If you’ve ever had the distinct displeasure of taking a class on logistics and inventory management, you learn about “the bullwhip effect.” Succinctly, it’s the problem caused by lagging inventory demand. For example, you have 10,000 widgets to sell this month, but demand is for 12,000. So next month, you order 14,000 because you want to fulfill the original 10,000 …

Here in Longmont, we have a few primary employers that many people work with: the county or city, the school district, and a variety of private employers in major industries such as healthcare, tech, and aerospace. While these common employers mean we’re also blessed with good schools and a generally well-educated population, it also means that there are several common …

It goes without saying that we see change in the small business community of Longmont all the time. When I started my practice, I got coffee regularly at La Vita Bella at 5th & Main, the Dickens Opera House was still the longest-standing bar and foodery in town, and fun establishments like Wibby, 300 Suns, and Abbott & Wallace were …

I’ve spilled a good amount of digital ink over the past several years about the pointlessness of debating fees in the world of financial planning. Not because fees are irrelevant or unimportant in the measurement of the cost of financial products or services, but because the debate is typically either people with a financial interest in arguing for or against …

Odd title for a blog, I know, but bear with me for a moment. Let me place a hypothetical in front of you: You run a business with a traditional progression path from entry level to intermediate level to advanced level, and finally onto executive or management roles at the top of the career ladder. Like most organizations, your company …

One of the more interesting proposals to come out of the current administration over the past year recently just floated down the newswire. While not yet in the form of a bill in congress, the administration has suggested it will push to allow the use of a portion of available 401(k) (and possibly other similar retirement plans) to purchase a …

Open, honest, non-judgmental question: What do you know about finance? Perhaps more importantly, how do you know what you know? Did your parents sit you down when you were young and teach you everything you know today? Did you take a class in High School or maybe college? Sit through a “Financial Peace University” series at your church or sign …

Over the winter break, I took the time to peruse Bob Veres’ new book, “A Behind-The-Scenes History of the Financial Planning Profession.” This won’t be a book review, though one will likely be forthcoming (early thoughts: It’s quite good, if quite long.) The relevance of this particular 736 page read is not to begin an exhortation of the short but …

It’s a curious observation that in the world of financial planning, much like many other professions, there’s a regular decade-ly hysteria about whether the next generation of technology might do away with this financial planning business altogether. Before I was in the planning business, it was the idea that non-levelized commissions would drive the brokerages out of business. With the …