THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE¸ host Chris Galeski welcomes COO and Wealth Advisor Stacey McKinnon to discuss liquidity.  Illiquidity can be nerve-wracking due to the emotional bond people have with their money and the comfort that comes from having easy access to it. Stacey discusses conversations she has with clients about balancing liquid assets for immediate needs versus inves...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Chief Investment Officer Meghan Pinchuk to discuss Bitcoin ETFs that have recently been approved by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission).  They discuss Bitcoin’s similarities to gold, particularly its role as a potential store of value as opposed to fiat currencies, while also noting Bitcoin’s relatively short hist...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, Wealth Advisor Joe Seetoo discusses Pender Capital’s investment strategy with CEO Cory Johnson at Morton’s 2023 Investor Symposium. Pender is a commercial real estate debt lender focusing on the lower middle market in secondary and tertiary markets, especially in Middle America. Cory talks about how the pandemic impacted various sectors and Pender’s...

Happy New Year! On today’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE , host Chris Galeski invites Chief Investment Officer Meghan Pinchuk to reflect on 2023 and discuss what this new year may bring. Due to the recent moderation in the inflation rate, markets responded positively, and the Fed announced they will cut interest rates in 2024. Meghan reminds listeners that just because the inflation rate has mo...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, Wealth Advisor Bruce Tyson discusses Cliffwater’s investment strategy with Head of Capital Markets Fran Beyers.  Cliffwater’s goal is to provide solid compounding returns in even tumultuous environments. Fran explains how direct lending may offer predictability, lower interest rate risk, and yield premium over public markets. Cliffwater is intention...

On today’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Managing Director at Keystone National Group John Earl to our 2023 Investor Symposium stage. They discuss Keystone and their approach to lending and investments.   Keystone is a private credit platform with a focus on asset value. They provide lending and leasing services to companies, family offices, and fund managers with a...

On today’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, Managing Director of Investments Sasan Faiz and Wealth Advisor Mike Rudow take the stage at our 2023 Investor Symposium to discuss artificial intelligence and its potential. Although the adoption of AI has been relatively effortless for individuals, it may not be so on a larger enterprise scale. This is because organizations may experience initial produ...

On this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Bob Louzan, Managing Partner at WhiteHawk Capital Partners to the 2023 Investor Symposium stage.  WhiteHawk specializes in lending to companies that cannot secure loans from traditional banks or capital providers. Because of this structure, WhiteHawk tends to perform well during economic downturns when organizations face...

This week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE features a conversation on Bitcoin from Morton Wealth’s 2023 Investor Symposium led by host Chris Galeski, Wealth Planner Brian Standing and founder of The Bitcoin Layer Nik Bhatia. Nik is also a CFA® charterholder and teaches finance and business economics at USC.  Nik explains that Bitcoin is both a software and a unit of account within the software....

 In this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski and Wealth Advisor Jon Wingent discuss international living and the financial uncertainties often faced by expats.  Many expats may have questions about whether their contributions in another country will count towards their U.S. Social Security benefits. The U.S. has Social Security treaties with many countries to prevent double...

In this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Wealth Advisor Kevin Rex to discuss wealth hacks and tax planning strategies. Some strategies they explore are Donor Advised Funds and Qualified Charitable Distributions. These methods can help individuals save on taxes while supporting philanthropic causes. Health Savings Accounts can also be advantageous as contribution...

In this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski welcomes Wealth Advisor Bruce Tyson to discuss how the market has performed this past year, including bank failures, debt issues, government shutdowns, inflation, and interest rates.   They dissect the common belief that the average annual return of the stock market over the long-term is around 9-10%. The market experiences fluctu...

In this week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski and Wealth Advisor Mike Rudow discuss artificial intelligence and its potential impact on the financial industry/other fields.  Mike emphasizes that AI is a large language model with access to data, which can be flawed due to inherent biases. Because it still has a long way to go in making totally accurate conclusions and analyses...

In today’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Managing Director of Investments Sasan Faiz to discuss the current economic landscape. The global economy is uncertain due to the war happening in the Middle East, rising interest rates driven by the Fed’s efforts to lower inflation, and the dysfunction in the U.S. Congress related to budget resolutions. The 10-year U.S. Treas...

On this episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites CEO Jeff Sarti to recap the Investor Symposium and looks ahead to Morton’s future.  Firstly, Jeff and Chris address the Israel-Hamas war and its potential impact on global markets. Jeff emphasizes the importance of diversification in building resilient portfolios to weather unforeseen events like this.  Last Thursday, we delved i...

In this episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Managing Director of Investment Sasan Faiz to discuss Q3 and how investors can try to protect themselves in unpredictable market conditions.   Q3 saw a struggling market with the S&P 500 down 3.2% and MSCI EAFE down 4%. Bonds have also faced challenges as they were down 3.2% for the quarter and 1.2% for the year. This is beca...

On today’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Wealth Advisor Mike Rudow, his very first guest, to celebrate the podcast’s one year anniversary. Chris reflects on this accomplishment and feels grateful that he and his guests have been able to deliver valuable financial knowledge to listeners for a year. Chris and Mike also discuss the Investor Symposium and the topics they...

On today’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Brian Farwell, Branch Manager at CrossCountry Mortgage, to discuss residential real estate and interest rates.  The single-family home market remains resilient due to limited supply and high demand. It’s an expensive market for buyers, but Brian says it may be best to buy now rather than wait for prices to decrease significant...

On today’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Managing Director at KCB Real Estate Megan Pautler-Gutnikov to discuss KCB Real Estate and their investment strategies. KCB is a buy-and-hold control investor in a wide variety of income-producing property types.  We have felt confident in our partnership with KCB because of their long-term, disciplined, and patient outlook. T...

On this episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE , host Chris Galeski welcomes Wealth Planner Brian Standing. They discuss potential complications that may arise when a parent or grandparent helps their child buy real estate. Firstly, it is critical to decide if the financial assistance offered is considered a gift or a loan. Gifts may be subject to gift taxes, and there may be income tax consequences for...

On this episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Wealth Advisor Beau Wirick to discuss assets that may or may not be beneficial to inherit. Chris and Beau agree that a Roth IRA is the best type of account to leave heirs as money grows tax-free, and withdrawals are tax-free. Brokerage/non-retirement accounts are also beneficial, as the heir can sell shares without paying capital...

On this episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski and Jeff Sarti, our CEO, discuss our investment philosophy and upcoming Investor Symposium.  Although many investment firms place an emphasis on stocks and bonds, other assets tend to be more resilient in volatile times. Jeff says we are willing to look different than the rest of the industry because we believe our focus on the alternati...

On today’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Wealth Advisor Patrice Bening to discuss recent changes to student loan repayment plans. It is important to note these changes impact federal student loans, not private loans. The Department of Education started notifying eligible borrowers (those who have been on repayment plans for 20-25 years of qualifying months) on Friday...

On today’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE, host Chris Galeski invites Wealth Advisor Kevin Rex to discuss Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of U.S. debt from AAA to AA+. Fitch warned that the “rating downgrade of the United States reflects the expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years, a high and growing general government debt burden, and the erosion of governance.” Kevin and Chris agree t...

On this episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE , Wealth Advisor Mike Rudow steps in for Chris Galeski and invites Managing Director of Investments Sasan Faiz to discuss China’s economy.  China's economy has been growing at a high rate of almost double digits or high single digits for the past 20-25 years, mainly driven by investment and infrastructure projects. However, now that China has reached l...