time is spent working and with family (some weeks it's more work than family). In a survey done by Harvard Business School, 94% of working professionals reported working more than 50 hours per week and 50% reported working more than 65 hours per week.…

Retirees are desperate for investment income to cover their living expenses. Low interest rates have caused retirees to chase after higher yields in riskier investments. A few years ago this pushed the price of high yield bonds up causing the yields to be lower.…