Before we get started, lets recognize that this isn’t the first time there’s been a shutdown, and it probably won’t be the last. But that doesn’t change the fact that so many workers are now reaching their third week of no pay. There are roughly 800,000 federal employees who are not receiving paychecks right now,…
In my line of business, we talk a lot about wealth management. The idea, of course, is that financial planners and wealth managers assist you in creating a road map for your money that helps you grow savings for lifestyle goals like retirement, purchasing a home, or sending your kids to the college of their…
Would it surprise you to know that students graduating from high school enter college with little to no knowledge about their finances, how to budget, or save for their futures? The problem has become so severe that 40% of these students wind up going into debt in order to fund their social lives and 70%…
While the stock market has been steadily climbing for the past few years, a surprising number of people are keeping a surprising amount of money in cash. And while everyone is going to have a certain amount of cash allocation, what’s even more surprising is how many people are losing out on maximizing the interest…
Last Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down the Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule, stating that it was “unreasonable’ that brokers handling investors’ retirement savings should be required to only act in clients’ best interest. Unreasonable for advisors to only act in their clients’ best interests? Let that sink in for…
Last week, in response to confusion surrounding the 2018 tax law that was passed in December, the IRS released an updated online Withholding Calculator. The tool is designed to help taxpayers make sure they are not wildly underpaying or overpaying what they will owe. The new law is highly complex and made changes that included…
Are you saving for your child’s education with a 529 account? If you are already contributing to a 529 plan, reduced deductions in the new 2018 tax law mean you may want to increase your contributions – or even create a second 529 account – to offset higher state taxes. If you haven’t yet opened…
Whether you realize it or not, chances are good that you are prone to something called Recency Bias, which is the common tendency to think that what has been happening recently will continue to happen in the near future. If you, like many investors, are shocked and concerned about February’s sudden market volatility, it’s probably…
This past weekend my family has made the move into a new home, which needless to say, has been a chaotic process. It really got me thinking, though, about real estate/home ownership and how it fits into client portfolios and their financial plans. The mantra of the middle class is buy a home. But is…
Do you remember the scene from the movie Matilda when Harry (Danny DeVito) shows his son his dodgy-car salesmanship? While highly over exaggerated in the film for the sake of comedy, it is true that whenever you buy something from a salesman, you should ask… what’s in it for them? It’s safe to say that…