It is all too often that I have a conversation about how to handle a Will or Power of Attorney and send people off with good intentions to get their estate documents in order. Too many times I have a follow-up conversation a year later and find nothing has been accomplished. Don’t become one of…
“We are now in a bear market – here’s what that means.” – CNBC headline on December 24, 20181 “The stock market rally to start 2019 is one for the history books.” – CNBC headline on February 22, 20192 If you’re like most people, it’s probably not uncommon for you to plan your day or…
The Major League Baseball season is underway, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Division I Tournament has just reached its exciting conclusion, and the Masters Tournament is underway, which means spring is officially here and we’ve closed the books on the first quarter of 2019. Much like the University of Virginia men’s basketball team, which shook off…
Christmas presents. Valentine cards. It’s interesting how many of the holiday traditions we hold most dear center around children. Most are primarily for children, of course, but a few were actually started by children. For example, take the annual Easter Egg Roll held on the grounds of the White House every year. Be it enacted…
Don’t Assume This Will Be Easy – Start Now A new study by Bankers Life for a Secure Retirement, A Growing Urgency, Retirement Care Realities for Middle-Income Boomers, has found what I pretty much knew to be true: Baby Boomers are not prepared for the possibility of needing chronic care in retirement. Even though two-thirds…
Make Your Money Work For You Have you ever played the game Monopoly? If so, you’re probably familiar with the image of “Rich Uncle Pennybags,” the game’s unofficial mascot. Sporting a bushy white mustache, a black top hat, and a cane, Mr. Monopoly (as he is sometimes known) has become a cliché. Created as a…
Watch For The Income Tax Torpedo The possibly lurking Social Security tax torpedo is a situation where an extra dollar of income not only gets taxed at your highest marginal tax rate, it also may cause previously untaxed Social Security benefits to be taxed. So instead of adding $1 to taxable income, you must add…
March Madness and Investing Although I don’t watch much basketball during the season, I enjoy the playoffs and championships. It’s always a pleasure to see great competition. I was reading about the bracket process and was struck with how similar it is to the investment process we use. Seeding Madness, specifically “March Madness,” has begun.…
Many of you are concerned that Social Security won’t remain a viable option in the future. Here’s the latest update. Although the journalists won’t be writing about the 2018 Social Security (OASDI) trust fund results until the annual trustees’ report comes out in the spring, we have them for you now. The Social Security Administration…
Hot Dogs Saved the Community When it comes to changing your community, most people probably think you need a lot of money, fame, or power. But when a colleague shared the following story1 with me, I learned something important: Sometimes, all it takes to change your community is a glass of water and some hot…