Shawn Ezell, LPL Financial Advisor

04/13/2023

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The $500,000 difference

Why automate you savings?

This chart shows the difference in two account values at the end of 40 years of saving and investing. One account made automatic contributions on a monthly basis, the other only made year end contributions.

The lower account only missed 5 out of 40 years of contributions and it cost them over $500,000.

The less you think about savings the easier it gets

02/06/2023

Friday, February 3, 2023

02/06/2023

Thursday, February 2, 2023

02/06/2023

Friday, February 3, 2023

08/24/2022

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/24/biden-expected-to-cancel-10000-in-federal-student-loan-debt-for-most-borrowers.html

President Joe Biden announced he will forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for most borrowers.

07/13/2022

Today was one of those days. We have all had them where it felt like I was trying to put a square peg in a round hole using brute force.

Then I met with a longtime client and friend. During our meeting we discussed the usual but they said something that stopped me in my tracks. “Yeah, I remember we talked about this the last few times, I have trust in you and the process”.

Wow

We have been through this before

We have been through a lot of things before.

We watched nukes off the coast of Florida, hero’s shot in the streets, hyperinflation, oil embargo’s, dot com bubbles, attacks on our soil, decades long wars, great recessions, and most recently global pandemics. Each and everyone of these event was followed by Americans going back to work and building products and providing services to make all of our lives a little better. Each and every event was terrifying but met by the resilience and grit of the American people.

This time may feel different but as Mark Twain famously said “History may not repeat itself but it sure does rhyme.”

07/08/2022

I recently had the opportunity to have breakfast with Dan Arnold, President and CEO of LPL Financial. This was not a large event with thousands of attendees and a brief photo op as you would assume. Instead this was a small breakfast with 10-15 people who spent an hour and a half talking about how we can be better for our clients.

Thank you for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to share your thoughts and listen to ours.

06/16/2022

Just a PSA. We are at higher levels today after the sell off than we were when we hit all time highs in Feb of 2020.

06/15/2022

The Fed is increasing interest rates by 75 bpts. What does that mean for you and your family.

Have you found yourself delaying a purchase because the price is too high or interest rates have increased making the payments a little out of your price range? Do you know anyone who has said I'll wait to buy a car, house, pool etc until next year?

As rates increase more and more people and businesses delay purchases until a "better time". Many of the goods purchased are financed over time. As rates increase the total cost of owning the asset increases and the total number of people willing to pay the higher price (demand) falls.

We will begin to see easing on the supply chain with a resolution in geopolitical tensions or easing on COVID policies internationally. This should result in higher levels of supply. A change in Fed rates will decrease demand. Both an increase in supply and decrease in demand will work toward reducing the burden we all feel with current inflation.

This is a move to encourage savings over consumption. So if you find yourself waiting for a big purchase know you aren't alone.

The Federal Open Market Committee released its decision on interest rates Wednesday, with markets expecting a three-quarter point hike.

06/14/2022

Average US households are spending $5,000/year on gasoline according to Yardeni Research.

This is up from $2,800/ year last year.

Where is this additional $2200 coming from in your budget?

06/12/2022

I wanted to share a key takeaway from the last few days. We spent a tremendous amount of time discussing yields, the fed, probabilities of recessions, and other nuanced signals that provide insight to help navigate these markets. The most meaningful moment was a trivial fact thrown out in the meetings opening comments.

In 1878 JP Morgan invested start up capital with Thomas Edison to allow the inventor to ”light up America”. As a result of this investment JP Morgan’s home was the first in the country to received electricity. The second was the White House.

We invest our capital in companies that provide solutions. If you were to look at the balance sheet of Edison you may have made a different decision. When you look at the solution to “light up” the dark the decision became easier.

Companies are built on providing solutions to challenges we face every day. Over time the consumer will drive the growth of companies that provide the most value to us. It might be companies that help us farm more efficiently or others that allow us to share our thoughts with the world via our cell phones. Stop and think of the products you have used just to see this post, all products you have bought and use regularly.
Be an owner of companies that solve problems and zoom out. The consumer drives growth!

I’ll leave you with a quote from JP Morgan “Any man who is a bear on the future of this country will go broke.”

06/09/2022

Heading to NYC this morning to continue to learn about strategies and techniques to navigate through this economy. It is challenging for a kid from western Oklahoma to sit in a room with phd’s from all the ivy schools. Time to put the ego aside and stay curious. I want to soak up as much information as I can and continue to get a little better each day.

“If you are the smartest person in the room you are in the wrong room”