“One one-thousandth of a dollar.” I said. “That’s not much is it?” I handed his phone back to him. He’d handed it to me to show me how low the expense ratio of his indexed mutual fund was. He pressed his lips together, holding back a smile. “I guess it’s my engineering training coming out,” […]

“Should I refinance my house and get a 30-year mortgage? Is that crazy?” She was nearly 65 and had a six-figure mortgage attached to her house. She was single and had a good income as a nurse. But as she looked ahead, she could see trouble coming.  “I make nearly $5,000 per month now, and […]

“When you’re going through hell, keep going.” Winston Churchill’s advice still applies. If you find yourself having “blown it” once again financially, now is definitely not the time to stop. Now is the time to get back up, dust yourself off and redouble your efforts.  Chrystal and Tony are typical of people I’ve talked to […]

“The signs are everywhere…” It was an ominous headline to an email that caught the attention of a client. “Is this something I should be concerned about?” Concern, worry and a buying decision to subscribe to an expensive newsletter was exactly what the email’s author was hoping to elicit.  The email’s author had “seen several […]

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Someone important said that long ago, but I think every generation has the opportunity to discover that truth in new and fresh ways.  But let’s start with the obvious…the math of giving doesn’t seem to work – at first anyway.  If I’ve got $100 and I […]

Out of many, one. That’s what the “E Pluribus Unum” phrase stamped on those coins in your pocket means.  It is the aspiration of a hopeful nation, that out of a disparate population from all over the world, a union might be formed and maintained.  For many, our “union” seems tenuous and anything but unified. […]