When we begin working with a new client at Mullooly Asset Management, the first step in our financial planning process is compiling a household statement of cash flow and balance sheet. Cash flow impacts so many other areas of personal finance and investing that, without it, we’d be driving blind. As an exercise, I thought…
Financial Planning
A Newfound Appreciation for Risk
Given the lightning speed with which we’ve seen the market both decline and recover in 2020, there’s been every opportunity to feel the full spectrum of investing emotions. From despondency to euphoria, we’ve felt it all. Considering this, many investors may now be wondering if the market’s near round-trip is the perfect chance to realign…
Redundancy Prevents Catastrophe
It seems absurd that designing parachutes is just as complicated as making rockets. How could the time spent on a mostly nylon device come anywhere close to that spent on the towering cylinders we launch into outer space? It’s not from lack of effort either. We’ve spent more than 500 years tinkering with parachutes, from…
One-Way Doors
After last Sunday’s Chiefs-Patriots game, NFL referees took some heat for a call they made (what else is new). Officials incorrectly called N’Keal Harry out of bounds before he dove for the pylon on what would have been a crucial touchdown. I assure you that I have not lost any sleep over this call, as…
The Fundamental Law of Lifestyle Inflation
From 2008 to 2011, the Katy Freeway in Houston underwent a $2.8 billion makeover with one goal: reduce traffic. Upon completion, its widest stretch of roadway had been expanded to contain 26 lanes. But as many other metropolitan areas can attest to, one more lane rarely does the trick (see LA below). In the battle…
Context is King
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” This somewhat well-known quote is from a NY Times Magazine piece written by Michael Pollan in 2007. Many know Pollan for, among other things, railing against something called nutritionism. Nutritionism is the idea that the key to understanding food’s impact on our health lies in isolating its individual…