In a 2002 interview with Mike Wallace, former First Lady Nancy Reagan said she often reread the love letters written by her husband, former President Ronald Reagan. The letters, which had sustained and enriched their relationship, helped Mrs. Reagan reconnect with her husband and remember the man he was before Alzheimer’s claimed him. 1 An excerpt from her book, I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan reads: 2 “No matter...
Dan Taylor faced a precarious situation after his father suffered from a stroke at age 72 and couldn’t live alone. Dan was responsible for looking after him and had no idea how to proceed. He was overwhelmed by the plethora of options and was determined to find a place where his father “would be treated with dignity and respect.” His experience inspired him to write The Parent Care Conversation, a book that helps parents and...
The bull market in U.S. stocks has been charging ahead for more than eight years.1 While that’s young in people years, it’s ancient in bull market terms. Since World War II, the longest bull market in U.S. stocks lasted for almost nine-and-a-half years. The shortest sputtered out after just 13 months. On average, bull markets last for slightly less than five years, according to Fortune.2 So, how much longer will this bull market persist? No...
The term beneficiary crops up every now and again. Usually you’ll see it on an insurance form or hear about it in relation to a will, but despite the nonchalance we toss the term around with, beneficiaries are incredibly important. Let’s break down the details on how and why beneficiaries matter. What’s a beneficiary actually mean? A beneficiary can be anyone—a person or a nonprofit organization like your church or the local homeless shelter—who you...
A will is the foundation of your estate plan and it is essential if your financial affairs are to be settled in accordance with your wishes. If you die without a will, or “intestate” as the law refers to it, essentially the state becomes your executor and your property will be distributed according to its laws. Drawing up a will has become so easy, and it is relatively inexpensive, leaving very little reason why everyone...
When people warn you that having kids is expensive, it’s no joke. From diapers to food, braces to sports activities the costs add up quick. For a middle-income family in the U.S. raising a child up until age 18, costs an estimated average of $245,340 (or $304,480, adjusted for projected inflation), according to the 2013 “Cost of Raising a Child” report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Of course, this number fluctuates dependent on where...
The prospect of suddenly having to face life with a disability that limits your ability to work in the way you’re used always seems unlikely. Disability is something other people face, maybe in old age, but not you. While disability insurance may seem unnecessary right now the facts give cause for the preemptive action. Approximately 12% of the total American population and more than 37 million Americans are categorized as disabled; more than half those...
If you have read any literature on retirement planning or have received advice from a financial professional, chances are you were presented with the 70% rule, the one that suggests that retirees will need between 70 and 80% of their pre-retirement income in order to maintain their standard of living. There are several flaws with this formula, the least of which is that it doesn’t consider your actual income and expenses at the time of...
If given the choice, most people would choose financial freedom over financial servitude. Who doesn’t want to be financially independent where their money is working for them as opposed to them working for money? The problem for many is that kind of choice is an abstract exercise of futility as they struggle to navigate the waters of daily living paycheck-to-paycheck or in a clash of priorities where spending tends to win out over saving. The...
For some a car is simply a means of getting from point A to point B. For others it’s a status symbol. Cars are a hobby, a passion, for some and necessity for others, but whatever the level affinity toward automobiles there comes a time where just about everyone needs to start shopping for a new (or used) one. But, don’t run down to the local dealership just yet. Depending on your finances, lifestyle, and...
Think back to those early days in life when it seemed like everything in the candy aisle was free if you begged your parents hard enough. Not a fleeting thought was given to the expenses of a vacation or the copay costs at the doctor. There’s something beautifully unburdened in the way which children experience the world: recklessly present and innocently ambivalent. Teaching your children lessons about money from a young age won’t crush that...
All investors – be they conservative, moderate or aggressive – need to understand that the level of returns they expect to generate is directly related to the amount of risk they are willing to assume – the higher the return, the higher the amount of risk one needs to take. It probably doesn’t dawn on most people that, regardless of where you put your money, you assume some element of risk. For instance, if you...
