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On Monday November 25th of 2019 Charles Schwab purchased TD Ameritrade for 26 billion dollars in an all stock deal. For some context, Schwab was started in 1971 by Charles Schwab, he is an entrepreneur from Northern California and graduated from Stanford in 1959. *It should be noted that this is different from Klaus Schwab the founder of the World Economic Forum. That's a completely different guy.* So why did Charles Schwab want to buy TD Ameritrade? Well the reasoning is fairly straightforward - it was an opportunity to almost double their customer base from 12 million customers to 23 million customers, and add over a trillion dollars in assets. To help better understand a brokerage company let's use an analogy of a grocery store. in the same way that you need to go to a grocery store in order to buy food you need to go to a brokerage company in order to buy Investments like stocks ETFs or Mutual fund. The main thing TD Ameritrade customers need to know is that they will have to create a new username and password on the Schwab website after their account has moved over. You do NOT have to create new accounts on the Schwab platform, that will automatically be done for you and the investments moved over. For more information, check out welcome.schwab.com 

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Hello!

As we approach the halfway point for 2023, I’d like to share a brief overview on the markets and help you think about your financial plan. Also, be sure to check out my short YouTube video below for additional commentary!

Strengths:

1. Large Cap Stocks (up over 9% by the end of May ‘23)
2. Money markets, CD’s and T-Bills, yielding approximately 5%!

Weaknesses

1. The Fed continuing to raise interest rates
2. Banks, Real Estate Investors impacted by high interest rates
3. Small Cap and International Stocks showing relatively slower growth compared to Large Cap Stocks thus far

Opportunities

1. Investing in profitable, reasonably priced companies such as Value and Dividend paying companies
2. Dollar Cost Averaging into the market (for those who are still working)
3. Learning from last years volatility and staying diversified (more on this in my YouTube Video)

Threats

1. Potential for interest rates staying higher for longer than investors anticipate, which could lead to slow growth or a recession in the future

In summary, while the market was tumultuous last year, this year the market has offered a welcomed respite.

For now I remain optimistic that the market and economy will slowly move forward since unemployment is still low and most Americans are spending money, which helps propel stock prices.

While anything could happen next, the most successful financial plans are those with clearly defined goals, times frames, and risk profile. That way, you can weather any storm and stay on track for financial independence.

Want to chat more? Please feel free to reply to john.chapman@wpwm.com and we can schedule a call.

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The market volatility over the past few years has left some investors reeling...to the point in which they're asking themselves: Isn't the stock market just like one big casino anyways!?

While the market certainly can feel like a roller coaster at times, the reality is this, with gambling, the casino always has higher odds of winning, and the gambler has higher odds of loosing.

Whereas with investing in the stock market, since 1926 the market has produced positive returns In 75% of those years, meaning investors have had high odds of growing their investment.

Why is that the case? The reason is because investors get to benefit from being "part-owners" in innovative companies as they deliver massive value to their customers.

Of course, we don't know what the future might hold and investing involves risk of loss.

But so long as investors are able to participate in the innovative growth for public companies in the future, investing in the market is one of the best ways for investors to stay on track toward financial independence.

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Are you aware of your portfolio’s Price-to-Earnings ratio and why it matters?

In this podcast, John breaks down a recent snapshot of Nvidia since it’s stock has had a dramatic increase this year in price, which has led to a PE Ratio of over 200.

John shares a simple to understand analogy using a Lemonade Stand business so that investors can better understand what a PE Ratio is.

And be sure to tune in at the end, where John describes how investors should build their portfolios in today’s volatile market.

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Investors experienced a drop of about 10% in January 2022, the most in almost 2 years, causing many investors to wonder what the future holds and how to be positioned going forward.

On todays episode, John shares his insights on how to think about investing in the stock market, especially during times of high volatility.

He shares his mental framework for looking at the different economic cycles, and the corresponding market returns.

And in the end, John focuses on two of the most consequential factors in an investors journey:

1) Their mixture of stocks vs. bonds

and

2) How much they save and invest each month relative to their income in pursuit of achieving their long term financial independence

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Are you considering retiring early from your corporate job and want to be set up for success?

Theres an increasing demand for retirement planning given how the workplace has changed in this Covid environment, and it's leading many people to ask these questions:

• Can I retire early?
• Should I retire early?
• How can I take the next step towards retiring early?

On todays episode, John shares his insights on get to get up to speed and have clarity on the action steps you should take.

First, John talks about a helpful tip to understand your budget and spending pattern so you can use that as a reference to decide whether you have enough in savings or not.

Next, John talks about the discernment process of deciding whether you should retire.

And last, John describes the Bucket Strategy to better conceptualize how you could generate income from your portfolio.

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How are you tracking towards your financial goals in 2022?

On todays episode, John talks about a framework for articulating your goals and discovering the right action steps to take to achieve them.

John talks first about the framework of SMART goals. He then talks about a case study example of a family in their 50s with 3 goals that can be tweaked in order to become more actionable. Specifically, John talks about what if looks like to set up a savings target, how to gain clarity on your taxes, and how structure an investment portfolio for growth and safety.

In the end, there's so many distractions out there but most are beyond our control. Instead, John talks about having structure and clarity as the best way to work toward your financial goals this year.

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