Financial Planning Blog

What is your definition of financial independence? I believe we should retire the word retirement and use financial independence instead. When you hear retirement, do you think things like not working, receiving Social Security and the like? You...

                       Have you ever saved up for something, only to find that it was more expensive 3 to 5 years later? Many people find themselves in sticker shock when...

              Does the term financial life plan make you think a blueprint for how to reach your life goals? Some categorize goals in terms of needs, wants and wishes. I prefer to use the word dream rather than...

                        When contemplating divorce, many people put themselves under undue stress as they worry about their financial well-being. Much of that stress is due to the fear of the unknown...

I was recently asked to help some independent contractors with their retirement savings needs. Many people try to use some preset thought process of how to save for retirement. Often it is based on getting a matching contribution or some rule of thumb such as saving...

When it comes to retirement income, many people struggle with balancing spend in street risk with that of running out of money. It’s been well chronicled that many people are faced with running out of money during their retirement years. I have...

  Some people are shocked when they hear my transparent, financial advisory fee. Some of those people have 401(k) accounts or IRAs where they pay commissions. However, they don’t know what share class means nor have an idea how much they pay...

Many people use the words income and wealth interchangeably. Often people say the word rich meaning they have wealth versus they have income. This is an association with professional athletes, and high income professions such as doctors and attorneys. However, nothing...

Does phenomenal skill on an athletic field translate to being a sophisticated, accredited investor? That is a problem that leads many athletes to invest in risky and sometimes fraudulent investments that can lead them to bankruptcy. Professional athletes as accredited investors...

You may dream of having $1 million, but if you got it, what would your tax plan be? One school of thought says just get the money and you can figure out what to do then. I reject that idea...

Many people believe that when a professional athlete gets a multi-million dollar contract they must be set for life. Are they really? That depends on several factors including spending, inflation, and what income they will make after they retire. Professional athlete’s...

  Supersizing retirement investing likely sounds too good to be true. You may have heard that some people managed to amass $1,000,000 plus IRA balance and wondered how they did it.  While I don’t know about everybody, let me turn your attention to the wonders...