The old saying “the one thing you can be guaranteed is that death and taxes will be included in your life-plan” is both true and a cruel reality. Death is a part of life: the same can be said of taxes.
It is important to know that while we are all familiar with our annual income tax liabilities, there are three taxes that we need to be familiar with:
Income taxes: the tax you pay on wages earned, or… Continue reading
Ok now, please don’t tell my wife but I do get a kick out of her enthusiasm to participate in those high tea events that often pop up when we are away on vacation, such as on a cruise, or possibly the hotel where we might be staying. She will always ask me if I would like to join her, but I always decline. Just can’t see myself sitting there sipping tea and eating cookies in the afternoon when there has… Continue reading
I find it fascinating to observe the frustration that clearly is building within the minds of the voting population. It seems that the mantra, if verbally expressed, is simply give me a new name and face with original ideas for when I enter that voting machine. Oh and they also want to make sure there are no hanging chads! Well, for awhile it seemed that the frustrated voters were mainly concentrated in the U.S. But while… Continue reading
You’re counting down the days, weeks months and years before you finally decide to call it quits and live out your sunset years in the glory of retirement. You’ve set up a date and time, and x-out each day on the calendar until you get to the end of the rainbow (sound familiar?).
I am often asked “when should I retire?” My answer to that question usually is “one day, you’ll wake up and… Continue reading
As we go through life, we experience many life-changing events: school, birth of new siblings, (unfortunately) death of a loved one, and at some point in time, most of us experience marriage. It certainly is life changing, as we learn about each other, and explore that which is necessary to build this new relationship into a life-long dream together.
However, re-evaluating insurance coverage isn’t one of the items uppermost on the minds of newlyweds- but… Continue reading
As each new calendar month approaches our office administrator hands me a list of client names whose birthday will be coming up over the following 30 or so days. As I write something in the card I find myself reflecting on such things as how long we have had our client/advisor relationship and what changes have taken place over the years in addressing the clients changing needs. As I worked on this months birthday list the thought came to mind that for various clients their… Continue reading
It used to be that if you were into the soap opera scene you just turned on your television from early to mid afternoon and watched your favorite shows. Well, now we have the all day variety and it is based in none other than our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. It truly was most interesting in that today’s show began mid morning and lasted well into the evening. The employees of a major Wall Street powerbroker got to play starring roles before… Continue reading
Having just had a birthday in my mid (all right, moving to upper) 50’s, I fleetingly thought about what retirement planning for me would be like. In my 25+ years of helping people move into their new paradigm of life, I rarely thought about it myself. Now, not to worry. I have no intention of retiring…at least not in the near future- I’m having too much fun doing what I do every day.
Retirement planning takes time. Not the time it takes… Continue reading
On Friday 4/16 the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Goldman Sachs and one of its vice presidents with defrauding investors by misstating and omitting key facts about a financial product related to subprime mortgages.
We didn’t really think the sub-prime mess was over, did we?
According to CBS MarketWatch, “Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party,”
As in most professions, areas of specialty are prevalent. Doctors have dozens of specific niches, accountants may specialize in personal, business, corporate or a myriad of places in between: even chefs fall under the categories of souse, pastry, salad, etc. When choosing an attorney, going the general route may hurt rather than help you in all but the simplest of needs.
Choosing an attorney is part of your financial and business life. It is important to… Continue reading
