A few months ago, I wrote about my own retirement planning journey and a list of things that I plan to do along the way. The ultimate purpose was to find some balance between living in the moment and planning for the future. I’ve made some progress over the past few months and thanks to a friend who lives on a tidal creek, I was able to check a long awaited paddle boarding trip off my list. Continue reading “What’s SUP With Your Budget?”
The dog days of summer are here and it’s back to school time for millions across America. To a certain degree, I actually enjoy the routine of the school schedule. Like the changing of seasons, there is a sense of familiarity despite the unknowns of what may happen along the journey. Continue reading “Personal Finance Tools for Busy Parents”
The real purpose of the financial planning process is often lost when we focus on just the specific elements of a plan such as budgeting, eliminating debt, investing, minimizing taxes, and saving for retirement. Financial planning is more than these things. It’s actually the process of aligning our financial resources with our life goals, values, and vision for the future. Continue reading “Putting It All Into Perspective”
Many financial planners (this writer included) have resorted to the cup of coffee example at least once during their careers. It usually starts with a simple question such as “how much does a cup of coffee cost these days?” The answers depend on individual tastes and how many fancy iterations of a coffee or latte people can come up with (typically $3 to $5). Continue reading “Small Changes Can Have Big Consequences”
I recently joined a group of friends in a discussion about our first jobs and reminisced about those innocent days of youth (mostly innocent at least). My first job tapped into my entrepreneurial spirit as I traveled yard to yard in my little corner of suburbia mowing lawns. The boss was a free-spirited adolescent and that venture provided zero benefits, but I did learn a lot about the importance of having a solid work ethic and it gave me hands on experience with managing and saving money. Continue reading “Financial Tips for Recent College Graduates and Early Career Professionals”
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of completing a mid-year financial checkup. One of the activities that I completed as part our family’s recent financial checkup was the activity of running a basic retirement planning calculator (yes I do occasionally try to actually follow my own advice). I used both a basic retirement plan estimator and ESPLannerBASIC. Continue reading “Will Social Security Be Around For Your Retirement?”
If you are considering working with a financial advisor, you need to ask some important questions when deciding if a professional is qualified to help you reach your financial life goals. Last year, I was asked a simple but powerful question that appeared in an interview for a Forbes.com article. It was actually a two part question that was framed as things that everyone should ask their financial advisor. Continue reading “My Best and Worst Investment Decisions Ever”
What does your current estate plan look like? If you said you don’t have an estate plan, you’re probably wrong because the state you live in actually has a plan for your estate if you die without a will, trust, or other crucial documents. If your line of thinking is “what estate…I’m overwhelmed by debt” or “I’m single with no kids” or “I’m young and just getting started in my career,” understand that everyone has an estate and needs an estate plan to make sure your individual, family, and financial goals are met once you die. Continue reading “A Simple Estate Planning Checklist For a Challenging Topic”
Yesterday, Americans spent nearly $20 billion saying thanks to mothers across the country for their priceless roles as domestic CEOs. Hopefully, you had an enjoyable Mother’s Day weekend and had the opportunity to celebrate with the moms in your life too. While my son and I were making our special recipe of blueberry explosion pancakes in the kitchen for my wife (well, I was primarily trying to minimize the mess he was making out of love for his mommy), I started thinking about my memorable Mother’s Day gifts of the past. As a child, I’m sure there were more than just a few kindhearted but lame attempts at breakfast in bed, homemade cards, flowers, and gift certificates. Even as an adult, I still struggle to find the best gift for my mom and I am sure that I’m not alone when I say that it’s tough to find a substantive gift that adequately says thank you enough. (However, I did come across this open letter to moms everywhere from Kid President and it’s sure to make some moms smile in realizing how awesome they are!) Continue reading “Did Mom Miss Out on this Important Gift?”
In last week’s blog post, I introduced my idea of creating a list of forty things to do before I reach my 40th birthday. The ultimate goal in creating my 40 by 40 list was to establish goals across important areas of the life experience while at the same time, helping define my own vision of an ideal retirement. Regardless of what your retirement vision may look like, there are four basic questions that should be a driving force behind your retirement planning activities: Continue reading “Four Key Questions For Your Retirement Plan”
Do you have a written plan in place to guide your investment decisions? If not, how will you know if your investment plan is on track to meet your financial life planning goals? An excellent way to make sure that you follow an investment plan and have a measurement stick in place to track your progress is to setup an investment policy statement. Continue reading “Is Your Investment Portfolio Missing a Key Ingredient?”
