A Checklist for Surviving Spouses

July 16, 2018, by John Norris

According to experts, the death of a spouse is the most stressful life event one can have. Whether it is unexpected or imminent, death is always a surprise. However, putting your financial house in order afterwards doesn’t have to be. The following checklist highlights a few things will help ease a small part of the stress during the grieving process. While it is no means exhaustive, crossing off these items will help you feel like...

Corporate Cards – Which one is the best option?

July 10, 2018, by Lindsey Owens Krausen

Trent Green is our special guest today giving us insight on the differences between corporate cards. Trent is Oakworth’s Managing Director, Treasury Management. Although the world of corporate payments is always evolving, bank and non-bank issued cards are still a main form of accessing capital for many companies. Cards offer users the ability to access credit or cash with relative ease, allow for easy tracking of transaction items and offer certain security elements not found...

Common Cents for July 6, 2018

July 6, 2018, by John Norris

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend of mine about Canada legalizing marijuana at its Federal level. Ultimately, the discussion got around to whether the stuff would ever be legal in Alabama. My thoughts were/are simply this: “at some point, it will be impossible for our state to effectively enforce its cannabis laws, and it will become legal as a matter of course if not a matter of law.” My buddy looked at me as...

Your Retirement Checklist

July 2, 2018, by John Norris

Let me start by saying: there is NO universally accepted amount of money on which to retire. You can retire on as much or as little as you wish, as long as you are comfortable with what you have. With that said, the more you have, the less your lifestyle will change and, laughingly, the more your children will visit. Since there isn’t really an optimal dollar amount, there isn’t really a perfect way of...

Common Cents for June 29, 2018

June 29, 2018, by John Norris

This past Wednesday night, I made a presentation down in Mobile. During the Q&A, one person asked whether the growing economy has already made back the money the Federal government ‘lost’ due to the “tax cuts.” The pure black & white, straight accounting answer, the one the opposition will use during the mid-term elections, is quite simply: no. There will be no getting around the issue, and plenty of GOP candidates will hem, haw, and...

2018 Tax Changes: FAQ’s

June 25, 2018, by John Norris

I am not a CPA, and won’t pretend to know all of the various ins and outs of last year’s tax reform legislation. That doesn’t mean people don’t want to know about it, which they do. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I decided to find a short, informative article which hits a lot of the key points. After sifting through a number of them, I found the following to be just about exactly what I...

Is It Common Cents on June 15, 2018? We Will See.

June 15, 2018, by John Norris

This morning, the Administration imposed a 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of goods from China. To put that number into better perspective, in 2016, the US imported roughly $463 billion (excluding services) from the Chinese. So, the Administration put a 25% tariff on about 11% of US imports from that country. In terms of pure dollars and cents, this imbroglio is the proverbial mouse that roared. Then again, trade deficits are sort of like...

Common Cents for May 25, 2018

May 25, 2018, by John Norris

Back in early 2003, the finance committee of the City of Birmingham summoned me to explain the negative performance for 2002 in the account it had entrusted to my then employer’s care. To be sure, given the roughly 60% weight to stocks, it would have been a real magic trick to have generated a positive return in that portfolio for the year. What’s more, we had done much better than most, much, although I completely...

Some Quick & Easy Common Cents for May 18th

May 18, 2018, by John Norris

There is an old expression: “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” We all know this, and have all forgotten it at least once in our lives. Something for nothing (or with very little effort) is powerful catnip indeed, even if we all know there really aren’t many good substitutes for hard work, preparation, and a willingness to fail. This is what makes the recent economic data somewhat concerning to me....

A Small (and Short) Amount of Common Cents for May 4, 2018

May 4, 2018, by John Norris

This past Monday afternoon, I told a group of Oakworth associates the major stories this week would be the FOMC meeting/statement on Wednesday and today’s Employment Situation report. Although neither so-called big event was terribly surprising, sometimes simply ‘getting it over with,’ whatever it may be, is more important than anything else. As I type here on Friday, May 04, 2018, much is as it was and has been for a while. The Fed will...