In these troubled times a lot of people could use some sound financial advice concerning their particular situation. Well, help is on the way! The Financial Planning Association has declared October 4th-10th ‘Financial Planning Week’ all across America. Financial Planning Week is a time when the Financial Planning Association (FPA) strives to increase public awareness of […]
Free Financial Advice from the Experts
Boosting Parents Retirement Income
Many retirees have had their incomes devastated because of low interest rates. Historical returns for five to ten year bonds have been 4.5% to 5.5%. Today 10-year treasury bonds yield a paltry 2.6% and the average money market account is paying less than one percent. One of the primary drivers behind low interest rates is the Federal Reserve […]
Teaching Kids About Work and Money
I was twelve years old when my father drove me to an unfamiliar neighborhood and let me out with a case of aerosol-size cans of fire extinguishers and said, “Son, when you finish selling this case, I have two more cases!” So I went door to door, ringing door bells, selling my wares. My first day I […]
Strategies for Avoiding Probate at Death
My associates and I were recently working through a complex multimillion dollar estate planning case where the client owned real estate in multiple states. One of the central topics of discussion was how the probate process would work under the current will which we were in the process of revising. Probate is the court supervised process of […]
Hearing Aids Boost Income
This time last year, my ninety-something-year-old father and I were cutting a tree down at the lake. He normally likes to run the chainsaw while I pull on a rope tied high in the tree so that it will fall ‘where he intended it to fall’. Well, as the tree fell it hung in another tree so […]
12 Steps to Financial Wellness for Retirees
This retirement gig can be pretty challenging. Many retirees are facing financial woes that are both new to them and unsettling. The economy will get better and life will get easier but it may take a few years. Until then, here are 12 steps you can take now to take charge of your financial life: Determine where […]
Tips for Pre-Marriage Financial Counseling
Last week I discussed ways to reduce the financial strain in the event of a divorce. It occurred to me that a better strategy is to head off a future divorce by starting out a marriage on a sound financial footing. So if you or someone you know will be getting married in the near future, help […]
Financial Strategies for Divorcing Couples
I’m happy to report that my wife and I will soon celebrate our 30th anniversary of marriage. Unfortunately, about one-half of marriages do not stand the test of time. Now you’d think that divorcees would have learned the lessons from a failed marriage and ‘get it right’ the second time around…but this is not the case. According to […]
Congressional Decision-Time…and the Economy Hangs in the Balance
Both the Republicans and moderate Democrats are currently re-thinking whether the Bush tax cuts should be allowed to expire at the end of this year or vote to extend them at least until the recession is over. If Congress does nothing, here’s an overview of some of the more onerous changes: All income tax rates […]
Unintended Consequences
You may have heard of the ‘Butterfly Effect’…a butterfly flaps his wings here in America and sets off a tornado in Japan…or so the saying goes. It’s a metaphor used to explain how small changes can create large unintended results. The greed and mismanagement that dominated the executive offices of America’s largest banks over the […]