First and foremost, I wish all our clients, friends and readers a happy and healthy New Year. May it be prosperous as well, and a bit less stressful than the last!
At 10:10 PM with just hours to go before the Bush Tax Cuts were set to expire and as close to the 11th hour as you can get, the Senate and Congress passed what they called their version of averting the “Fiscal Cliff” signing into law a small portion of the enormous problem to face our… Continue reading
On July, 3rd I posted a blog entitled “Retire or Support the Kids?” of which this is a follow up blog. Before you accuse me of not liking kids, remember I’m a loving father and grandfather, and my kids mean the world to me. But just like you, at sometime I too would like to retire or start taking it easier (not to worry- I’m not going anywhere!) and it’s my job to keep you informed of the ramification of your monetary actions- so, let’s talk…… Continue reading
With the Olympics’ opening ceremonies commencing tonight in London, the race is on for the gold. Hundreds (if not thousands) of Olympians, training for most of their lives, will go to sleep tonight with dreams of medals wrapped around their necks and a permanent place in history. Michael Phelps, famed Olympian swimmer, is but three medals- regardless of color- away from the all time record of the most medals won by any Olympian in history. Yet, but two years ago, he swore he was finished, stopped training, gained 35… Continue reading
The lifelong dream of working hard, meeting the love of your life, getting married, buying your first house, having kids, working hard, sending them to college and then off to retirement has been derailed. Somewhere along the line, the order above seems to have gotten, well, out of order.
According to Economist Barry Bosworth, Senior Economics Fellow at the Brookings Institution, the biggest expense and responsibility, formerly taking care of our parents, has been replaced by taking care of our adult children. The largely unfortunate result… Continue reading
We’ll all agree: it’s not fiscally great out there. The Government declared an end to the Great Recession: obviously, they don’t get out much. They stated that unemployment is “moving down” to 8.3%- they “forget” part time workers and those who have gone through their full 99 weeks of unemployment. How’s this for a lesson?
To Pay New York Pension Fund, Cities Borrow From It First
Cities and counties throughout New York are using an unusual arrangement through which they can manage their
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about dealing with people and their finances, there are two things people don’t like to talk about- life insurance and wills. Regularly I meet with clients and review their legal documents with our legal team. Guess what? Typically two out of five are in need of a re-do. Here’s why…
It’s something about mortality, or that applying for life insurance or drafting a will is the beginning of the end. The fact is really, if you don’t have up to date financial and estate… Continue reading
Congratulations- you made it through 2011. It truly was an accomplishment, given that it seemed for a while that the world would implode as we know it. Domestic and international economic failure, war, terrorism, historically high unemployment and low housing valuations…enough. Now it’s time to set your course for 2012, the year of recovery- at least, personally.
The definition of success is different for everybody. Some base it on money, some on love. Some define it by how much you own (he/she who dies with the most… Continue reading
Risk tolerance, by definition, is the amount of risk you are willing to sustain in relation to reward. There is an old saying: “With reward comes risk, and with risk comes reward… sometimes.” Nowhere is there a guarantee that if you invest in a more risky or aggressive investment that your reward will commensurate. In the times that we are in, human emotion tends to take over from rational thinking. Fear of losing principal or previously made gains, not having enough funds to retirement or acquire that elusive… Continue reading | 2 Comments
Retirement has changed. There’s no more gold watch ceremony, thirty, forty or fifty year milestones, and for the most part, pensions to carry you into the new paradigm of life. It’s a down and dirty, fend for yourself game that our parents don’t understand, and our generation is struggling with.
As a Certified Financial Planner™ since 1991, my professional role for the past 20+ years has been financial and estate planning. I see a new responsibility forming in my profession- “Longevity Planning:” the… Continue reading
Life is a dilemma. Things that we have, like our 401(k), IRA’s, investments and our house seem to be steadily going down in value as we sit by helplessly watching. Conversely, things that we don’t have like food and clothing continue to escalate in price. It’s somewhat frustrating as we seem to be sucked into change events far beyond our control. But are they?
Some may say yes- those that are in the camp that feel that the decisions that are being made by big government and municipalities put us in… Continue reading
