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It’s not just the money you make that determines how wealthy you are. Your mindset around the money you earn, use, and keep plays a huge role in how successful you are at using that money well, and feeling satisfied both with your finances and your life as a whole.

Markets balanced strong economic growth in the US against global trade tensions this quarter. Despite the escalating trade rhetoric, stocks ended the quarter higher and are once again positive for the year. The S&P 500 is still about 4.5% off from the all-time highs reached in January of this year.

You might think knowing how to negotiate salary is a skill best used by entry-level workers who are just getting started in their careers. And you’re right -- being able to secure better pay when you start a job sets you up to make more over your working years.

Let’s face it: not everyone finds it fun to sit down with a spreadsheet and pour over numbers. “Budget” is a bad word to a lot of people, and facing up to certain aspects of your financial life can leave you feeling stressed, unhappy, and worried.

Thanks again to Big Picture Retirement Show hosted by Devin Carroll for having Andrew on your show.

Cost creep is something parents have become accustom to when paying for children’s education. For the upcoming 2018-2019 academic year average costs are exceeding $14,000 to send a child to private high school in Kansas City for the first time. While the headline number may surprise some, prices only rose 3.1% over last year.

Global stock markets pulled back this quarter. Stocks started the year off strong but sold off in February and March. This ended the streak for positive consecutive positive months at 13. The sell off can be attributed to trade tensions, a slumping US Dollar and economic data that missed expectations. Global equities fell almost 5% in local currency.

The quiet calm that investors grew accustom to last year ended this quarter as the market has entered a period of increased volatility. The year started off as 2017 ended with stocks enjoying their glide higher. The S&P 500 jumped 7.4% by January 26th only to give back all the those gains as investors became spooked by rising interest rates.

There’s nothing like tax season to get you thinking about what kind of financial documents are important to keep on hand -- but knowing what to do with your old financial records is important no matter what time of year it is.

Thinking about hiring a financial planner -- but still not entirely clear on what you should expect?

Financial planning is an incredibly valuable service, but it can also be hard to understand exactly what happens at every stage of the planning process because so much depends on your unique situation.