Tag Archives: Donald Capone III CFA

Clients – Y2K it is…. Merger goes GREAT – Old Theme Leads to Weak Link Here at street-cents.com … for the Moment …

For those that do not recall all of the worry over Y2K – the turn of the century that was alleged going to cause all computers to break, leading to water, power, and entire city lock downs… allegedly…

As most of you may or may not know because it was such a yawner and no problems… it went off without a hitch…

Schwab Merger goes GREAT

As mentioned here, Donald the Brain was on call and handled the review a few hours early on Sunday … The websites came up hours early for Donald and almost 24 hours early for everyone else… not that we were checking, but we were…ha

Most all of the very minor hiccups so far are related to Account Linking/Viewing…. And those are mostly related to differing Main Social or Tax ID numbers … We are working through these, but rest assured we see EVERYTHING from our perch just fine and have access to all the money movement we have before…yay

Let us know if you have not already and are in the camp above… we are learning/Fixing as we find the ones that are missing…

With 7000 advisors and 3 millions accounts, a win… in our eyes…

Going to need a new Link – Jaws parody here

Oh…. Before we go, right here at our blog- http://www.street-cents.com the base template has been retired…so the link (to Account View only) on the blog is old, but not to worry… new template is in the works….

Thanks for everyone’s patience, kind words, encouragement and compliments… You guys are GREAT!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

August 2023 Audio Video Review – The Brain Tests the Systems- Social Security Statement/Web View Reminder – Four Downgrades Reviewed – Financial Planning and Capital Market Review – By John Kvale CFA, CFP

Hello and Welcome to our August Financial Planning and Capital Market Update!

If you are too busy to read, feel free to listen as we describe our post and thoughts in friendly podcast audio format as well as Video!

BREAK IN: Donald the Brain WILL BE reviewing the Schwab TDA Merger information only one of 32k folks to be asked!

Newbies –

We like to articulate our thoughts and review on a Monthly basis our Financial Planning Tips, Capital Markets thoughts and current events!

Hope you enjoy!

August 2023 Video


YouTube

Financial Planning Tip(s)

Check that Social Security Statement no Matter your age

While a late delivery, we managed to remind all (including ourselves) why we need to review annually our Social Security statement, here in this post…. along with some new features from the SSA (Social Security Administration) in their updated website!

From the post:

Confirm your credits via your Earning History

Confirm you received credits for your hard earned money is very important, and easy…. here is what the screen shot look like – Below- oh, there are new drop downs for excellent help if your credits are not showing

Capital Market Comments

Not one, not two, not three …. but FOUR Downgrades with one called by ourselves – Tap Tap on the back

In this first post we commented that Fitch put a shot across the bow of the USA Credit Boat with a mild downgrade from AAA to AA+

Not to be outdone, another of the big three credit agencies, Moody’s chimed in as we discussed here

Then back into the pool goes Fitch with ANOTHER downgrade…. here we discussed Fitch’s second downgrade and mentioned we were surprised the One of the Big Three were silent….

BOOM that night of our above post, the other big three S&P Global Markets came to the party…. as we discussed here along with a timely fun YTD Bankruptcy Graph from our bud at Visual Capitalist

These downgrades among a couple of other items, not surprising, led to an upward push on rates… highlights to the far right…. already headed back to norms!

Have a Great Day, Talk to You at the End of September !

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Preview of a Big End of Summer Weekend … Donald “The Brain” At it again, Possible Helper in the Merger … Second to Last Unofficial Friday before Summer’s End …

Next weekend is a biggie….

Labor Day Weekend…

TDA/Schwab Merger …

Oldest Kiddo Leaves for College…likely some tears, but again all part of the process…

Did We Tell You Donald The Brain is at it Again?

Long time followers know that Donald has been an integral part of some of the very sophisticated software used by us, our Platform Vendor (TDAmeritrade – soon to be Schwab) and many fellow professionals ….

While he may be giving up some of his well earned weekend – Sunday over labor day – it is an honor and a privilege and somewhat comforting to know he may be one of the very few, if not only actual advisor running his specialty knowledge of the afore mentioned software to make sure it is working for all of the new larger Schwab !

Nice to be asked- With three little ones (getting bigger by the day) we appreciate his possible weekend sacrifice, as many who likely have no idea, are likely to benefit…. Good Carma – stuff here!!

Ahhhh…but that is all next weekend…

Today is a One Last Friday BEFORE the last Friday of unofficial Summer…. Enjoy and spend time with those special… it goes fast!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Donald “The Brain” gets asked to be “Brain Date Ambassador” (Cannot make the name up) at upcoming conference … Well done and Congrats

Newbies may not be in the know, so we will happily give a little brag to our resident “Brain”… Donald the Brain that is…

When first announced many years ago … new access to some extremely sophisticated portfolio software tools became available, after tons of due diligence … Donald was ready to take it under his wing and we were off to the races…

Word sneaked out of his use and knowledge by the developers and later he became a Beta user, The Brain was instrumental in trial runs of updates and changes in programming as well as new design directions and applications….

Total control of positions, taxes, possible tax scenarios, specific level basis control to mention a few were the platform features … in non- “Wall Street Gibberish” controlling risk in our investment portfolios and paying as few taxes as possible… is the main function of this software…

The Brain First Surprise

Here is an post from an event in 2018 — to give you a bit more granularity

The Brain Does At Again

Several years ago at an industry gathering of over 3000 folks in a western coast town, the key note speaker begins with a review of all the neat things that had happened during the year and those that were instrumental in developing these items…

32 minutes into the three day event, up pops … Guess who?

20170202_163108888_ios

A fellow professional tapped my shoulder, “Isn’t that your partner on the big screen?” “No he is at home this trip!” No, he was on the big screen talking of the use and adjustments of new portfolio tools…

The Brain as Brain Ambassador – Requested Yesterday

The inbox of Donald showed a request yesterday of being a coincidentally named “Brain Ambassador” have not gotten to the bottom of the request name yet but running with it for now….

Apparently someone still knows his knowledge of the platform!

“Would you be willing to have advisors have a Brain date at the conference and answer specific questions about the software?”

Honor and a pleasure…. yes of course he will…

Well done “Donald the Brain” autographs please….

Have a good day and Friday and enjoy your weekend…. Travels next week .. but will still be chirping here!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

November 2021 Financial Planning and Capital Market Review – By John Kvale

Hello and Welcome to our November 2021 Financial Planning and Capital Market Update!

If you are too busy to read, feel free to listen as we describe our post and thoughts in friendly podcast audio format as well as Video!

Newbies –

We like to articulate our thoughts and review on a Monthly basis our Financial Planning Tips, Capital Markets thoughts and current events!

Hope you enjoy!

Break In: The Brain is at it again….

Some very nice publicity for Donald, aka “The Brain” here in this post along with a neat link to the industry article.

November 2021 Video

YouTube

Financial Planning Tip(s)

New Retirement Limits

In this post titled “401k Plans Year 2022 Limits ($20,500 + $6,500 Catch Up), IRA Stay Same ($6,000 + $1,000 Catch Up) … Hmmm?” We go over the new limits and discuss why the catch up provisions are staying the same… the Hmmm part!

We go over not only the 401k and similar limits, but also the IRA and Roth limits and catch up provisions as well.

All of this from a handy IRS announcement found here at this link.

Capital Market Comments

TSA Throughput Update

One of our favorite monitoring of information is the individual TSA numbers that check passengers at the point of entrance.


Here in this post we discuss the latest updates and take note of the TSA’s new easier to graph for us, formatting… NICE!

Have a Great Day, Talk to You at the End of December!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Donald Capone aka “The Brain” Interviewed Again for his Expertise … Well Done “DC” !

Those of you that have ever been on a call with “The Brain” (aka Donald) ….and have heard him clicking the keyboard doing scenario analysis, such as exact tax implications post a move as well as detailed allocations and historical analysis, may wonder how he has all of this information at a moments notice….

The technical name is IRebal, a super powerful portfolio and investment tool! Donald has mastered the program, helped update the views and also given valuable input on the most important future direction of the tool…..

Donald “The Brain” Gets Flattering Publicity

This is directly from a major industry publication Wealth Management

“The landing page [of the dashboard] tells you all the info you need right off the bat … and allows you to make that quick decision on a visual level and ask yourself ‘do I need to dig into something deeper?’ That ‘yes’ or ‘no’ just did not exist in the old view,” said Donald Capone, the main portfolio manager in the two-advisor shop of J.K. Financial, Inc. based in Dallas. In the older version, getting to that step required him to run a seperate query. 

He said that the firm used the right term when calling the re-design of the interface a “modernization.”

“It definitely looks like you would expect it to now—it’s doing the exact same thing we’ve been doing with it from the beginning but now it matches with what expectations are of what software should look like these days,” said Capone. That should make it easier for new users to adopt the tool, he said. 

“It looks more inviting, less daunting,” he said of the new grid interface, which allows advisors to drill down more deeply right from the screen without losing their place and having to navigate back. There are also improved filtering features and simpler navigation, he said.

Well done Donald, just great!

Have a Great “The Brain Does It Again” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Holiday Party RSVP Reminder … Slower Processing Near Year End … Time Change … Donald “The Brain” Shines Preview … Friday

Our 25th Annual Holiday Party is shaping up to be great fun…. We have a neat surprise at the event, VR (Virtual Reality) for those that have not seen the possible future of meetings, gaming and communication… Thanks to the 14 year old for setting this up!

RSVP Deadline is Monday November 8, but we have a little wiggle room if you have reason for a late decision!

Slower Processing Time Warning

A while ago here, we mentioned the commencement of RMD’s (Required Minimum Distributions), next week these will occur in full force as we are detecting early softness in processing times, very similar to year end last year…

Do not wait till the last minute for any year end processing similar to the RMD i.e. Donations, contributions, time sensitive matters of any sort… there are still tons of remote workers in all parts of our transaction food chains….

Last minute processing will most certainly lead to added stress…. who needs that, so jump now and avoid the stress! We are heeding our own words!

Fall Back – Time Change

While not our favorite time of the year, being glass half full, with the Sunday November 7th time change, those morning outdoor workouts will be a bit brighter, of course as the expense of earlier sunsets….

Don’t forget to go to bed a bit earlier on Saturday night as your Sunday morning will come Fast Fast… heck, hardly any clocks need changing as most do it automatically,…. well Microwave and Car don’t but the trusted Cell and many other do!

Donald “DC” The Brain Shines Preview

Some of you call him the Wonder Kid, that fits too and he doesn’t mind at all….

You guys hear of my triumphs all the time, so certainly want to give “The Brain” his well earned cover as well…even though he probably would not have it if it was up to him…luckily I have the keyboard…haha (Maybe too much coffee this am .. sorry)

Next week, will include some national media “The Brain” has garnered from his continued expertise with some very technical portfolio tools that he has not only mastered, but been an important voice in the updates, changes and look of for future improvements…

Well Done and congratulations on the Recognition!

TGIF

With some travels under the belt, today, Friday feels nice…. looking forward to a recharging weekend….

Get ready though, back at it strong next week…

Enjoy your Friday and weekend!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Double Birthday Wishes …. You Cannot Make this Up!

Not sure on the saying, but goes something like ….

Two birds with one stone!

No no, more like this ….

Have Your Cake and Eat it too!

No, how about this ….

Twofer!

Oh ….goodness….

Two For One ?

As a small happily high touch firm, it would not work without you!

Happy Birthday Jen and Donald

Yep, both are on the same day – TODAY!

10k Finished !

Cheers and thanks for everything, you guys are GREAT!

John A. Kvale

Preview: Donald “The Brain” On Deck Speaker – History of Our Software – Annual Conference of Thousands – Travels

Mid-week, we (DC and I) travel to the West Coast for an annual gathering of thousands of our peers, along with consultants, asset firms, and as many technology firms that you could shake a stick at…. with a new cell phone (and more importantly camera and battery), twitter followers ( @johnkvale ) can check some pictures that will be posted – and of course we will have items here as well… hopefully later this week….

A History of Planning Technology

Technology allows great things as most everyone knows. Over the last several decades, the Financial Planning and Portfolio Management process has adopted technology… as has our firm.

Originally the seemingly unstoppable power of Excel continued to improve speed, make for greater accuracy, and ever detailed specifications.

As a firm, we gravitated from the powers of Excel (Once upon a time this was done with pencil and paper – we know some that still do it this way today!) on to a heavy server burdening system, then on to a slightly lighter in house/on-line system, finally to the web based/full on-line systems (each time with much heartache and heartburn.)

Enter Donald “The Brain

Donald “The Brain” On Deck this WeekDonald Capone

With an almost from scratch to modern day software background as mentioned above  – Excel to server/web/cloud systems, Donald, who has always been in charge of this, immediately understood the challenges, necessary views, and possibilities when an all-new, completely cloud based on-line system became available.

As a Beta tester, and later almost a technology consultant (offered up enhancements that were eagerly accepted) Donald has been a go-to person for our modern day software and the firm that created it!

In the spirit of helping as many as possible, Donald will be on panels during the annual conference this week helping fellow advisors understand the power, simplicity, accuracy and productivity enhancements that we utilize, much to our software providers pleasure.

It is a great honor to be asked to do this before thousands of your peers- Well Done DC!

Spirit of the Conferencemeetings-1149198__480

We know what your thinking … big party that you get to write off the expenses? Once upon a time many years ago – maybe! NOT TODAY – showing our age I guess…haha

Today, we have a working list of items to review with various providers (all of the team has been gathering wish lists and needed understanding items for the last month from each perspective), multiple meetings as soon as we hit the ground, specific questions from you guys/clients in the field on certain subject matters, as well as a full schedule of planned viewing of panels of others, that we are not specialists in!

Several years ago, while solo and a morning of too much coffee, multiple new items were agreed upon and contracts signed ( i.e. New Web site provider, other tech services). Upon return, the gang was NOT happy (sorry guys) as we tried to digest everything over the next several months… we have learned to keep things bite size, but we will certainly stay informed!

Look for an informative post on Wednesday as we travel, then likely a brief post of Friday as we make our way back home, with frequent twitter posts and likely a deluge of posts here once we get our feet back on the ground …. stay tuned – Can you tell we are excited and ready to go?

Have a Great “Inform and get informed” Day/Week!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.
A Dallas Texas based fee only
Financial Planning Total Wealth
Management firm.
jkfinancialinc
street-cents

We are happy to Announce the firm is Growing – Meet Nathan Elliott Capone!

On October 11, 2018 a new member of the Capone Family was born …

Nathan Elliot Capone

Nathan Capone

Congratulations to Randi and Donald —

Great Parents, Great Family, Great sibling relationships – as you can tell from the picture.

Told ya it was BIGGER NEWS – doesn’t get any bigger …

We hope to get a glimpse at the Holiday Party – no promises, baby stuff happens and that is a quick public showing —

Very happy to announce, Randi and Donald (spoken to The Brain several times) seem great, well rested, home from the hospital,  and of course super parents….

Have a Great “New Family Member” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.
A Dallas Texas based fee only
Financial Planning Total Wealth
Management firm.
jkfinancialinc
street-cents