My Comments: Is the glass half full, or is it half empty? That’s a classic question, to help determine if someone who answers is optimistic or pessimistic. Personally, my natural response is to suggest the glass is half full. For me the past is past; the only criteria becomes the present and the future. To …
Tag: money management
A Not So Simple Tax Question
My Comments: I try to not post anything with political implications. And while this post looks like one, there are larger issues with implications for Republicans, for Democrats, and Libertarians. I’ve argued for years that the current chasm between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in this country must be bridged. This article from the …
How Much Will I Get From Social Security?
My Comments: Next month I start a series of workshops about Social Security. I’m somewhat fearful since this past weekend, I had questions from a couple of folks and while I thought I knew the answer, I wasn’t sure. One solution is to have you become a free member of an organization called the American …
Sustainable Development: The Future of Investing
My Comments: Followers of this blog have seen the ideas expressed by Scott Minerd. I share them with you as I think they are important ideas, intended by me to help you better understand the role that money plays in your life. As I’ve expressed many times, we live in a society where having more …
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A Social Security Claiming Strategy to Consider
My Comments: Every choice when it comes to filing for Social Security benefits comes with trade-offs. Whether one works for you to a large extent is determined by how long you live, and for most of us, that’s the elephant in the room. But if you assume you and your spouse will live to a …
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Sinking Atlantic Coastline Meets Rapidly Rising Seas
My Comments: Our esteemed Governor, Rick Scott, has decreed that the phrase ‘climate change’ cannot be uttered by any state employee. OK. But it doesn’t change the reality that the planet is experiencing a warming trend that may or may not be influenced by advances in human activity. The reality is that for the foreseeable …
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10 Things You Must Know About Social Security
My Comments: Next month I start a new job; teaching folks about Social Security. Actually, it’s a function of my need to keep busy and an apparent ability to share 40 years of experience as a financial planner with people who need to know about this very important financial element of their lives. This article, …
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America’s Middle-class Meltdown
1/5 of US adults live in or near poverty My Comments: Followers of my posts can recall numerous times over the past five years when I’ve talked about the growing divide between the haves and the have-nots. If not corrected, there’s going to be rioting in the streets before my five year old grandson reaches …
How to Trump-proof Your Portfolio
My Comments: This is not intended as a political statement. However, clients are asking me whether there are likely to be economic consequences, and therefore an impact on their investment portfolios, if Donald Trump wins the Presidency. These comments appeared in The Financial Times and may or may not apply to you. Gillian Tett – …
How Much Stock Should You Have in Your Retirement Accounts?
My Comments: This question has been asked every years for the almost 30 years that I’ve called myself a financial professional. Unfortunately, there is no best answer. Human nature, in the form of doubts, confidence, expectations, past experience, impatience, timing and fear, all conspire to force our hand when attempting to make intelligent decisions. Good …
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Helping Define Your Financial Future 