THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE , host Chris Galeski welcomes Portfolio Management Analyst Hunter Daniel to discuss Morton’s approach to portfolio management. Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: - For clients bringing cash to invest rather than an existing portfolio, Hunter and his team will use dollar cost averaging to mitigate market timing risks. This means they...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Jeff Sarti, CEO of Morton Wealth to discuss market conditions and valuations. Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: - Jeff highlights the importance of setting realistic expectations for stock returns, noting that the past decade’s 10-12% returns may not continue. - Jeff discusses the benefits of investing...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Wealth Planner & Estate Attorney Brian Standing to discuss advanced estate tax planning strategies.  Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: - Estate tax laws are set to sunset in the next year and a half, potentially reducing the exemption amount from over $13 million to $7 million per person. - High net...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Chief Compliance Officer Menachem Striks to discuss cybersecurity measures you should take to protect yourself and your money. Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: -          Menachem advises listeners to create complex, unique passwords (15 to 20 characters) for their accounts. Try not to use the same pass...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Managing Director of Investments Sasan Faiz to discuss inflation, interest rates, and monetary policy. Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: - Some people think that when inflation comes down, prices should decrease. That would be “deflation,” which is a concerning economic indicator. Inflation measures how...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Wealth Advisor Jon Wingent to discuss opportunities in international investing. Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: -          Most investors tend to have a home country bias, allocating most of their investments toward domestic stocks and companies. -          Most investors hold less than 10% of their p...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Wealth Advisor Jenn Caruso to discuss recent financial headlines. Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: - The Dow Jones and NASDAQ have reached new highs; however, clients and consumers feel nervous. - Clients often react emotionally to investment performance, wanting to sell underperforming assets and buy...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Wealth Advisor Patrice Bening to discuss planning for your child’s education with 529 plans, state-specific rules, and how to maximize benefits.  Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: -          In California, 529 plan funds that are used for kindergarten through 12th grade private school tuition incur taxes...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Financial Planning Manager Brittany Yudkowsky to discuss Social Security, acknowledging its relevance due to heightened public interest during an election year. Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: -  Many Americans fear Social Security may not be available in the future, thereby considering taking benefits...

On this episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Jeff Sarti, CEO of Morton Wealth, to discuss Warren Buffett’s sale of Apple shares.  Here are some key takeaways from this conversation: - Warren Buffett recently sold about 100 million shares of Apple, significantly reducing Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings from $174 billion to $135 billion. - The sale was attributed to Buffett’s...

In this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Mikey Taylor, President of Commune Capital, to discuss California real estate.  Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: -          Mikey discusses the difficulties of real estate development in California due to heavy regulation and entitlement challenges but points out that these barriers create less competi...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Wealth Advisor Beau Wirick to discuss the potential dangers of following generic financial advice on the Internet. Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: - Beau stresses that financial advice online cannot be personalized the way a financial advisor can tailor their guidance to your individual situation and n...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Chief Investment Officer Meghan Pinchuk to discuss geopolitical tensions and how investors can protect their portfolios amid market uncertainty. Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: -          The global environment has become increasingly complex with the geopolitical unrest between Israel and Iran, alongs...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Wealth Advisor Mike Rudow to discuss his article, "Pitfalls of Selling a Business Without a Plan ." Here are some key takeaways from their conversation: - Selling a business without a structured plan can lead to serious financial and personal repercussions. - It is extremely important to ensure the business is v...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Wealth Advisor Patrice Bening to discuss current market issues and the unique value of gold.  Some topics they highlighted… -          Amid conflicting market signals, gold remains a store of long-term value. Even after a century, a gold bar is still worth the price of the average American home. -          Potential issue...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Justin Pizzola, co-CEO of Greyhawk Insurance, to discuss homeowner’s insurance coverage.  Here are the key takeaways covered in their conversation  -          Flood insurance can be very complex, as internal water damage is generally covered but external water intrusion is not typically covered without specific insurance....

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski and Wealth Advisor Beau Wirick discuss the recent policy changes around realtor commissions due to the National Association of Realtors’ settlement and how they may affect the market. ·         Three key changes are highlighted: Listing agents are now banned from offering co-fee sharing with the buyer’s agent Buyers are now requir...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Estate Planning Attorney Brian Standing to discuss upcoming estate tax law changes and how they may affect you.  -          The estate tax exemption as of today is $13.6 million per individual, meaning estates valued over this amount are subject to estate tax. This amount is expected to be cut in half to about $7 million...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Chief Investment Officer Meghan Pinchuk to discuss recent headlines and the overall economic landscape. They highlight topics like: -Recent banking sector issues, with a focus on New York Community Bank’s struggles  -The Federal Reserve’s potential interest rate cuts -Market volatility, including the impact of geopolitical...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Wealth Advisor Patrice Bening to discuss eight tax-saving strategies. 1. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are highlighted as a triple benefit tax-saving strategy, allowing pre-tax contributions, tax-free growth for medical expenses, and tax-free withdrawals for those expenses 2. Retirement contributions to plans like 401(k)s...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Wealth Advisor Joe Seetoo to discuss the recent rise in NVIDIA's stock price, including topics like: - how NVIDIA's groundbreaking work in AI has contributed to their stock valuation - competition from AMD, Intel, and potential threats from startups and cloud providers - whether NVIDIA’s current valuation at $800...

In this episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Priscilla Brehm to discuss the differences between brokerage firms and RIAs (Registered Investment Advisors).  Priscilla and Chris encourage listeners to understand how compensation works when choosing between an RIA and brokerage firms, as brokerages often compensate their advisors based on transactions, which can lead to potent...

On this episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Wealth Advisor Patrice Bening to examine the stock market, the economy’s resilience, and last year’s banking crisis that may potentially resurface. They discuss the exposure of small and mid-sized banks to commercial real estate loans. With interest rates on the rise, these banks face increased risk as loans come due and need ref...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites CEO Jeff Sarti to discuss building a resilient investment portfolio and what “resilience” means. Jeff and Chris define resilience as an investment’s capability to withstand a variety of unforeseen scenarios without significant loss. Although uncertainty is inevitable, building a diversified portfolio can help investors nav...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Wealth Advisor Kevin Rex to discuss different methods of investing in real estate.  Although being a landlord is a popular way to invest in real estate, Kevin says it requires consistent effort to resolve maintenance issues and handle difficult tenants. If an investor is interested in a more passive strategy, REITs (real e...