Is Your Spouse Ready? We are all 100% terminal. I know that is pretty dark and stoic. A pandemic is not necessary for us to realize that life is finite regardless of how long we live. Yet, one of the most common mistakes I have seen with DIY financial plans is that the planners don’t…

Your New Title: CEO When I sit down with families, one of the questions in our first visit is: “If we fast forward to your retirement or if you’re already retired, how much monthly income do you need to live comfortably?” I have been surprised at how many blank stares or scratching heads I have…

Exponential Saving When you hear that you need to save 20% of your income, it can feel intimidating. To go from saving 0% of your income to 20% could feel similar to trying to stop a moving train. I believe we must draw a line in the sand somewhere, and 20% is the line where…

Are Habits Costing You Your Retirement? Saving for retirement can be daunting. We have spoken before about saving an entire 20% of your income towards retirement. At first glance that sounds novel but we always seem to have extra month at the end of the money! We all wish we had extra money at the…

The Market Is A Voting Machine? Warren Buffet and his mentor Benjamin Graham both once said, “In the short run the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it’s a weighing machine.” Regardless of the results of this election, we must understand that our government plays an important role in policies and…

Growing up, the food pyramid gave me a visual picture to understand that it wasn’t so wise to eat 100% junk food. I understood by the simple graphic that moderation was the key to living in balance. Financial gurus will tell you to save everything you can and live on a shoestring budget now so…

Let me ask you one question: Do you think tax rates over the next decade will be headed higher or lower? If you’re like the thousands of individuals I have polled, you are most likely thinking higher. Of course, no one knows the future for sure, but based on the government’s spending habits and the…

Many retirees approach retirement with a healthy mix of unease and excitement. One of the most frequent questions I am asked is, “Andrew, what will be different when I retire on Friday?” Financially, one of the big changes in retirement: You have been used to 40 years of paychecks, and on Friday those paychecks dry…

Charles “Tremendous” Jones once said the only two things that can change your life are the people you meet and the books you read. I can tell you that has certainly been true of my life. At age 15 and bored, I sat in my bedroom one Sunday afternoon with only a book to pass…

In my last blog, I talked about why you would not want to build your own financial plan. Well, if I couldn’t convince you, the guilt of thinking about you duck taping a plan together is too weighty for me to carry around. So, instead of keeping our secret formula locked in a vault, I…

Many handymen feel pride when they build their backyard decks. Yet, they may regret it later when they find themselves involved in a frightening viral video. The video could show a prom photo shoot going wrong and the deck collapses under the weight of too many people. Likewise, financial planning can appear easy to do.…

Wow! Long term care can be expensive! But wait, it gets worse. Long term care (LTC) expenses are increasing faster than inflation,1  which means as our incomes are being outpaced by the cost to assist us in old age. Numerous families have shared with me that they are spring chickens and do not need to…