One of the primary reasons I wanted to put a budget in place was for Christmas. After the fifth delivery on December 23rd, I realized we had a problem – or at least I had a problem. I didn’t feel as if I knew how much we were spending or where the money was...
One of the primary reasons clients begin working with us is job change. Beyond just a change in employer, there is usually a change in salary, benefits are different and you’ve got to decide what to do with your retirement account. Understanding the financial impact...
A lifelong friend of mine recently passed away, and it was a sudden and totally unexpected death. As a financial advisor, I deal with the possibility of death all the time. In the hundreds of plans I have built with clients, if a spouse or dependent was in the...
When President Trump announced several weeks ago that he was freezing pay for Federal employees, it had to feel like Groundhog Day. The top pay increase in the last 7 years came in 2010, and over that timeframe, there was no increase for 2 years and a 1% increase for...
We’ve all heard the adage that money can’t make you happy, but most of us realize that’s not quite true. If you don’t have enough to cover the necessities, more money will most certainly have a positive impact. Conversely, the fact that on a given day Bill Gates has a...
At some point, most new parents or grandparents begin thinking about how to pay for college. Since educational costs have risen at a rate well in excess of inflation over the last two decades, covering the cost of college is no mean feat. Fortunately, 529 plans offer...
One of my favorite charts on investing is the Callan table of investment returns. The chart depicts the return of various asset classes1 from year-to-year, and just a glance at it shows how volatile relative returns can be. An asset class that leads the pack for...
A question clients often ask as they approach retirement is whether or not they need long-term care insurance. The basic concept is pretty straightforward – if, at some point in the future, you need long-term care, you should be able to purchase insurance to...
A pretty common stereotype when it comes to retirement is the overworked, underpaid worker who would retire immediately and pursue the Island Life if they only could. And while I have worked with some clients whose immediate answer was “tomorrow” when I asked when...
