A few weeks ago a prospective client called our office and was looking for help in a few different areas. One of those areas was advice on investment selection and asset allocation. Initially, the individual seemed like they may be a good fit. The individual was mentioning long-term time frames, buy and hold, value, and other terminology that seemed in-line with our firm’s investment philosophy. Then just a few minutes after exclaiming all of that, the individual then mentioned that they were looking for someone who could tell them “what kind of a market we were in” on an ongoing basis. I paused briefly and asked what the individual meant. They told me that they were looking for someone to tell them if we were currently in a growth market, value market, etc. Immediately I knew that this potential relationship would not be coming to fruition. Politely, I told the […]
stock market
Perspective on Market Direction
From time to time we are asked about where we think the market is heading, whether or not another crash or “correction” is imminent and whether or not investing in the stock market is a wise investment. To give a little perspective on this, I want to share a story with you. In January of 1995 I was starting the second semester of my senior year in high school. Like many high school seniors, I was excited for graduation and ready for my learning to be over (oh, the ignorance!). In my senior social studies class we had an assignment. We were to pick a major, recurring news theme that we could track and report on for the entire semester. Naturally, when the time came for us to initially report on the news theme we had selected, I had completely forgotten about the assignment and the due date. In a […]

Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
The latest in our Owner’s Manual series, A 401(k) Owner’s Manual, was published in January 2020 and is available on
A Medicare Owner’s Manual, is updated with 2020 facts and figures. This manual is available on
Social Security for the Suddenly Single can be found on Amazon at
Sterling’s first book, Lose Weight Save Money, can be
An IRA Owner’s Manual, 2nd Edition is available for purchase on Amazon. Click the link to choose the
Jim’s book – A Social Security Owner’s Manual, is now available on Amazon. Click this link for the
And if you’ve come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed “advisor’s advisor”.