It's that time of year again when families gather to feast on bountiful harvests and to give thanks for all of our blessings. This year, skip the “Vibes” and instead focus on market data. Here are ten nuanced, slightly contrarian ideas for you to chew over.
And on that note, here are five economic reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving.
From dollar-based stablecoins, to 3% inflation becoming the new 2%, and Abenomics, here are some financial discussions to have over the dinner table this Thanksgiving weekend. (If you can't tell, as a physician, I'm really big on Thanksgiving)
Don't miss the Busy Physician's Black Friday Shopping Guide! Remember, buy well, save well.
Active investing is often called a “loser's game.” Not because the participants are losers — many are highly intelligent and well-educated. Not because winning is impossible — a small percentage do succeed. But because the odds of success are so low, attempting to win is imprudent from a financial perspective.
Expecting high future returns when markets are exuberant demands at least one of two things: extremely rapid earnings growth, a large expansion in P/E ratios, or both. History shows these conditions are rarely achieved together — expecting them now is increasingly unrealistic.
American Economist Paul Krugman thinks the clear lesson of 2008 is that effective financial regulation is essential. Now here we are in 2025, and 2008 wasn't that long ago. Many of us still have vivid memories of the gut-wrenching panic that gripped the world when Lehman fell.
A little history lesson: the whole concept of retirement is a modern invention, like dogs in Halloween costumes. For most of human history, the concept of retiring was about as plausible as time travel. You didn't “retire” from anything. You just worked until you died or were incapacitated by a tragic scythe-related accident while harvesting wheat for your feudal lord.
Saying goodbye to any identity feels painful. Given how many hours we spend working, is it any wonder that work becomes such an important part of our identity? When we retire our work identity, we are not just leaving a job. We are leaving behind a part of ourselves, years of our life, memories, accomplishments, friendships, and so much more.
Would you like to hear from people who wrote about the internet bubble 25 years ago? According to them the internet bubble took 4.6 years to inflate before it burst. The AI bubble has inflated in two-thirds the time. If the AI bubble lasts as long as the internet bubble – another 20 months – just spending on AI capital expenses by big tech companies is projected to hit $750 billion annually by the end of 2027, 75% more than now.
Reminder: Open enrollment for 2026 health coverage runs November 1, 2025, through January 15, 2026. If you enroll by December 15, 2025, coverage starts January 1. That means you have less than three weeks to optimize your 2025 health spending and lock in your 2026 strategy.
