My Soviet Union Experience

I’ve always loved football and so became a football player early in life. I learned dedication, discipline, teamwork, respect, competition, and so much more. I was team captain and All-CIF for the Bishop Diego football team. I then played at Santa Barbara City College where I was also named team captain, All-Conference, and whe…

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Santa Barbara’s Legendary Father/Son Coaches Moropoulos

Mike and Craig Moropoulos have been star athletes, teachers, administrators, and coaches over a span of 70 years and have positively influenced more lives than you could ever imagine!

Mike coached football, swimming, baseball, and golf. He taught Physical Educa…

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Financial goal setting can seem like an insurmountable task when our world is filled with uncertainty. I’ve never seen such a difficult time for my clients, associates, and friends with their “goal setting” over the past several years. We have had a tough economy with dramatic inflation. The open border has added to the skepticism, with millions of undo…

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The U.S. has a Spending and Borrowing Problem

The U.S. federal government has grappled with a persistent and growing issue – overspending – for decades. While the debate over government spending often centers on the size and scope of the federal budget, the underlying concern is how much the U.S. must borrow to finance its operations. Overspending, coupl…

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If the U.S. government were a business, it would be in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. The official U.S. National Debt is now over $35 trillion. This fiscal year’s official U.S. Federal Budget Deficit is now over $2 trillion (the U.S. government takes in $4.9 trillion in tax revenue and spends $6.9 trillion). While the U.S. unfunded liabilities (future liabiliti…

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The Mainstream Media, with a slavish devotion to the daily proclamations of the Democratic National Committee, continues to spin a narrative that there are millions of Trump acolytes and devotees who mindlessly support Donald J. Trump without regard to his tone or tenor. The Left uses dog whistles intended to evoke the image of Trump supporters as mesme…

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What in the world is going to happen with the U.S. border? Something that seemed so simple, so necessary has developed into a major conundrum for our country. When you talk about an “existential threat,” the border situation is exactly that. The border and immigration are of the most important concerns during this election period.

President Donald Trump,…

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Q. Does Adding Stress Increase Financial Longevity?

A. It could.

A Little Anxiety could go a Long Way

In the quest for life longevity, we often think of relaxation, healthy eating, and regular exercise as the golden trio. But what if there's another factor we've been overlooking?

Dr. Mark Hyman, founder, and senior advisor for the Cleveland Clinic Center fo…

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As the United States grapples with the Social Security welfare system, many Americans are concerned with their ability to retire. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), the program’s trust funds are projected to be depleted by 2033. While this doesn’t mean bankruptcy, it does imply that incoming revenue will only cover around 76% of sche…

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When Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency, came to the marketplace in 2009 at $0.0009 per coin, most of us in the financial services world thought of it as an odd concept at best and a scam at worst.  Jamie Dimon, one of the great minds on Wall Street, thought of Bitcoin as a Ponzi scheme.

Here we are, 15 years later, and Bitco…

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Having seen my share of U.S. college graduates over the years as a financial consultant, I can report that the level of financial literacy among college students is, in a word, abysmal.

In a recent survey, conducted in September 2023 by EVERFI (a company whose mission is “to develop financial literacy and teach high school students basic money management…

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Larry Crandell, the one and only “Mr. Santa Barbara,” was one of Santa Barbara’s most important citizens for over four decades. This, simply because of his desire to give. Over the years, he helped raise more than $250 million for hundreds of great causes as Santa Barbara’s “preem…

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Just the mention of the word is disturbing. And although it has always been a part of our economy, we are never comfortable with inflation. Remember when Hostess cupcakes were "2 for 5 cents?" Remember when gas was 25 cents a gallon? My parents bought their home in Santa Barbara in 1971 for a little more than $20,000 and at that tim…

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Long Term Trend is Your Friend

It is often said that you can only count on two things in life: death and taxes. However, I would like to propose two more. First and foremost, you can count on God above everything else. Secondly, you can count on the stock market to trend upwards over a long enough traject…

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