In my first meeting with a new client, we typically do what I call a “data dump.” They bring all their financial information and dump it (sometimes literally) on my desk. Right now, I’m thinking of a particular young couple. They owned a business and had two young children at home. They were busy folks! […]
Is Your Most Valuable Asset Protected? Read More »
The man told me he wanted to begin investing. He realized if he never invested his money, it could never grow. And if his money never grew, he’d never get to retire…at least not to the lifestyle to which he was accustomed. Ideally, the man said, he wanted the long-term growth available only in the
Stop Waiting for Perfect Read More »
Teaching your teenagers to drive is not for the squeamish. (And all the parents said, “Amen!”) Years ago, I had a friend whose 15 year-old got his learner’s permit. Like every teen, he wanted to drive his parents everywhere. However, each time the boy got behind the wheel he would obsess over what was in
Backward or Forward – How Will You Live 2021? Read More »
It takes a lot to be an optimist these days. Just consider a handful of headlines from two national newspapers, one left leaning, the other right. These all appeared on the same day this week. Pandemic Reshapes US Employment Across Industries Pandemic Leads Schools to Halt Ph.D. Admissions Airlines Aren’t Making It Easy to Use
Optimism – The Rational Outlook for 2021 Read More »
The 1980s brought us cable TV, personal computers, parachute pants and mullet haircuts (powerful proof that not every “innovation” equals progress). The decade also saw the rise of the 401(k) plan. Before the heyday of mullet haircuts, the phrase “retirement plan” referred to a pension plan. A pension was a social contract between workers and
Get Your Planning Right in 2021 Read More »
Do you get the feeling that it’s the coronavirus, not the Grinch, that’s trying to steal Christmas? I’m sure I don’t’ need to recite all of this year’s national and international economic disappointments that have come as a result of this pandemic. For the unemployed oil field worker, the exhausted nurse or teacher, the farmer
Sometimes when I ask people, “What are your financial goals?” they say things like: “Other than having enough one day to retire on, I’m not sure I have any clear financial goals.” After a pause they add, “That’s not a very good answer, is it?” That’s usually when I say, “Maybe if I asked better
Are You Asking the Right Questions? Read More »
If you’re over 50, you may remember AAA TripTiks booklets. From AAA’s website: “In the days before Google Maps…or even the internet…a AAA agent would draw the route with a highlighter on a series of numbered maps, going through the route with the driver before they started. The end result, a guided route through a
The holiday season is advertiser season. We see a parade of TV commercials and online ads showing us peaceful, thankful and content people. But they’re not real, are they? They’re actors, visions created for us by clever marketers, promising us the good life if only we’ll buy their product. Perhaps you’re not like the people
Consumer or Contributor – Which Do You Want to Be? Read More »
What a year. Coronavirus. According to Johns Hopkins, COVID-19 has now infected some 12 million Americans and claimed more than 250,000 lives. Race issues. Around the same time the coronavirus began spreading across the U.S., the death of George Floyd in Milwaukee triggered nationwide protests (some violent) over issues of race and policing practices. Hurricanes.
Thanksgiving Lessons in 2020 Read More »
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