Imagine Your Worst Case

February 17, 2012

Over the last few months, I’ve had the opportunity to learn a whole lot more than I ever knew about some “behind the scenes” things that happen before a soldier gets deployed overseas. My girlfriend works as part of a dental team that goes to military bases on weekends and performs dental work on a ridiculously large number of soldiers prior to their deployment. On a normal day in a normal private practice, she may see 8-10 patients. Continue reading “Imagine Your Worst Case”

If It Looks Too Good To Be True…

February 10, 2012

Have you ever seen one of the infomercials about a workout routine, a diet program, or a piece of exercise equipment and said to yourself “that just looks too good to be true”? Well…so did this guy! In a video that has become an internet sensation, Furious Pete shows how he made a remarkable physical transformation (you have to check out the video to see just how amazing the transformation is) and took both before and after photos in only 5 hours as proof. Proof? Yep! Proof that his transformation was not completely legitimate. Nor was it the product of hard work, diet, or exercise. Continue reading “If It Looks Too Good To Be True…”

What Are You Hiding From?

February 03, 2012

So……this Sunday is the Super Bowl!!! The game will be watched by more people than ever before. Madonna is performing at the halftime show. (I have so much to say about that but because this is a work-related blog I’ll decline to comment…for now). The whole sports world (and many people who don’t like football but are invited to parties or want to simply watch the commercials) will stop for 3-4 hours on Sunday as the NFL crowns a new champion. Continue reading “What Are You Hiding From?”

What I Learned Watching the NFL Playoffs

January 27, 2012

Last weekend, the final 4 teams left in the NFL playoffs squared off to see who would make it to the Super Bowl. This year, it’s the New England Patriots vs. New York Giants playing in the season’s final game. 2 teams, 1 trophy……….I can’t wait. I’m almost as excited about the commercials as I am the game. My favorite team was eliminated, so there won’t be a championship parade for me to attend this year. That made me think. The NFL has 32 teams. Only 1 wins the Super Bowl. Only 1 is considered “successful”. The other 31??? They all failed to meet their goals and have to wait another year to try to reach them. Continue reading “What I Learned Watching the NFL Playoffs”

Investing Lessons From Mitt Romney and the Italian Cruise Ship Tragedy

January 20, 2012

Within the last 24 hours, I watched a presidential debate and saw endless news footage of an Italian cruise ship sinking. As a guy who lived on a boat for a few years, I couldn’t help but read everything I could find about the cruise ship, the captain, and the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. As a political geek, I couldn’t help but watch yet another debate with an ever narrowing field of candidates. My only regret this political season is that there are only debates for the Republicans. During the last election cycle we had them for both parties, and for me that was a wonderful thing. But, that’s not what I ‘m writing about today. Continue reading “Investing Lessons From Mitt Romney and the Italian Cruise Ship Tragedy”

What Can Superbowl Ads Teach Us About Financial Decisions?

January 13, 2012

I just read this article about NBC selling out all of its Super Bowl ad inventory. $3.5 MILLION is the average price for each 30 second ad!!! Wow, that’s a lot of money. (Unless you’re in Congress where even $3.5 Billion doesn’t seem like a whole lot of money…..) What do the companies who purchase these ads get? A big audience and the chance to make a memorable ad that hopefully drives customers to purchase more of their product or use their service are their rewards. But $3,500,000???? Really???? That’s a big expense for any company. For some companies, it pays off. For others, it’s not very effective. So, spending money isn’t always the best choice! (Are you listening, Washington D.C.?) In our own lives we can incur big expenses. The question we have to answer is if it’s the right choice. Continue reading “What Can Superbowl Ads Teach Us About Financial Decisions?”

What Can We Learn from “The 1%?”

January 06, 2012

It’s impossible to turn on a news channel and not hear about the 99% vs. the 1%. Here’s what I think: Supporters on both sides have points that the other side could learn from. Since this blog is about trying to give you some thoughts about how to improve your financial life, and once in a while some stories that might be inspiring, I’ll talk about what we can all learn from the top tier of America’s wealthy (aka “The 1%”). For a large part of my career I gave financial advice to people who are in that group, and while they all made money in different ways, there were many common characteristics. Here are my observations and a few things I learned that have helped shape my career. Continue reading “What Can We Learn from “The 1%?””

Will It Ever Come Back?

December 30, 2011

No, this isn’t an advice column for your love life that’s going to tell you, “If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, blah blah blah…” Nor is this the story of a man’s hairline, because clearly the answer there is NO! This is my favorite story of 2011 mixed with a frequently asked question from my 1-on-1 sessions with employees of one of the companies I visit regularly. Continue reading “Will It Ever Come Back?”

Financial Planning and the Stonehedge Mystery

December 23, 2011

For those who love mysteries, one of the longest running mysteries I can remember is Stonehenge. I mean, what is the meaning of those stones in that location? Who put them there? Why? How? Well, one part of that mystery has been solved. We now know the origin of the stones. Archaeologists spend years trying to solve mysteries, and now that this one is solved, all it does is raise more questions. At times, I’ve found that is also the case when working with people regarding their financial lives. Here’s the condensed version of the story of someone I’ve known for a few years. Continue reading “Financial Planning and the Stonehedge Mystery”

Financial Twinkies

December 16, 2011

As a dad, one of my jobs is to make sure that my kids learn some foundational nutrition guidelines. So any time I see a story like this, that talks about how many of the popular cereals (some of which I really like…) have more sugar in them than a Twinkie, it catches my eye. Some of the cereals on the list (Honey Smacks, for instance, just sounds sweet and sugary, so that’s not a real shocker!) wouldn’t immediately conjure up thoughts of “I should worry about the amount of sugar in this.” The article goes on to say that, like we do in my family, especially since my middle child has Type 1 Diabetes, reading labels is important and it gives some tips on what to look for, as well as some alternatives to cereal that are fast and easy. I know I’m always looking for quick breakfast ideas before school for the kids, and work for me. Thinking about how reading the labels on food is important made me think about “reading the label” with some financial products, as well. Continue reading “Financial Twinkies”

The Day After Black Friday

December 09, 2011

What is the day after Black Friday called? I have no idea if it actually has a name, but after reading news stories and seeing things all over the internet and on Twitter, I have a few suggestions. “Retail hangover Saturday?” “How much did I spend yesterday” day? “Look at all my new store credit cards” day? I saw a lot of stories, blogs and tweets about people spending money and opening up new credit cards in order to get an extra 10% or 20% off of their purchases. Many of them plan to close the cards immediately upon getting their first bill. But is that a wise move? It might be, but let’s look at the options you have for recently opened credit cards, and how your credit score might be impacted. Continue reading “The Day After Black Friday”

Mind the Gap: What Really Matters to Your Financial Well-Being

December 02, 2011

I was reading some articles recently and found this quote:

“It’s not the balance in a person’s bank account that makes them happy; it’s the ‘spread’ between their bank balance and their bills. If there’s a wide spread, people have more flexibility, more options. If there’s a narrow spread, people perceive themselves as stuck, and their happiness levels plummet.” – Paula Pant Continue reading “Mind the Gap: What Really Matters to Your Financial Well-Being”

Holiday Season: An Encouraging Sign

November 25, 2011

If you watch the news on a regular basis, it can get a little bit depressing. Economic uncertainty, both here and abroad, seems to dominate the daily news cycle. It feels like the stock market moves up and down (but the downs are far more noticeable!) because of news events in Greece or the failure of a Super-Committee (it never felt Super!) to reach a deal that was good for the fiscal state of the country. In the midst of watching a bunch of pundits talk about how dire the consequences are for the Super-Committee’s failure, I hopped online to see if I could find a good news story. Fortunately, I found this! Continue reading “Holiday Season: An Encouraging Sign”

Emergency or Disaster?

November 18, 2011

I don’t know how much the rest of the country paid attention to a very early snowstorm in the Northeast, but I had to pay attention to it. It was a big part of the last week or so of my life. I travel to Connecticut a lot and nearly the entire state was without power for a few days. Those days happened to coincide with the dates that I was supposed to be there. Have you ever tried to call a hotel that doesn’t have power to confirm your reservation? I hadn’t until this storm hit. And, since I couldn’t reach them I kept my travel plans because I didn’t want to be a “no show” for the meetings that I was supposed to attend. And, when I got within about an hour of my hotel, I got an email that my reservation was cancelled. Perfect! Here I am, far from home, close to where I’m supposed to be for work, and nothing in the area has electricity. Fortunately, I have a phone full of contacts and I scrolled through my list to see who I could call as my Plan B. Eventually, I found a place to sleep that had electricity, which means HOT water for the shower! Continue reading “Emergency or Disaster?”

The Truth About Target Date Funds

November 11, 2011

I read this article on Bankrate.com about investors’ belief that target date funds come with a guarantee of a sufficient retirement income. The statistics are a little bit startling (51 percent — of people investing their retirement savings in target-date funds see them as a retirement planning panacea and think that putting their money in them guarantees their retirement income needs will be met), frightening even, from the perspective of a financial planner. The conclusion of the article is: Continue reading “The Truth About Target Date Funds”

3 Smart (and Not So Smart) Tax Decisions by Retirees

November 04, 2011

In my blog last week, I talked about how looking at the future of tax policy may be an interesting hobby (especially if you’re a geek like me!), but that it really isn’t all that useful in the present. But, there are things that are important to look at when it comes to today’s income tax situation. I don’t want to minimize the impact of paying attention to taxes; it’s just a matter of learning which situations are high impact situations. Continue reading “3 Smart (and Not So Smart) Tax Decisions by Retirees”

Why We Should Tune Out the Politicians

October 28, 2011

As someone who travels a lot for work, I spend a lot of time in hotel rooms. And, each hotel has a very different TV lineup, so it’s impossible for me to ever remember if ESPN is on channel 29, 53, 37, or 6. (Yeah, there are bigger problems, but knowing what channel ESPN is on is important to me!) And, a part of my night is flipping through the dial to check out what’s going on in the world outside of sports. I’m a bit of a news junkie too. In the latest trip around the dials (are there even radios or TV’s with dials anymore?), I was fascinated by all of the tax proposals I saw being talked about. You’ve all heard that the only 2 things that are certain in this life are death and taxes. I agree that those are absolute certainties, but I think there are a few other things that can be counted on. One of them is politicians with plans. Continue reading “Why We Should Tune Out the Politicians”

Financial Planning and Learning to Drive

October 14, 2011

My daughter just got her learner’s permit. Drivers everywhere, beware! Last Sunday I let her drive as we ran errands, and she did a remarkably good job for her first time on busy roads. It wasn’t an empty parking lot this time! And…that’s not just a proud dad talking. It’s an honest evaluation of her performance. This whole “learning to drive” experience has me thinking about our capacity to learn new things. Continue reading “Financial Planning and Learning to Drive”

Financial Planning: I’m a Geek and I can Prove it

October 07, 2011

It was pointed out to me recently that I can be quite a geek (fortunately, my girlfriend likes geeks). It was also pointed out that when I was a kid I had to feed my pet dinosaur before I walked 10 miles, uphill, in both directions, to school in the morning. (I love my kids! Anyone want them?) I guess a little back-story might help. In an interesting twist (at least to us) of timing, my girlfriend and I share a birthday for a brief moment. Her birthday is on the 20^th, mine is the 21^st, and we like to spend our birthdays together doing fun stuff. Or, at least mostly fun stuff. Continue reading “Financial Planning: I’m a Geek and I can Prove it”