In a world where financial uncertainty can feel like the only certainty, many miss the critical step of cash flow forecasting in their financial journey. This oversight is not just a small blip. It can lead to significant missed opportunities and unnecessary financial stress.
Read MoreMoney matters. Whether you're just starting to build your financial foundation or navigating the complexities of growing wealth. Understanding how to manage your money is the key to growing it.
When it comes to money management, two terms often come up: wealth management and financial planning.
Do you feel as though you're constantly struggling with finances? With everything going on these days it's more important than ever to get your finances under control. Perhaps you're considering building your own financial plan but haven't taken financial planning seriously in the past.
You may wonder - what is the first step in financial planning?
Below, we'll outline the first step in financial planning.
Read MoreDuring the year 2020, you've probably experienced exhilarating highs and painful lows as you've looked at your retirement account balance. Living in this time of the pandemic has been challenging in so many ways, including financially.
Read MoreFirst off, congratulations! You have sacrificed, saved, and worked hard to be in the position you are today. But before you retire and enter an exciting new chapter of life, let’s look at some planning items to consider when it comes to selling your employer stock options in the year of retirement.
Read MoreHave you accumulated substantial employer stock in the form of RSUs over the years? Does this employer stock position represent a substantial portion of your overall net worth? Are you trying to understand the tax impact of selling these to reduce risk and diversify the proceeds? If you have answered yes to any of these questions below are three sales strategies when it comes to selling your RSUs.
Read MoreEarly retirement is a goal for many Americans but accessing Social Security prematurely can cost retirees thousands of dollars annually. There are some important reasons to consider waiting until you are 67 or older before tapping into your Social Security benefits, even if you plan to stop working and retire well before then.
Read More“Save as much as you can for retirement.”
That’s the message that has been drilled into the mind of every American worker for decades. There’s something to be said for that, of course. Financial security is important to all of us.
Read MoreWhat does “SPY”, engineering during WWII, and spiders have in common?
If you have no idea, you are not alone. This is a tricky question. And the answer is a name you probably won’t recognize.
Read MoreOur culture and society may change slowly, but they do change. More families today feel less social pressure for both spouses to be employed outside the home. With the cost of childcare climbing ever higher, some begin to see the decision to stay at home as a strategic choice that makes financial sense.
Read MoreHaving too much appreciated stock in your portfolio may look like a great problem to have. It validates your good sense for having chosen those investments in the first place. It gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling when you open the quarterly account statements. Why is that a problem, exactly?
Read MoreLet’s face it – no one likes to pay insurance premiums. While we may experience moments of gratitude for having health insurance coverage, fire and flood insurance, or car insurance, many people dream about the day when they will finally be wealthy enough to just forget about insurance altogether. After all, if you have enough money in the bank to take care of life’s curveballs, why give any of it to the insurance company?
Read MoreIt is that time of the year again when our team is fielding questions from clients and prospects who are confused about Required Minimum Distributions (or RMDs). As with anything that needs an abbreviation and relates to government regulations, misunderstanding abound.
Read MoreThe tales of financial advisor fraud are like a car wreck: terrible to observe and impossible to look away. Here are 5 tips for avoiding your own financial wreck.
What is it about the stories of financial advisors gone rogue that captivates the imagination? Take this recent story in the news: a former New Jersey-based financial advisor was convicted of fraud for stealing his clients’ money and using it to pay his own mortgage, dine out, and buy sporting event tickets. In retrospect, the warning flags were there.
Read MoreBetween catastrophes, fake news and fear-mongering everywhere, it’s hard to know what we should worry about these days. Tornadoes and floods? Artificial Intelligence taking over the world? Iowa Hawkeyes winning the big game?
Read MoreIf you are thinking about a financial plan, start with some soul-searching.
Simple automated retirement calculators are everywhere these days. Just run a quick Internet search, and the tools might just convince you that financial planning is all about filling in the blanks.
Read MoreWhat is comprehensive financial planning, why you need it, and how it relates to your investments.
The subject of comprehensive financial planning tends to scare people away. Get ready to demystify it in the next 10 minutes!
Read MoreLooking at the active, vibrant and well-educated Boomer clients that I am honored to work with, I often wonder: do we need to re-define retirement?
After all, just a decade or two ago retirement meant sitting by a fireplace in the rocking chair and whiling the days away playing Bingo at a local senior center. My clients today seem to have a different set of ideas as they envision a future of travel, exciting new projects and, for some, even no retirement at all! Those new developments create a need for a very different set of conversations that go beyond “what would be your ideal retirement age?” and “what is your monthly budget in retirement?”
Read MoreIncomplete plans can be disastrous. A man named Carl McCunn learned this painful lesson amid the chilling landscape of Alaska. The wildlife photographer arranged for a bush pilot to fly him to an isolated region hundreds of miles north of Fairbanks. He carried enough provisions for his five-month excursion.
Read MoreIf we look at society and societal norms, a lot of weight is given to success when it comes to defining happiness. If we see a person who is successful, it is often assumed that they are happy. On an existential level we should consider what it all means. In reality, we actually have no idea whether or not that person is either happy or successful; for a couple of reasons: First of all, we can only measure someone else’s success or happiness by what we know about them.
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