Bottom Line With Brad

An index fund does not try to identify the next great company or predict which part of the market will perform best. Instead, it owns a broad group of investments designed to track a market index, such as the S&P 500.

While it is true that there is nothing completely free – there are some things in your financial life that are close enough to free that you should pay attention and take advantage when possible.

They are called difficult conversations for a reason. But the ironic thing is, for the most part, the difficulty is almost always in starting the conversation, not in the reaction to the topic itself.

Fungibility. It’s a funny word for a powerful concept. Essentially, fungibility means that money is money. Dollars earned or dollars found are actually indistinguishable from each other and are completely interchangeable.

It’s not the destination, it’s the journey. We’ve all heard this life advice at some point or another, and it really is useful – in a world that is more focused every day on the next milestone, the next challenge and the next news cycle – appreciating what is going on along your path is essential.

I’ll go ahead and apologize if you aren’t a sports fan… but with the Super Bowl and UNC vs. Duke in college basketball this weekend, plus the start of the Winter Olympics, sports are front of mind.

My office, and all the items in it, have a story to tell. I sit at former Treasurer Harlan Boyles’ desk – it reminds me of the legacy of stewardship of our state’s finances that I must live up to.

The World Series just ended, and baseball is front of mind, so a related item to liquidity is Shohei Ohtani’s most recent contract. For those baseball fans out there, you’ll know he signed the largest contract in the history of baseball