10 Oct 2014

Posted at 16:50h in The Friday Brief by

Due to the large number of Baby Boomers in retirement or retiring soon, much is being written on the merits of delaying Social Security from age 62, (Early Age), to 66 (Full Retirement Age) or even waiting until 70 (benefits must begin). Forget the rules of thumb and the pat answers. This is one of those cases where 'one size' absolutely does not fit all. There are simply too many nuances and special considerations unique to each person for general advice to be worthwhile.

19 Sep 2014

Posted at 12:58h in The Friday Brief by
I'm here to free you up from that awkward moment at the cocktail party when you ask the guy next to you what he does for a living and he responds, "I'm a financial advisor."  After 18 years as a financial advisor I've learned to embrace that awkward silence when the person I'm talking to pauses momentarily, presumably waiting for me to solicit their business.  The financial industry has created this phenomenon for itself by focusing more on product sales and stock market prediction than good solid advice.  Fortunately, our society has come up with a clever way to break that silence in the form of a question.  "What's the stock market going to do? "

12 Sep 2014

Posted at 15:08h in The Friday Brief by
The financial decisions we make on a daily basis, even some relatively small ones, can have a huge impact on our future. That's because of the power of compounding. We understand that a relatively small sum saved over time can grow into a very large amount in the future. But we rarely recognize how compounding can work for or against us in our purchasing decisions, which are more frequent and significant than savings decisions. This is an area where the concept of opportunity cost can be especially helpful.