How long are you going to live? That’s an impossible question to answer. But when you are planning for your financial future, it’s a very important question that needs an answer. Well, maybe not an answer, but as least a good guess. One of the main reasons for putting together a financial plan is to […]
Category: Blog Posts
Find A Penny, Pick It Up?—How Little Things Add Up for Financial Success
You probably remember the children’s rhyme “Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you’ll have good luck.” Ever wonder where that originated? There’s a surprising amount of information on that rhyme available with a simple Google search. It turns out that it may have originated from the belief in ancient times that metals […]
Improve Your After-Tax Return with an Asset Location Strategy
You know how important it is to diversify your investment portfolio. You spread your investment dollars across several types of investments because you don’t want to have all of your proverbial eggs in the same basket. We suggest diversifying across several categories, or asset classes, because the different asset classes perform differently. But it’s also […]
Retiring with a Pension? You Have Some Decisions to Make
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 […]
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 […]