Few people enjoy doing paperwork, least of all their taxes. And yet doing your taxes is a must every year. If only they got easier with time! But since our income, filing status, and life circumstances are all apt to change, our tax filings rarely remain the same. That’s not even taking the tax code into account. Lawmakers are constantly … Read More
How to Navigate Your Financial Journey
One of my most memorable family vacations to date is a 17-day road trip winding through the northeast states in 2018. We hauled our trailer from South Carolina, through West Virginia to New York, across to Vermont and over to Maine, then through Pennsylvania and back home again. We made plenty of stops along the way—sometimes planned, sometimes spontaneous. But … Read More
How to Manage if Your Finances Are More Trick than Treat
As a child, I always loved Halloween. The idea of getting dressed up and trick or treating for candy at the local recreation center was something I looked forward to every year. Even now, I still get excited about the thrill of a good mystery or scary story during a windy fall evening that captures the spookiness of the season. … Read More
The Tools in Your Swiss Army Knife Retirement Plan
As Boy Scouts, my kids love their Swiss Army knives. They use them for everything and always take them camping. These all-purpose tools have a knife, file, screwdriver, scissors, tweezers, bottle opener, and more. As you are planning for retirement, you may find you have a Swiss Army knife full of accounts, each with different functions. They all hold a … Read More
How Life Insurance is Like Eating Your Daily Dose of Vegetables
My kids love vegetables! I might have the only boys who will eat asparagus and brussels sprouts. They know that vegetables are good for building healthy bodies. Even if they think they won’t like a vegetable, they give it a try. Most of us don’t like vegetables this much, even though we know they are good for us. The same … Read More
College Planning vs Student Loan Planning
Benjamin Franklin once said that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. While he wrote this in reference to fire safety, his assertion that it’s easier to stop something from happening in the first place than to repair the damage after it has occurred can be applied to multiple scenarios. Take, for instance, college planning. Would you … Read More
What are all these Fees?
When it comes to investing, the hope is that your nest egg will grow into something bigger — regardless of whether it’s earmarked for your children’s education, retirement, or some other long-term goal. But growth — specifically in the financial space — is tricky because there is no magic bullet. A number of factors determine whether you gain or … Read More
Have You Covered Your Ass(ets)?
What is your biggest asset? When I ask this question to prospective clients, most respond that it is their house. Others say it’s their retirement savings account. I contend that your biggest asset is your ability to earn money over your lifetime. Without that, all of your other assets disappear. You probably have insurance on your home and car, and … Read More
A Watched Pot Never Boils: A Lesson in Retirement Planning
In the past, people used to work until they died. That was when the average lifespan was about 55. Then, people worked for the same company until they retired, then collected a pension and social security, then died around the average age of 72. Now, many recommendations say to plan for a life expectancy to age 100. That’s a really … Read More
How to Read a Morningstar Report
When meeting with clients to review their portfolio holdings, one of the most frequent questions I’m asked is: “Is this a good fund?” And at first glance, I’m not always sure. Funds don’t have feelings or emotions, so ‘good’ isn’t always the right descriptor. Financial products are not inherently good or bad, but how they are used can be either … Read More