A long-time friend of mine asked me my thoughts about how much financial support he should provide for his college-bound daughter. To her credit and on her own initiative, she took course work to become a licensed massage therapist, enabling her to earn a good living. In his case, he is in a financial position […]
There’s no such thing as a ‘risk-free’ investment. Even seemingly risk-free investments such as FDIC insured CDs, Money Market Accounts and U.S. Treasury Notes carry risks including long-term devaluation due to inflation and loss of purchasing power. Once you move into stocks, clearly no stock is devoid of risks. Stocks by their very nature have […]
For decades, the divorce rate in America has hovered around fifty percent. And while the reasons vary, a common thread for the majority of divorces includes money problems. In fact, some studies suggest that money problems in a marriage are the number one cause of divorce. The financial and emotional toll of a divorce can […]
As we approach nine years of a bull market, it’s important to pause and review the keys to successful investing over a lifetime. Success in a bull market is not that difficult but creating success over a lifetime is a challenge that most individual investors will fail…and fail miserably. According to one study, the average […]
With the new tax law, you need to start planning your 2018 charitable giving now versus year-end. While the decision to give to charity is typically not driven by the tax benefits received, you still want to ensure you are maximizing your tax savings each year. The new tax law nearly doubled the standard deductions […]
It’s impossible to measure the human toll and financial impact the opioid crisis is having on families across America but addressing this problem is one of America’s most critical issues. Last year, more people died from drug overdose (66,000 estimated) than American service people killed in the entire Vietnam War! The annual number for opioid […]
In just a couple of months hundreds of thousands of young adults will be headed for college…and facing ever-rising tuition and fees. The average annual cost for a public college is around $25,000 and you can expect about double that amount for private colleges. Many college students are taking five years to complete their college […]
What follows is the continuation of success habits that will become part of a book I’m writing, “100 Rules of Success”. Rule: Power Up Your Bucket List Somewhere along the way you’ve heard someone talk of their ‘bucket list’. It’s a list of all the things they dream of accomplishing if they had the time […]
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has placed a bulls-eye on brokers who they believe are overcharging their clients in violation of their fiduciary duty. This is a pro-consumer initiative that has some brokers scrambling to determine if they are affected. On February 12th, 2018, the SEC Division of Enforcement announced the ‘Share Class Selection […]
What follows is the continuation of success habits that will become part of a book I’m writing, “100 Rules of Success”. As I’ve mentioned many times, success is not necessarily about wealth accumulation. We all know someone who is very successful financially, but who is very unhappy in life. One example is J. Paul Getty, […]