In these crazy times, we have lots to think about. With the Great Pandemic raging and unemployment soaring, some of us find ourselves thinking about mortality and about the fragility of good health. Experts tell us that more families are doing estate planning, buying life insurance, and pre-paying for funerals. As regular readers of this …
Legacy Planning
When should I take Social Security?
Data shows that a majority of Americans are losing thousands of dollars each year because they chose to start taking Social Security at the wrong time. One national study shows that retirees as a group will lose $3.4 trillion in income they could have received over their lifetime because they start taking Social Security the …
Why is insurance needed?
Part of my job is to help families think about—and prepare for—bad things. It can be tricky because humans mostly don’t like to think about bad things. After all, they’re bad and it’s unpleasant to think about them. The point is not really that you must do this one thing in response to the bad stuff. The …
Four steps to build and maintain wealth
It’s easy to look at people around you who seem to have accumulated more wealth than you and believe they know some big secret that you don’t. Actually, when you break down what people do to build and maintain wealth, it tends to be a series of relatively common-sense actions taken patiently over time. Here’s …
What to do if your elderly parent is being scammed
If you are better than 50 years old and your parents are still alive, you have probably wondered from time to time if they might get caught in a scam. It’s a reasonable concern. Seniors are commonly the victims of financial exploitation. One recent study in New York state estimates that as much as $36 billion each …
How should I start preparing for retirement?
As a financial advisor, I don’t think it’s ever too early to start planning for retirement. Ideally retirement planning starts as soon as an individual starts earning money, even on their very first job. However, specific planning really ramps up in the years and decades just before retirement. That’s when it’s important to start visualizing …
