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The Greatest Financial Superpower
Let me tell you about the day a man in flip flops, cargo shorts, and a Yoda shirt with a green stain on the chest — somewhere between "May the Force" and "Be With You", completely rewired what I thought I knew about wealth. But first, let's back up… The trap nobody talks about Early in my financial advising career, I noticed something. The people who looked the wealthiest usually weren't. The ones who leased the BMW the second they landed their first real job, who bought th
James Love
5 min read
Escheat — Not a Bad Word and Great to Find
Go ahead, say it out loud. Escheat. I know, I know... It sounds like something a six-year-old shouts on the playground right before you grab them by the arm and whisper-yell, "We do NOT talk like that." But I promise, no one's mouth needs to be washed out with soap. Escheat is actually a legal term for unclaimed property: money, assets, or accounts that have been abandoned and turned over to the state. And here's the kicker: some of it might be yours. Let me tell you a little
James Love
3 min read
Stop Waiting for Permission
My daughter Marie is almost three years old. And two year olds, in case you've forgotten, do not wait for permission to do much of anything. She climbs things she shouldn't. She asks questions that have no good answer. She starts projects — elaborate, marker involved projects (see picture below) without checking whether anyone thinks it's a good idea first. Somewhere between two and forty, most of us lose that. We start waiting. For the right moment. For more information. For
James Love
4 min read
The Sunday Night Test
It used to happen every Sunday around 7pm. The weekend starts winding down. The kids get bathed. The lunches get half-packed. And somewhere between the last episode of whatever we're watching and the moment I actually fall asleep that feeling would show up. You know the one. The low-grade dread. The quiet voice that whispers, "Tomorrow's Monday." For a lot of people, that feeling is just background noise. A minor tax on being an adult with responsibilities. Completely normal,
James Love
4 min read
Premature Accumulation (It Happens to the Best of Us)
The other day I was in the backyard trying to convince my tomato plants to grow faster. Watered them. Checked them. Tied them to a small stick to stabilize them from the wind (which I’m sure they appreciated). Checked them again an hour later like something dramatic might’ve happened. Nothing. Because that’s not how growth works. And yet… that is how a lot of investors expect markets to behave. Let’s talk about a topic that doesn’t get brought up at the dinner tab
James Love
4 min read
Calm Waters Don’t Make Great Investors
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next.” Not exactly the most comforting thing to hear from a financial advisor, right? But it’s the truth. It’s true for me. It ’s true for every advisor out there… even if we don’t always say it out loud. What will the next election mean for the markets? What happens with interest rates? Will taxes go up? Does the national debt finally matter… or not yet? There’s no shortage of headlines, opinions, or “experts” confidently predicting what’
James Love
4 min read
When Your Portfolio Looks Like Your Zip Code
I grew up in the middle of nowhere Texas where directions are given in landmarks, not street signs, and everybody knows what your family does for a living. Back in high school, if someone’s dad worked the rigs, that family invested in oil stocks. If their family ran cattle or row crops, they invested in agriculture. And if you were obsessed with a certain brand of boots, trucks, or whatever you thought made you look cool, you thought the company behind it was a sure bet.
James Love
4 min read
Home - The Place That Serves You
When people think about investing, they usually think about stocks, real estate, or 401(k) funds. But one of the most powerful investments you can make is in where you live. A few years ago, my wife and I made a deliberate decision to move to the Texas Hill Country. We were drawn to its vastness and sense of connection. A place where people prioritize health, spirituality, and community. We found a neighborhood where folks walk together in the mornings, attend local farme
James Love
3 min read
The Remittance Cause & Effect
This is not a political post. It’s an economic cause and effect study. This is not a recommendation, but context for why ILF, iShares Latin America ETF, has been part of some client portfolios since August 2025, depending on individual goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon. When I was getting my second major in college, economics, I took what ended up being my favorite course, Latin America Economics. We covered a lot of concepts, but one economic idea stuck with me
James Love
4 min read
34 Life Lessons for 34 Trips Around the Sun
Today is the day in which I have officially been around the sun thirty-four times. In honor of this milestone, I have written thirty-four of my favorite life lessons, quotes, and things I hold to be true. My wish, at least one of these speaks to you like they all have to me. 1. Don’t should on others, and don’t let others should on you. 2. Luxury once tasted becomes necessity. 3. A trip taken pays a memory dividend long after it’s ended. 4. The sweetest sound to someone i
James Love
2 min read
New Years Resolutions Wins & Defeats
Every year millions of people set new goals, hopes, and dreams for the New Year, only to fall short or give up within the first few weeks. Studies show the average person who sets a New Years resolution gives up on it around January 8 th . And yet, year after year, we do it again. We sign up for a new gym membership. We swear off alcohol. No more candy. (Those last two were mine.) And like clockwork, we fall off days or weeks later. Or… at least that’s how we tell the s
James Love
3 min read
It Happened Again
Earlier in 2025, the S&P 500 was nearly 20% off its highs, bottoming in early April around what many started calling the “Liberation Day” lows. And then… everything changed. From those April lows, the market didn’t just recover, it surged. Stocks took off like a rocket ship, climbing close to 40% from the bottom through year end. By the time the calendar flipped to 2026, the S&P 500 finished 2025 up almost 18% for the year. So, let’s pause and appreciate how strange, and imp
James Love
2 min read
Before Life Gets Messy: The Estate Planning Steps Every Family Needs
A few days ago, I was cleaning out a drawer at home. One of those “how did all of this end up here?” drawers. When I came across an old pocketknife my grandfather, "Pop- pop", used to carry. Nothing fancy. No real “value.” But instantly, it took me back to family adventures in Colorado (picture below circa '94), old WWII stories, and funny sayings he must’ve told hundreds of times. My favorite line, "glad you got to see me!". He would say this when saying goodbye, which alway
James Love
6 min read
Use It or Lose It: Your FSA Reminder Before It’s Too Late!
A few years ago, right after Marie was born, I learned an almost very expensive lesson about FSAs. The kind of lesson that makes your stomach drop, your palms sweat, and your spouse look at you like, “Please tell me we didn’t just waste that much money.” We had signed up for a Dependent Care FSA, maxed it out at $5,000, and felt like responsible adults checking off one more box during open enrollment. Fast-forward to the end of the year… we almost forgot to use it. And by “al
James Love
2 min read
Social Security & Another Trip Around the Sun
Last week I celebrated another trip around the sun. This birthday felt meaningful because it puts me officially halfway to the age when I plan to claim Social Security. A lot can change between now and then, but it is already something I think about and plan toward. You might be wondering what age that is. With today’s rules, I could file as early as 62. I could wait until my full retirement age of 67. Or I could hold out until age 70. So, which one do I plan to choose, and w
James Love
3 min read
If You Met Money
Imagine you’re at a café, sipping your coffee, when money walks in and sits down across from you. No spotlight, no fancy suit, just plain old money. What do you ask? Maybe you’d start with the obvious. “Why do you always disappear so fast?” or “Why do you seem to love my neighbor more than me?” Here’s the thing though. Asking money for answers is like asking your blender to write poetry. It’s the wrong tool for the job. Money is just paper, coins, or numbers glowing on a scre
James Love
3 min read
Investing in Experiences
In today’s world, I often see other people think wealth is often equated with what you own: luxury cars, designer wardrobes, and massive homes. But to my family real wealth isn’t parked in your driveway or hanging in your closet it’s the ability to do the things you want, when you want, and often for us it’s traveling somewhere new as a family. To me, travel can be the ultimate investment in personal growth and happiness that lasts long after the trip is over. By shifting you
James Love
3 min read
It's the Climb
If you know me, I’m not one for sitting still. I have to do something or I go insane. As my grandma would say, “Idle hands are the devil’s dirty work.” And that Catholic guilt has always stuck with me. Last week, I was in San Mateo, California for a Wealth Management conference on retirement and tax planning. When the conference wrapped up, I did what I always do when traveling, I went for a run. One of my favorite traditions since my wife and I got married is running in new
James Love
2 min read
Market Pullbacks and the Power of Patience
You’ve probably heard me say it before… When the market pulls back, it takes 3–4 years to bounce back to the top again on average. The chart below shows this pattern since 1960 and it doesn’t even include the strong rebounds we’ve seen from 2022 and the new 2025 market lows. So, if you’ve ever thought, “Does the market really recover that quickly?” the data says yes. It just did. Again. But here’s where it gets even more interesting… What tends to happen after the S&P 500
James Love
1 min read
Money and Friends
Money is an emotionally charged subject matter. It’s impossible to keep your emotions out of your money because it’s human nature to get scared, excited, worried, jealous and all of the other feels. This is why money is almost always viewed on a relative basis for comparison purposes. Rarely do people look at their absolute level of income, net worth or assets. You compare yourself to others. How rich are you relative to your peers, co-workers or strangers on the Internet? An
James Love
3 min read
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