Making Cents: Expanding Your Annual Financial Check Up
As the calendar marches toward the final quarter of the year, there are certain financial rituals that many astute investors embrace. They routinely scour their portfolios for gains or losses to harvest, see that their allocations align with their expectations and they plan for ways to reduce the income taxes that they’ll pay for the…
Making Cents: Managing Risk
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…
Making Cents: Why Get Your Financial House In Order?
Perhaps the most common reason for the gaping holes in one’s financial plan is the lack of focus on what you are trying to accomplish. Why get your financial house in order? During the course of my week as a financial professional, we frequently see people with gaping holes in the financial plans. Some have no…
Making Cents: When It Comes To Money, Treat Family Like Anyone Else
Most people seek out financial guidance to help protect wealth for their lifetime and to preserve it to the extent possible for future generations. But it seems that the more financial independence that you have, the more you begin to feel and look like a target by your friends and family to help them with…
Making Cents: Precautions Can Mitigate Losses In The Next Storm
Stuff happens, and there are obvious natural disasters that no one can prevent. But getting your house in order to protect what is important to you is something that you can start to fix today. What would bother me, for example, are the drawers of old photos from my childhood and then of raising a…
Making Cents: Myths About Financial Advice
When it comes to choosing a new financial advisor or evaluating your current advisor, there are some very basic elements that you need to consider. To get you in the right frame of mind, consider these myths and new realities. Myth number one is about competence and success. Believe it or not, the most successful…
Making Cents: Take the Noise in Stride When Considering Investment Approach
Looking back over history there are many times when policy, politics and fear overcame markets. It happens in just about every market; real estate, Wall Street, Currencies and Commodities both domestically and abroad. Sometimes these markets react favorably and other times, unfavorably. What is exceptionally tough to do is to use policy, politics and fear to…
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: 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: 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…