I am delighted to announce that Kacie Swartz, CFP®, CIMA®, is joining Black Barn as our newest Managing Partner and wealth advisor.

Kacie has been in the financial services industry since 2001 and has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner since 2012. For over 20 years, Kacie has been committed to simplifying financial concepts and making financial literacy accessible to everyone. You will be receiving additional information about this expansion to our team in the weeks ahead. I’m thrilled to welcome Kacie to the Black Barn team!

As I’m writing this email, we’re at, or near, this year’s lows. The underlying causes are still the same: The Federal Reserve is fighting inflation with higher interest rates, and markets are having a hard time adjusting. Trading algorithms are also kicking in, leading to a mass selloff across stocks, bonds, energy and real estate. When different investments all fall at the same time, it can be demoralizing.

We’re investing for the long run, which means now is still not the time to panic. Here’s what you can do right now.

Uncertainty in the markets could continue to churn in the near term, and that makes it especially hard to plan for the future with confidence. How can we deal with near-term risk and still constructively invest for long-term growth? I've put together a very simple framework that helps me cut through the complexity of current events.

The news of war in Ukraine is being digested by global markets. While we continue to focus on the long-term, we’re steeling ourselves for continued volatility as the crisis unfolds.

The markets are in the middle of a pullback, and while it can feel like unprecedented times, the truth is that declines like this happen fairly frequently.

For those of you looking for higher yields on your cash or cash-like holdings, read on for more details.

Tech stock volatility has received a lot of press coverage in 2021. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index hit new all-time highs four times this year. Every time it hits a new high, the news covers it with bells and whistles. Every time it falls off that high and comes a tiny bit back down towards earth, you hear sirens and alarms.

It's hard to reflect on an experience when you're in the middle of it. But the pandemic has been with us long enough to finally teach me something. Last month brought the one year anniversary of the pandemic. Our lives changed instantly and profoundly, and we'll be telling stories about life under quarantine to our grandchildren. But with vaccines now widely available, we may be close to getting something of our old lives back.

The modern world makes it easy to forget what's really important. But slow WiFi interrupting your favorite Netflix show doesn't seem nearly as annoying after you've spent a few days shivering inside your house, wondering if it's safe to drink the tap water.

A Reddit-fueled trading drama captured the world’s attention last week as thousands of individual traders banded together to drive up the stock of a company many had never heard of before -- GameStop (NYSE: GME). This strange episode makes for great socially-distanced dinner party chit-chat, but it's not a template for good investing.GameStop is a video game retailer that has spent years on the wrong end of an economy that continues to pivot away from physical stores and physical video games.

December is here and what a year it's been. From the pandemic to the market crash to the election, this has simply been the craziest, most turbulent year in living memory. Here's one thing you can do to make 2021 a little bit easier.