Changing Seasons

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‍September 2022 - Changing Seasons

Summer into fall

We sputtered from spring into summer with $5 dollar gas, unaffordable houses and stocks in free-fall. As Labor Day brings summer to a close, gas prices are down a decent amount. The stock market bounced back in the last two months. Biden even made college debt "disappear" without asking for a single vote to be cast on the subject.

Looks like smooth sailing into year end.

Or, maybe not.

Focus is shifting from a mixed earnings season for stocks back to the Federal Reserve and interest rates. Today Jay Powell, Fed chair, reminded the country that he wields more power as Federal Reserve Bank Chairman than Congress or the President. In a speech at the annual Jackson Hole, WY conference, Powell vowed to push his fight against inflation until he has a clear victory in hand. “Our aim is to avoid that outcome by acting with resolve now,” Powell said.

Our problem is the “weapons” that he is using to fight are our financial assets. By aggressively hiking rates this year, the Federal Reserve compounded potential homebuyers’ pain. Mortgage payments (a product of prices and interest rates) have skyrocketed 40% this year.

‍Powell reminded us that further rate increases he is planning will bring more pain and it will stay with us until he wins his inflation war. “These are the unfortunate costs of reducing inflation,” Powell said. “But a failure to restore price stability would mean far greater pain,” Powell justified. This puts the Fed on a precarious ledge. They are committed to killing inflation but the tools they wield exhibit a long lag between when they act and what the outcome of their actions eventually are. Powell is running the risk of pushing this fight harder at a time when excess inflation is already vanquished.

We can see signs of this in housing. As potential buyers...

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Hoy Grimm
Managing Partner
LeConte Wealth Management

Meet Jean Blackburn

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September 1st was Jean's 9th year with us. Jean is a hard worker who embodies the LeConte Wealth core values of trust, teamwork, ownership and a commitment to integrity in all things. Jean primarily works in our compliance department, but also assists in daily operations and client experience. To say the least, Jean is critical to our team and we are thankful for her!

Help us congratulate her!

Back to school

iPhone alarms went off early this week at my house as we embarked on another school year for our kids. We had forgotten how long it takes to wake our kids up, feed them, pack lunches, brush hair and face school traffic to get them to their classes on time. We fell out of the habit of making our lunches the night before, waking up early and grabbing the gear for after-school practices and lessons. We had those routines finely tuned and working in a distinct rhythm back in April, primarily because we had started those habits back in August 2021. But we’ve lost that touch and now must remember how we did it back in the Spring.

Perhaps you feel the same about a habit that you once had, that has fallen off for some reason in the recent past. It may have been something you did “before COVID” or “before we had kids” that isn’t quite as easy to achieve. Maybe you spent less time eating out a year ago than you do now, or you saved money each paycheck into your retirement account before life changes forced you to make some adjustments. You used to go to the gym three times a week, take your spouse out for date night and call your mom to check on her each week. There are many habits that we all once had that we long to rekindle, but somehow don’t know how to do that.

I had the privilege to hear James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, speak at a conference back in in 2019 ( I wrote about that in a blogpost Take Time to Change) He mentioned that if you get 1% better in something in your life every day, you’ll be 33% better in a year’s time. I’ve seen that in my life and our clients’ financial lives. In a recent article, How Long Does it Actually Take to Form a New Habit? (Backed by Science), Clear comments that a new habit takes an average of 66 days to form into a daily part of your life-not 4 days, not 21, but 9 weeks. Clear’s words are powerful as they relate to habit formation:

“How long it takes to form a particular habit doesn’t really matter that much. Whether it takes 50 days or 500 days, you have to put in the work either way.”

Good advice and a starting point for those that need to make a change. Whether it’s finally creating and living on a budget, finishing your estate planning, or a personal goal or endeavor. You can’t finish what you don’t start.

It just so happens that our kids have nine weeks of school before Fall Break. That gives us plenty of time to get them back in the school routine. What can you accomplish in the next 66 days?

Kevin Painter
Managing Partner
LeConte Wealth Management

'Finfluencers' - Should you listen?

Finance + Influencer = Finfluencer, a social media personality that earns money by persuading others to buy promotional products and services.

“They” say 30-seconds is all you’ll need, then you’ll see the Benjamins roll in. If you’ve found that lottery ticket, let me know.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge advocate for financial education. In fact, one of my goals is to push for legislative change to implement more financial education in our school systems. Simply put, a ½ credit through 12 years of education in any state is just not enough. Finance (money) touches almost every part of our society and basic principles need to be taught to provide students a solid financial foundation before they leave the folly of youth behind. If students aren’t learning this knowledge in the classroom and don’t have someone prudent in their life that makes a point to teach them, where will our future generations learn this valuable knowledge?

Time and attention are my most precious personal commodities, so personally, I don’t spend a lot of my time on social media. When I do, I read posts that bring value. Since the beginning of 2020, I noticed a shift within the feed on my social media sites. Specifically, I noticed more posts from ‘finfluencers’. Posts I’ve watched or read often tout buying ‘x’ stock or product and how you could make some ridiculous amount of money by following their advice. These individuals have this capability because their popularity or cultural status increased their reach and ultimately impacts their followers decision-making process. (Side-note, many of those posts include some expensive car, item or the ‘finfluencer’ was in an exotic/desired place to increase the effectiveness of their messaging)

Last week, a client reached out about an issue...

>Don't miss the conclusion

Alex Willard
Client Adviser
LeConte Wealth Management