​I usually speak about the summer doldrums this time of year, but I’m starting to like the dog days of summer better. As always, our phone stops ringing other than the four or five daily robo-calls we get alarming us about our Google listing. Total market trading activity slows down, and people either go on vacation, or find it hard to get things done while thinking about going on vacation. A recent article from CNBC talked about the 4th of July week being the most traveled week of the year, but also the least productive in the workplace. A lot of the younger generations take “quiet vacations” that week, which I think means they take vacation without asking for paid time off.

I don’t know how many times over the years that either I, or Kendall before me, tried to address the subject of change. Change is such a weird subject for people. We all know change is both an inevitable and required part of life and survival. That is true both for our own individual lives, and for each social structure we find ourselves a part of. However, change is also usually a miserable thing to deal with. Most of us do not like change. I believe that is because we want to view our current lives as the sum of all of our decisions throughout our past, and at the same time we like to believe that we got it right the first time. Changing means either admitting we could or should have done something differently, or that the forces outside our lives are much greater and more powerful than our control over them.

Justin & I both recently received letters from South State Bank notifying us that our information in their system had been accessed. Neither of us have a current account with South State, but our data was still in their system from accounts we’ve had there in the past. According to the letter, our names, account numbers, and social security numbers were accessed. That’s always a scary thing to hear, but it seems to be happening more and more these days. Because of that, this month I thought I’d address a few of the most proactive things you can do to help protect yourself from identity theft and scams.

“Nothing in life is as important as you think it is while you are thinking about it.” – Daniel Kahneman

I have a tendency to think a lot. Finding most things fascinating, it doesn’t take much to get me started thinking about anything. There really is magic in almost every aspect of existence. Granted, when I start thinking about something my body may be doing at some random instance, such as if I feel a little point of pain or have a temporary skin discoloration, then Libby and Craig like to make fun of me. They over-dramatize my statements and brand me a hypochondriac. Truthfully though, I just like to think about things, even if that’s just my body’s small quirks.

What I truly love to think about, though, is people… especially their thoughts and behaviors. When you get down to it, we are a weird bunch. One subject I’ve been really focused on recently is to what extent my personal thoughts and way of thinking have changed as I’ve aged… and then thinking about that in terms of people in general. I’m obviously growing older (46), but I’m at a point in my life where I have some bit of experience, and yet I haven’t fully put my foot down to state, “that’s because I’m right and you’re wrong and that’s all there is to it.”

A week ago, my wife Robyn and I joined our son Carter at his school’s Title 1: Math Night event. This event has been happening for years. Parents of elementary school kids are invited to participate along with their children in various math challenges. It gives the opportunity for the kids to show off what math skills they have been acquiring to their parents, but it’s also a chance for parents and children to learn and work together. Most importantly, children get to see their parents become a visible and collaborative part of their educational experience.

The event was a lot of fun. The night started off with everyone meeting in the cafeteria. While eating Papa John’s pizza and cookies, the audience was entertained by a song from the fourth and fifth graders’ production of Winnie-the-Pooh. After that, families wandered the school, shoulder to shoulder, crowding into classrooms where the various math challenges were broken up by grade-level. I am proud to report to you all that I was able to understand most of the fundamental elementary math… however it took Carter’s not so patient instruction for his mom and dad to understand what was being asked from the problems.

I know you are all excited that we’re finally getting into tax season! Okay… maybe that’s not the case for most of you. Oddly enough, I actually enjoy the physical act of doing my taxes, and I know I have my dad to thank for that. Justin and I were just talking yesterday about how Dad made us do our own taxes every year starting when we got our first jobs at age 16. We’d get the paper forms and instructions from the library, and go line by line, figuring it all out, calling out for Dad if we didn’t understand something. Nowadays I still do my own taxes, but I use online software, as I’m sure many of you do. However, a couple of years ago I did the paper forms again just for the nostalgic fun of it. Anyway, because it’s that time again, I’m going to use this month’s letter to cover a few tax-related items.