Should You Pay Down Debt or Save for Retirement

Pay down debt or save for retirement?  Many of my clients have a lot of competing priorities, and the most common one is whether to pay down debt, or save for retirement. It’s probably a question we have all asked ourselves at one time or another. While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, there are certainly some pros and cons to both … 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 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