Cash and debt management can be an ally or detriment to a person’s financial well-being.  In today’s information age, personal finance tools are plentiful.  However, many are unknown, misunderstood, or aren’t applicable to one’s lifestyle.

A constant theme we address with clients is a desire or need for improved cash flow and/or liquidity.  And sometimes, little do they know, a resource may lie right beneath their feet…literally.
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A Home Equity Line of Credit (a.k.a. HELOC) may be a solution to add flexibility to your cash management practices.  HELOCs have been on the financial scene since the 1990s.  On March 31, 2016 Forbes wrote an article titled “Your Neighbor Got a HELOC, Should You?”[1] and stated “Over 37 million borrowers have an average of $112,000 equity available to tap in their homes…”.  For some home owners, putting this equity to use could provide multiple benefits.  Let’s explore a few and don’t worry, it’s not a one-sided conversation – we will examine the disadvantages as well.

Full Disclosure: I (Nathaniel) am not a Wall Street analyst.
 
What do you think of when you hear "Wall Street estimates"?  Most people vaguely think of sitting at home on their couch, channel surfing on their TV and coming across the CNBC channel.  They may hear about a company that has reported their earnings, and Wall Street's estimates were different from what the company was reporting.  Ring any bells?  Beyond what you see on CNBC, what do Wall Street estimates truly mean?  What effect(s) do they truly have on companies?

​As many of you know, at LBW, we try to blog once a month.  However, we felt “Election Decision 2016” warranted a continuation of our Q3 2016 Commentary where we wrote about the weeks leading up to yesterday - November 8, 2016.  To quote our Q3 2016 Commentary “We will admit none of us at LBW are political geniuses nor wish to discuss our political views, but a new President (regardless of whom is elected) means uncertainty and uncertainty raises questions.”.  The uncertainty we spoke about was made evident by the markets last night with the S&P 500’s and Dow’s (DJIA) futures losing roughly 5% at their lows.  Why?  The markets felt it was Hillary’s to win, but Trump gathered steam quickly and never gave it up thereby leading him to be declared the 45th President of the United States of America. 

Some people may have potentially felt a sense of fear as they watched the market futures tumble and then open positively today.  Our role as financial educators and active money managers is to address these potential fears and add perspective.

The volatility experienced, is not the end of financial markets.  2016 has been ripe with volatility from China’s stock market issues in January to BREXIT’s surprise vote in June.  It is our role, responsibility, and skill set to be apprised of what factors may impact the businesses we invest in; this is our primary concern.  As we tell prospective and current clients, we take such factors into consideration when conducting our research, but we do not let them dictate our investment decisions.  Market volatility allows investors practicing the value investing framework to shine – as macro factors push markets down, companies we are researching or own could be selling at irrational discounts versus our estimates of their value.

“Election Decision 2016” may come with changes to policies such as re-negotiated trade agreements, altered financial regulations, and immigration policy upheaval.  Specific companies may be impacted for better or worse.  At LBW we think long-term, and as mentioned above, feel this potential short-term volatility may create opportunities.  We will be ready to capitalize on these possible changes and/or volatility, and invest accordingly.

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​A common story we hear from potential clients is that they have had an unpleasant financial experience recently or at some point in the past.  One rampant story involves said client speaking with someone who they thought was a full-service financial advisor and was going to help provide them financial guidance or specific advice/management pertaining to their investable assets.  Instead, they spoke with an insurance agent applying pressure to buy a permanent life insurance policy with a cash value component[1].  Not exactly what the client was asking for, and probably not what they needed either.   Does that necessarily matter to the agent who is going to be paid a rather substantial commission for their sale of the product?

​How LBW See’s It
The third quarter of 2016 has come and gone faster than the Wisconsin summer (and that’s saying something).  However, the beginning of the fourth quarter seems only to be heating up as we approach the election of a new U.S. president.  Why write about the election?  We will admit none of us at LBW are political geniuses nor wish to discuss our political views, but a new President (regardless of whom is elected) means uncertainty and uncertainty raises questions.  The one we have been asked most is “What is going to happen to the markets if Trump or Clinton are elected?”.  That is the million-dollar question, and we will try our best to provide our point of view as it relates to the stock market.

​On April 6, 2016 the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized a ruling addressing conflicts of interest they felt were evident in financial advisers’ retirement advice.  This rule is more commonly known as the “DOL Fiduciary Rule”.  We recognize the rule was finalized a few months ago, but we keep running into people who don’t quite understand the rule and its impact.  So, in this month’s blog we are going to examine what the DOL rule truly means, and our opinion on the perceived impact to the financial industry.

​At a moment’s notice we can jump on the internet, an app, or turn on the TV and see how the U.S. markets are performing.  Is the S&P 500 up today?  How is the Dow doing?  These and other indices have become synonymous with the “U.S. markets”.  However, what is rarely understood is the composition, selection criteria, removal criteria, and the individuals managing these indices.  So, we decided to shed some light on the construction of the “U.S. markets”.

​LBW would like to thank Laura Skilton Verhoff at Stafford Rosenbaum, LLP for collaborating with us on this piece.  Her insight was invaluable.
 
On April 21st, 2016 the music world was stunned—Prince Rodgers Nelson (Prince) passed away at his home in Chanhassen, Minnesota.  Prince, an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor, was known as a musical innovator.  He challenged the industry throughout the years with his extravagant dress and style of music.  His innovative style and impact on the music industry allowed him to amass a sizeable fortune.  At LBW we respect and appreciate what Prince had accomplished in the musical world; however, what truly amazes us is that Prince did not have an estate plan.

​How LBW See’s It​
Every quarter it seems we start our commentary with a new “OMG” (yes, LBW used “OMG” as an acronym for “OH MY GOSH”) event and Q2 of 2016 did not disappoint.  Headlines were flooded with the BREXIT (a hype word for the United Kingdom exiting the European Union) event to our very own reality TV show, that is the United States (“U.S.”) presidential race.  All joking aside, it seems that the U.S. as well as the world has become even more unpredictable, from slow anemic growth across the world to central banks’ monetary policies that seem to be changing every other month.  This erratic environment has assisted in the creation of volatility we have seen in the markets year-to-date.  Combine the impulsive nature of the world today with the U.S.’ almost seven-plus-year bull market[1], your result: “The tides have raised all ships, now the storm is causing choppy waters”.

As most of you already know, as of yesterday the United Kingdom (“UK”) voted on whether to stay in the European Union or to exit (hence the media hype word BREXIT).  Many pundits believed that due to the “status quo bias”[1] that Britons would vote to remain in the European Union (“EU”), and the markets seemed to price this decision in as of yesterday.  However, waking up this morning the world was “shocked” that Britons had decided to leave the EU, which sent global markets awry.  The next rational question is: why?