A client came in today and he asked me an important question. We were doing some retirement planning and he asked me about the rule of thumb for saving. Andy and his wife Rachael are both 46 years old. They have two children, ages 7 and 4. They don’t have to worry about getting out […]
College is one of the best investments you can make – if it’s done right. If you or someone you support is getting ready to go to college, I have great news. You can go to college and graduate without being saddled with huge debts when it’s over. The following advice is mainly going to […]
Is debt good? Yes… At times it can even be great for you. As a general rule, I encourage you to avoid debt like the plague. I stand by that in the vast majority of cases, but there are some situations where you really benefit by having debt. For example, as long as you know […]
My wife and I are very happily married and have no plans on divorce. But I see clients who have to go through this process all the time. When they do, it’s a tough ordeal. I see people get taken advantage of for no good reason. Many times, the problem boils down to protecting the […]
The most valuable asset you have is time. If you’re a business owner, the most valuable asset you’ve got is your time and the time of the people on your staff. If you work for someone else, are thinking about being self-employed, or if you stay at home, time is equally precious. I would argue […]
Many people ask me if they should change their investments in light of what’s happening on the world scene today. In my opinion, you can perhaps best learn how to react to major political happenings by reviewing what happened the last time the world had a financial/world crisis – don’t miss this opportunity. Two years […]
I recently received the following e-mail recently from “R”: I will be 55 yrs old in another month (ugh!) and have made very poor financial choices in my life. Because of that, I have very little retirement savings (about $8, 000), nothing in my savings account, have a job where I live paycheck-to-paycheck. I do […]
Do yourself a favor and re-evaluate your life insurance needs every few years, or whenever there have been significant changes in your personal situation. You’ll sleep better at night, and so will your family. I just updated my financial plan and realized that I need more life insurance. Even though I’m a financial planner, I […]
A friend of mine has a very successful side business. In fact, he earns more on his side business than he does from his full-time job. The only problem is that if he were to get hit by a bus, his business (and the income he earns from it) would disappear. That means that the […]
Lifecycle funds (also known as target date mutual funds and ETFs) are marketed mostly as a solution for folks who want to achieve a financial goal by a specific time. The most popular are those are structured for people planning on retiring, but they have also become popular in 529 college savings plans, too. Lifecycle […]