Capitalize Your Fridays!

Let's talk Tik Tok. Is Tik Tok going to get banned? And does even apply to me if I'm not a current user? Mike and Taylor dive into the Tik Tok news and what this could mean for different areas of the US economy.

We want to look after our service professionals, but has Tipping gotten out of hand? Mike and Taylor cover what’s the big issue with tipping? What’s typical for tip protocol? And more.

In this episode, Mike and Taylor cover the top 3 relationship risks when transitioning into retirement.

1. Retirement vision and timeline for that vision
2. Financial harmony
3. Health and longevity

What's an RMD and why do I have to pull money from my account each year? Or do I? In this episode, Mike and Taylor dive into these common questions about required minimum distributions (RMDs), how they're calculated, and the history of them.

ABC’s it’s easy as… wait, no, what business Entity is best for me? In this episode, Mike and Taylor review what a business entity is and the different types of business entities.

Where do you fall on the financial readiness scale? This episode answers questions many of our listeners may have regarding their current financial security relative to social norms.

Santa is coming to town and as he takes off on his sleigh, he may bring the stock market up with him this year. Let’s dive into the concept of the Santa Stock Market Swing.

Tune in to hear about Taylor’s first home buying experience and learn more about the home buying process.

What do my statements even mean and why do I need them? In this episode, we demystify common financial statements and dive into how to understand them.

In this episode, Malcolm Theobald joins the ALTIUS team to discuss the rise in electric vehicle demand and the current global energy crisis. Malcolm has 30 years of industry experience in energy along with the recent experience in purchasing an electric vehicle.

In this episode, Mike and Taylor dive into 1031 exchanges - what it is, how you can utilize it when buying and selling rental real estate, and Mike's own experiences with these.

Earlier this year, ALTIUS had a virtual workshop with Gerry Hollis, who presented on Health Savings Accounts (HSA). If you missed that workshop or need a refresher on HSAs, then this is the episode for you! Mike and Taylor dive into how to utilize HSAs for investing and tax benefits.

It's been a long time since the official purchase of TD Ameritrade by Schwab, but the full transition date is coming up this Labor Day (September 4, 2023). At ALTIUS, we've been preparing for this transition and staying on top of the updates from TD and Schwab in the last couple years. So, in this episode, we answer the questions many of our listeners may have regarding the transition from TD to Schwab.

Given the recent debt ceiling debate and worldwide economic uncertainty, many of our clients have asked us about the issue of reserve currency status...will the US dollar continue to function as the currency that the world uses?

The most common types of alternative investments include real estate, collectibles, commodities, private equity, and derivatives. But in this episode, Mike and Taylor cover a couple new unique alternative investments in the wine and art industries. They discuss the potential risk and benefits of these newer investments.

With summer travel coming up, Mike and Taylor review the process of travel credit cards, and how to maximize credit card points. In this overview on credit card points and benefits, Taylor goes over some tips & tricks and things to look out for when considering a credit card.

The Secure Act 2.0 will likely have an impact on ALTIUS' clients, so in this episode Mike and Taylor give an overview of the Secure Act 2.0 and outline how they're thinking about it in the long-term. At the end of the episode, they also discuss the process of stock buybacks and how they affect shareholders.

What is this Chat GPT I hear people talking about? Listen along as Mike and Taylor introduce you to and implement the world's fastest growing new tech - Chat GPT. We cover the new artificial intelligence (AI) language processing chat bot technology that is currently at the forefront of bringing AI to the masses and how it relates to investing.

In this episode, Mike and Taylor discuss the current banking situation (SVB, Credit Suisse, etc) and explain the recent and historic events that led to this predicament.

In this episode we discuss some of the recent layoff turmoil and how this has spread beyond just the tech industries. We share our outlook on causes of these layoffs, our perspective on how this may or may not present investment opportunities, and our suggestions to any listener who may be directly experiencing this difficult time.

Our guest this week is Kim Crea, Senior Vice President of Residential Lending at Draper & Kramer Mortgage. Kim has a wealth of knowledge about mortgage lending and has been helping people with their home financing needs since 2003. She loves working with first-time homebuyers, repeat purchasers, or those looking to refinance, and her goal is to make the loan process as easy and smooth as possible. In this episode, Kim walks Mike through the process of “locking in” interest rates, the typical closing timing in the current market, and answers questions about the current housing market and whether now is a good time to buy a home.

ALTIUS recently had a client ask about investing in tech and what is going on with many of the large companies losing trillions based on their share price. So, in this episode, we discuss the chaos around big tech's layoffs and loss of capital, and what that means for ALTIUS' outlook on current market volatility.

Let’s dive into what Market Capitalization is and how it helps investors make allocation decisions.

In this episode, Mike and Taylor discuss what it means to become a new client. Such as, what questions to ask a new advisor, what it means to become a client with a financial advisor, and what the ALTIUS Financial client experience looks like.

Mike and Taylor discuss the 2022 market conditions and the failure of using the 60/40 Rule to protect one's nest egg.  What happened and should you throw out the old asset allocation rules?

The recent FTX drama has everyone wondering what’s in store for the future of crypto currency. Tune in to hear our thoughts on what has happened so far and our future outlook for decentralized finance.

Recently, we've had many clients ask about the Debt ceiling and with the government continuing to increase spending and assistance policies the current “debt ceiling” seems more of an open sunroof than an actual ceiling. So in this episode, Taylor questions Mike about his thoughts on government debt and how it may impact our client portfolios.

Let's clarify the employee healthcare policy election process by breaking down terminology and policy types to help you make the right selection. In this episode we cover coinsurance, copays, different types of health insurance plans, and most importantly how an HSA account can benefit your overall financial situation in the long-term.

Pets may be our furry family members, but we often overlook how their expenses quickly add up. Today we discuss the finances around adopting and supporting our favorite fluffy family members.

One of the main financial topics we discuss with clients is preparing for retirement, but here at ALTIUS we think being ready for retirement is not only about how much you've saved. So, in this episode, we discuss what it really takes to be retirement ready and how enjoying the journey shows that there's so much more to life than retirement.

With COVID on the downturn why are we still seeing challenges in our local and global supply chain? Mike and Taylor discuss their research on where these supply chain shortages are at and why - tune in to hear!

It’s a bit harsh to say that a whole generation hates an individual, but it is interesting to point out that much of the millennial generation doesn’t agree with Dave Ramsey's financial philosophy. Listen to this episode to find out why.

In this episode, Taylor tells Mike about some of her recent experiences of buying direct, which sparked the question "Is it always or ever cheaper to buy direct?" Listen to hear Taylor and Mike's thoughts on what is worth getting a deal for and what isn't. Also, at the beginning of this episode we give a brief update on President Biden's Student Loan Announcement and Updates.

Politicians have a knack for naming legislation to make it seem more palatable, especially in election years. This bill is no different since most people really are experiencing the effects of inflation with much higher prices on everyday items. Mike and Taylor discuss President Biden's most recent bill and its potential impact on the economy, markets and client portfolios.

We're excited for our 50th episode release! Listen to find out why we created Capitalize Your Fridays and to hear more about what's coming next for our podcast.

Communication is key and in this episode Mike and Taylor talk about a particular miscommunication with a client that led first to some confusion, then laughter and finally to a history lesson.  Mike often talks about "chewing on" ideas, as in pondering and then digesting something new or different and he talks about the history of Judaism, finance, money-lending and finance.

In this special episode for Independence Day, Mike and Taylor read Walking Tall to show what it means to have financial freedom. They also discuss the meaning of Independence Day and why it's important to appreciate the founding and revolution - to be patriotic, but cautious of nationalism.

In this episode, Mike and Taylor discuss gold as an investment, and focus on the potential value of purchasing metals and how to hold those types of assets. Tune in to hear the answers to questions like - How is gold valuable? Is jewelry an adequate holding for precious metals? And can precious metals hedge inflation?

Has anyone ever told you, "You need 20% down to buy a house"? This is one of the financial industry's old "rules of thumb" and one that Mike & Taylor discuss in this episode. There are so many old financial rules, but it's hard to know whether or not they're actually applicable now or if they need to be adjusted. So Mike & Taylor take on this challenge to ask -- are the old rules only for the older generations?

Why do we hate people at the top? Is it the natural human need for drama or are billionaires really bad? Or are they truly good for the economy and people, but get vilified by society? Mike and Taylor discuss all these questions in this week's episode about the current envy economy mindset.

At ALTIUS, our investment approach is personalized and catered toward your life's goals, but we know that different investing techniques and strategies can get confusing. So on this Friday's podcast, Mike and Taylor dive into the specifics and differences between active and passive investing.

This week Mike and Taylor discuss the rollercoaster of Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter and clarify why it's important to understand the difference between private and publicly traded (still private property) companies. From there they evaluate free speech and more when it comes to company values and the role of shareholder voting.

Can it be good to invest in our vices? Like beer, tobacco, etc? In this episode discover more about vice investing with Taylor and Mike, and whether investing in our vices can be profitable. And even if it's profitable, is it good or ethical?

It's pretty low odds to win the lottery, but if you do here's some steps to take if you do! There's a lot of different options and situations you might come up against if you ever win the lottery or acquire a lot of money suddenly, so Mike & Taylor discuss what that could look like.

In most episodes we talk a lot about ALTIUS as a business, but in this episode, we decided to let our listeners know a little bit more about our team. Listen to get to know Mike, Taylor, Jenn, and Krescent.

This week, Mike and Taylor have a conversation about Environmental, Social, and (Corporate) Governance Investing - more commonly known as ESG Investing. It's a controversial topic with a lot of different views across generations. They elaborate more on what this means and whether it actually might be profitable to invest in ESG.