Plain-English answers to the money questions that keep you up at night.
Educational guides for investors navigating market crashes, retirement protection, AI investing, and more — written by Eli Mikel, CFP®, CRPC, Co-Founder & CEO of Clockwise Capital.
Financial Advisor Trust & Value
Is your advisor worth it? Fees, fiduciary duty, red flags, and when to switch.
Is your financial advisor actually worth what you're paying? (2026 guide)
A fiduciary CFP's plain-English guide to evaluating advisor value: fees, the fiduciary test, red flags, and a decision framework for staying or leaving.
7 red flags your financial advisor is ripping you off (and what to do about it)
A fiduciary CFP's plain-English checklist of seven red flags that suggest your advisor is overcharging or underserving you — and how to confront each one.
How much is your financial advisor really costing you? (Hidden fees, AUM math, true cost)
Plain-English breakdown of advisor fees in 2026 — AUM percentages, flat fees, hidden costs (12b-1, expense ratios), and how fees compound over 30 years.
Is my financial advisor a fiduciary? (And how to actually verify it)
How to verify in 60 seconds whether your financial advisor is a fiduciary — using FINRA BrokerCheck, the SEC's IAPD, and Form ADV Part 2A.
Should I fire my financial advisor? A decision framework (and how to actually switch)
A fiduciary CFP's framework for deciding whether to fire your financial advisor, plus the step-by-step mechanics of switching without losing money.
Market Crashes & Timing
How to think about market crashes — without panicking or pretending to predict them.
Is the stock market going to crash? (How to think about it without panicking)
A calm, evidence-based framework for thinking about market crashes — what history shows, why prediction usually fails, and how to plan around uncertainty.
How to prepare for a market crash before it happens
A pre-crash checklist — stress-testing, rebalancing, cash buffers, behavioral guardrails. Concrete actions that don't require timing the market.
Should I move to cash right now? (When cash makes sense, when it doesn't)
An honest look at when moving to cash is right, when it isn't, and how to think about inflation, sequence risk, and opportunity cost in plain English.
Should I sell my stocks now? (A decision framework, not advice)
An honest framework for deciding whether to sell — what history shows about market timing, when selling does make sense, and how to avoid acting on panic.
What are the signs of a market crash? (And why most predictions fail)
An honest look at the most-cited crash indicators — yield curve, Shiller P/E, sentiment, margin debt — and what their historical accuracy actually shows.
AI Disruption Investing
How to invest in AI in 2026 — ETFs, stocks, and the bubble question.
How to invest in AI in 2026: ETFs, stocks, and the bubble question
A practical guide to investing in AI in 2026 — paths to exposure, evaluating ETFs vs. stocks, the bubble debate, and managing concentration risk.
AI ETF vs. ARK Innovation: how they actually differ (and which question to ask)
A factual side-by-side of AI ETFs vs. ARK Innovation (ARKK) — holdings, expense ratios, methodology, concentration, and thematic vs. broad disruption.
How to invest in AI for beginners (without picking the wrong thing)
A plain-English starter guide to AI investing — what it means, simplest ways to get exposure, common beginner mistakes, and a glossary of the jargon.
Best AI ETFs in 2026: how to evaluate, what to compare
How to evaluate AI ETFs in 2026 — concentration, expense ratio, holdings methodology, drift, AUM, and tax efficiency. A framework, not a pick.
Is AI a bubble? An honest look at both sides (and how to invest either way)
An honest two-sided look at the AI bubble question — valuations, capex circularity, what's different from dot-com, and how to invest if you're unsure.
Retirement Savings Protection
How to protect your 401(k) and retirement portfolio from market downturns.
How to protect your 401(k) from a market crash (without selling everything)
A CRPC's step-by-step guide to protecting your 401(k) near retirement: allocation, sequence-of-returns risk, bucket strategy, and behavioral guardrails.
Can I lose my 401(k)? (Drawdowns vs. catastrophic loss explained)
What ERISA actually protects, when market drawdowns are recoverable, and the specific scenarios that have caused real catastrophic 401(k) losses.
How much cash should you have near retirement? (Bucket strategy explained)
How a cash bucket protects against sequence-of-returns risk in early retirement, how many years of expenses to hold, and where to hold them.
How to protect your 401(k) from a recession (and what history shows)
A calm look at how 401(k)s actually performed in 2001, 2008, and 2020 — recession vs. crash, recovery timelines, and what protected savers did.
What are the safest investments for retirement? (And what "safe" actually means)
A multi-dimensional look at retirement 'safety' — capital, inflation, liquidity, and longevity risk — and which instruments protect against each.
What To Do With Cash
Where to park money, when to invest, and how much cash you should actually have.
What to do with savings: where to park money, when to invest, how to decide
A fiduciary CFP's framework for deploying idle cash: emergency fund, short-term parking, lump-sum vs. DCA, and when cash on the sidelines is costing you.
How much cash should you actually have? (Emergency fund + opportunistic + short-term)
A three-bucket framework for sizing cash — emergency reserves, short-term goals, opportunistic — calibrated to your job stability and life situation.
Should I invest a lump sum now or dollar-cost average? (What the research actually shows)
Vanguard's research says lump sum beats DCA roughly two-thirds of the time. Here's when DCA is still the right answer — and how to decide for your situation.
The safest place to put a large sum of money: FDIC limits, Treasuries, and what "safe" means
How to protect a windfall, inheritance, or large cash balance — FDIC limits, IntraFi networks, direct Treasuries, and what 'safe' really means.
Where to park cash right now: HYSA, T-bills, money market, CDs (tradeoffs explained)
A fiduciary's comparison of the four mainstream cash-parking options — liquidity, FDIC vs. Treasury backing, tax treatment, and minimums.