Sarah Swan

Shipping containers stacked on ships

Trump’s 2025 Tariff Plan: Market Impacts and Portfolio Strategies

We’ve spoken with so many clients who are feeling completely uneasy about recent market volatility and the political landscape, and for good reason of course. So many of you have weathered market storms before, but as I said in last week’s Insights piece, it’s one of those things that unfortunately doesn’t get any easier just because you have past experience with it. We empathize with the angst and uncertainty you’ve likely felt the past month but of course particularly over the last two days regarding tariffs—and more than empathy, we feel this weight on your behalf.

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Grandmas and grand-daughters having tea in an apple orchard

The Gift of Simplicity: Why Consolidating Finances and Logistics Matters as We Age 

If my kids were old enough to read this newsletter, they’d say “Mom, all you do is lecture people, including us.” Good thing for me, they aren’t there yet. But alas, I hope you wouldn’t agree with their presumed sentiment. The reality is that as advisors to our many, many cherished clients over decades, we believe we pick up on themes to which individuals wouldn’t otherwise be privy.

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Open book on white background with window light

Investment and Life Lessons from the Greats: Buffett, Munger, and Berkshire

I set a goal for myself to read more in 2024. This felt equal parts lofty (where will I find the time?!) and obvious (perhaps less doomsday scrolling, and online shopping would serve me well). I had never been a big reader before, and I wasn’t proud of that. This year, though, something was unlocked for me—admittedly, and embarrassingly, many years overdue. I gave myself permission to drop anything that wasn’t thrilling to me, and I figured out what I love to read. The result? Twenty-nine completed titles in 2024, and eight dropped titles. Life is, in my opinion, too short to suffer through books I don’t like.

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Fall travel photo

Money is Weird: The Psychological Side of Our Financial Choices

What I shouldn’t do as a financial advisor is wax poetic about the ways a person should spend their money. We give a lot of informed advice as advisors, and much of that advice is centered around data and modeling and educated extrapolating about a person’s specific circumstances, but one thing that’s less straightforward is advice about how people should spend their hard-earned money. Money is so personal.

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White pot on stove with steam rising

Insights: Let the Market Be a Gut-Check 

I recently met with an impressive 90-something-year-old client of mine who’s been managing his own investments for most of his life. It’s only recently that he decided it’d be a good idea to give up [some of the] reins and lean on an advisor. I have to commend a decision like that.

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dock on St. Lawrence River

An Ode to Summertime

When you’re little, the world around you seems to turn like a play. And you’re at the center of it. Scenes change; sets turn over—without so much as an interruption. The show goes off without a hitch. The crew in black aren’t seen as they rush around the stage—but you wouldn’t have noticed them anyway. Because things happen somewhat magically when you’re a kid.

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Flip clock moving

Help Maximize Returns: A Comprehensive Guide to Savings and Short-Term Investments

Over the last couple of years, a very commonly asked question we hear from clients or regularly address in our financial planning process with individuals is what to do with savings in this environment of higher short-term interest rates. It’s a good question, and one that hadn’t been particularly relevant in the decade prior, marked by near-zero interest rates. It’s relevant now and continues to be relevant.

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