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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

“Do you want to retire one day?” That’s a question I ask new clients. The answers I get are fairly predictable. Older workers or people with jobs they hate say, “You bet! How about yesterday?!”  People who enjoy their work say things like, “I might want to slow down one day, but I can’t imagine […]

Why would anyone pay for an oil change?  Call me a weenie (and many do), but I don’t do my own oil changes. I know real men do, but I just don’t.  I used to go to one of those places that made you wait in their lobby, where you read dated issues of People […]