I was at a dinner party on Saturday night and during a conversation, another guest became aware that I work as a financial advisor. Upon hearing this information he asked, “What company do you work for?” This is a reasonable question since all manner of financial...
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication," proclaimed an Apple Computer marketing brochure back in 1977. In the ensuing decades, Steve Jobs' commitment to this ideal resulted in technology products that were as beautiful as they were easy use, and in Apple becoming...
We have a client whose mother passed away at the beginning of the year. She was a beneficiary of her mother’s IRA, and we helped her move the inherited funds into a beneficiary IRA in her name. Because of her mother’s age, we asked if her mother took her full IRA...
In a 2009 essay that was very influential in business circles, Paul Graham of Y Combinator tried to figure out why workers at different levels of the same organization struggled to stay on the same meeting schedule. His conclusion was that you could break jobs down...
We have a client, Sandra, whose employer was in the process of being purchased by another company. As a function of her position, she was offered the opportunity to buy shares in the new company. She wanted to know if it was a good idea. Some personal finance experts...
Last month we completed a Second Opinion consultation for Gloria. Gloria had accumulated extra money in her checking account and had extra money available each month to put toward additional savings. She asked if she should pay down her mortgage with those funds or...
Last month Matt and Rachel asked for a meeting. Matt was offered a job, and he was weighing whether to accept it or not. The new job would have a little less flexibility and lower pay but came with a higher pension. Some probing revealed that the most attractive thing...
Would you like to achieve a 37X change in your life by this time next year? According to productivity expert James Clear -- and a little bit of math -- that's how big of an impact just a 1% daily improvement can make over time. Of course, the reverse is also true:...
Recently a long-time client sold a vacation home and placed the proceeds in her brokerage account. While on a Zoom call along with her son and daughter, she asked me if her account was FDIC insured. I wish this was a simple yes or no answer, but it’s not. Now, the...
We are always happy to provide a second opinion to friends and family of existing clients. On a recent Second Opinion discussion, we were asked if college expenses are deductible. College expenses are no longer tax deductible but some are eligible for a couple of tax...