Making Cents: Real Estate As An Investment
Many people own some real estate, and for the most part, those who don’t own property still have the desire to own as a part of their financial forecast. Whether it’s your primary residence, a second home or an investment property, there are several ways to look at real estate from an investment point of…
Making Cents: When You’re In Charge Of An Estate
There is a saying about the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes. That may be true, but for people with any assets, there is a third to be concerned about. That third issue is the resolution of the estate of the decedent. The loss of a loved one is…
Making Cents: Knowing Your Level of Financial Independence
Many trod through life because that is what they do. They go to work, they save and spend, and they keep in that motion until they either must stop working or decide that doing something else would be nice. Some are so good at what they do, that they couldn’t fathom how they would spend…
Making Cents: Where Entrepreneurs Go Wrong In Their Own Wealth Planning
Entrepreneur’s lives are frequently defined by their business. Business owners are typically smart, hard driven people with their eye on one thing only-SUCCESS. This can make it tough to separate their personal lives from their business lives. There are six common missteps, which if avoided, can make wealth planning more effective. It can take 24/7…
Making Cents: Planning for Succession of the Business
Small businesses are often credited as being a strong driver of our economy, and many are owned by one person. You may own one yourself, or have at least one solely owned business as a supplier of products or services for your home or business. In my experience, very few of these have a plan…
The Lifelong Learner In All Of Us
A recent social media post by one of our great clients talking about an advanced training she received regarding building a better business reminded me just how important lifelong learning is to all of us. In our profession, you are nobody if you are not committed to lifelong learning. In fact, I write this…
Making Cents: Make Risk Assessment Your First Step
Many say that an analysis of risk should be the first step of the financial planning process after you’ve compiled your financial statements and enumerated your dreams, goals and objectives. The reason for starting with risk is because the occurrence of an unplanned risk may prevent your best laid plans from ever having a chance to…
Making Cents: Why Financial Education is Important
We live in the age of information and big data. As a result, there is no shortage of ways to obtain information about any matter of personal finance. Sometimes the information that you find is relevant and useful, and other times it is outdated and not germane to your topic or need. The problem is…
Making Cents: Decoding Alphabet Soup When It Comes To Financial Advisors
Recently, a friend poked fun of my email signature because of all the initials after my name. Lots of professionals use designations in their signature; some recognizable and some not. The question you need to ask is whether the initials, (AKA credentials or designations) are necessary and would a credentialed professional deliver better service and…
Making Cents: Are you Suffering from Familiarity Risk?
Unless you are a CPA who audits public companies, you’ve probably never heard of familiarity risk. Familiarity risk are risks that you may be incurring that are easily masked by something or someone that you simply become used to. Being too familiar with any situation may cause your guard to become lower than it should…