Under intense pressure, it’s easy to find yourself paralyzed and unable to complete even the simplest of tasks! The mind is a powerful tool and can be either your best friend or your worst enemy. As we grow old, our ability to deal with pressure improves, but life has a way of humbling and forcing […]
I received a question from a lady regarding her 87-year-old mother-in-law asking if she qualified for a property tax exemption? OUCH! Her mother-in-law has missed the opportunity to save perhaps hundreds or thousands of dollars over the past twenty-two years. Here’s an excerpt taken directly from the State of Alabama web site: I AM OVER […]
If you’ve had a mortgage on your home for a while, no doubt you’ve refinanced at least once. All the craziness that is going on in the financial markets has created yet another opportunity. Last week, mortgage rates dropped to an all-time low of 3.29% for a 30-year loan. Rates are down a bit this […]
Over the past few weeks, the global impact of the coronavirus on health and economics has taken center stage. Investors all over the world are concerned about the unusual downside market volatility as uncertainty surrounding the virus continues. When it comes to financial markets, many investors focus only on the upside potential of markets and […]
The good news is you have a will that outlines what happens to your stuff at your death. One question that people often overlook is, “Do I need a trust” for a portion or all my assets? Most wills don’t include trusts and leave assets outright to a spouse or children. But in many cases, […]
We were recently involved in helping clients work through the estate settlement for their father. The estate was sizable, but the diversity of assets was both small and not complex…investment accounts, home, personal property. The father’s will provided straight-forward instructions so you’d assume this would be an easy task. It wasn’t. Over the past forty-plus […]
Why You Need It One of the few certainties in life is uncertainty itself. When it comes to your personal finances, it is critical to build and maintain a ready cash reserve that can be used to address the inevitable, unexpected expenses that all of us encounter. Who can predict the timing of significant family […]
When I ask someone, “What is the single largest asset you own?”, what do you think the most common response is? If you said, “My house,” you’d be correct even though that’s not the right answer for many families. Philip Wilson, in his excellent book, “Maximize Your Social Security,” states that your decision when to […]
April 15th seems far away, but scammers are working overtime to beat you to the tax filing deadline so they can steal your money. One of the new reported trends involves ransomware attacks on tax preparers. They force tax preparers to pay a fee to ‘release’ their files then use the stolen client information to […]
Warren Buffet has a saying, “Price is what you pay, value is what you get! As high school graduates and their parents deliberate over where/whether to attend college next year, this axiom should be at the forefront of their minds. While it is widely known that the costs of college skyrocketed over the past twenty […]