In the financial planning profession, many advisors focus on investment management. The focus is often so strongly on managing investments that all the other components of financial planning which people want and need are ignored. In today’s post I’d like to discuss MoneyCapsules, a process-or ... Read more

In the financial planning profession, many advisors focus on investment management. The focus is often so strongly on managing investments that all the other components of financial planning which people want and need are ignored. In today’s post I’d like to discuss MoneyCapsules, a process-or ... Read more

If you’re a client of mine, or have ever engaged in a conversation with me about managing investments, then you know I’m a big fan of indexes and low-cost investing. I’m still a fan of the occasional manager who consistently outperforms his/her benchmark but I’m still skeptical that it’s ... Read more

Roth IRAs are very trendy right now. “Trendy” isn’t a word I usually use to describe financial products and services but in this case I think it applies. Many investors are so concerned about upcoming tax rate hikes that they are more than willing to forego a tax deduction today if it means ... Read more

I’ve written at length about problems within the retirement plan system here in America. Perhaps the biggest drawback for employees is that those secure pensions of the 80’s and 90’s are, for the most part, being replaced by employee-funded 401(k) and 403(b) plans. While it may seem like onl ... Read more

Welcome to my annual tax post. I’m feeling pretty confident heading into this year’s tax season as it appears the average person will pay less tax and have more credits/deductions than last year. I wish I could say that trend is likely to continue in the future but it’s quite clear at this p ... Read more

Some baby boomers still think of smart investing as buying and holding a portfolio of blue chip stocks. Such investors, lost in their memories of stable dividends and low volatility, cringe at the idea of trading in their blue chips for index investments. They also cringe at the inclusion of commo ... Read more

When I do budgets with my clients, I’m frequently shocked at the annual outlay for gifts. After housing and food, gifting is one of the larger annual expenses for individuals in terms of percentage of income dedicated to it. For one of my clients who earns around $100,000 per year gifts accounte ... Read more

There is an interesting article in this month’s Financial Planning Magazine which questions how realistic it is for the dollar to “fail” on a global scale. These sorts of articles aren’t unusual these days as much debate takes place over US debt, continued foreign investment, rising gold p ... Read more

The 401k industry is in a pretty sweet spot. Corporate pensions are quickly becoming obsolete and now more than ever employees need to rely on their own ability to save money. What could be easier than an automatic payroll deduction plan such as a 401k or 403b which provides tax-deferred growth an ... Read more