The Most Important Lessons in Life are the Unspoken Ones

November 14, 2011

My mother-in-law, Stella Anderson, passed away in her sleep last month with her family at her side at the age of 97.  She was dearly loved and will surely be missed.  At her memorial service, her granddaughter (my niece) Britt Anderson spoke lovingly about lessons she learned from her grandmother which made me reflect on some of my own – financial lessons I picked up from her over the years.  Some of the lessons Stella taught her grandchildren were intentional, of course, but other lessons were learned from observing how Stella lived her life.  Britt shared the “intentional” ones first: Continue reading “The Most Important Lessons in Life are the Unspoken Ones”

Dividends Matter

April 11, 2011

I thought about the power of dividends when I worked on my mother-in-law’s taxes.  She has been selling off an investment to help pay for her care and as the one who helps her with her taxes, I had to find her basis (what she originally paid for it) to report it on her tax return.  She’d owned this mutual fund as long as I’ve known her and that means she has been taking a dividend from it for almost 20 years.  When I dug into it, what I found was that she had a loss – her initial investment not only hadn’t grown but was less than she put in.  What a disappointment! Continue reading “Dividends Matter”