It used to be that a retirement pension was common. It was typical for someone to work for a company for 20 or 30 years and retire with the proverbial gold watch and a pension. The so-called “three-legged stool” of retirement income was made up of personal savings, Social Security benefits, and a pension. The […]
Category: Blog Posts
The 3-Bucket Approach to Retirement Savings
What tax bracket will you be in when you retire? Unless you are retiring within the next year or two, this question might be a difficult one to answer. Predicting future tax rates can be as difficult as predicting the stock market, interest rates, and the weather. Taxes can have a huge effect on your […]
How Do I Replace My Paycheck When I Retire?
While it doesn’t seem like it, saving for retirement is easy. You set aside a certain amount each month, or each paycheck, and invest it in your IRA or 401(k). That is, of course, an oversimplification. But once you retire and need to figure out how to replace your paycheck, the process becomes a lot […]
Investing in Your Company’s Stock—Good Idea?
We all want to feel confident in the company we work for. We also like to think that we are contributing to the company’s success. If possible, we also like to share in that success. Some companies allow you to share in their success by allowing you to own some of the company’s stock—then, if […]
Volatility Is Back—with a Vengeance
OK—now it’s obvious that we’ve been spoiled. For most of the last year and a half, it seemed like the markets only went up. Deep down, we all knew that’s not how it works. Markets go up, and markets go down. They always have, and they always will. Over the long term, the trend has […]
Keep Mediocrity at Bay—in Running or Finances
“You gotta fight every day to keep mediocrity at bay.” That’s the opening line of one of my favorite Van Morrison songs. If you are reading this and you happen to be under 50 years old, you may have just thought, “Who is Van Morrison?” And even if you do recognize the name of this […]
Emotions—You Can’t Avoid Them, but You Can Control Them
Emotions can be a good thing. There are positive emotions like love, joy, surprise, excitement, amusement, and gratitude. Emotions can also be a bad thing. Negative emotions include fear, panic, anxiety, anger, sorrow, greed, and hate. We would obviously prefer to experience positive emotions, but sometimes life’s circumstances get in the way and we face […]
Getting Your Financial House in Order—Part 5: Estate Planning? Oh, Boy!
“I’m excited about doing my estate planning” … said no one … ever. No one likes to talk about estate planning. It’s not something we look forward to. Who wants to talk about death or becoming disabled? Nobody. Not all of us will face a disability during our lives, but some of us will. And […]
Getting Your Financial House in Order—Part 4: What’s Your Investment Strategy?
It’s almost Valentine’s Day! That means we are about six weeks into the new year. How are you doing with the “Getting Your Financial House in Order” project? So far in this series, we have built a nice foundation for your financial house. First, we focused on getting your saving and spending top of mind. […]
Getting Your Financial House in Order—Part 3: You Need a Strong Defense
Interesting that we’re talking about a strong defense after a Super Bowl that barely had any … OK, so here we are, one month into the new year. A new year is a great time to start putting your financial house in order, and this is the third article in the series that is designed […]