Frozen. That’s the only way I can describe it. Mike, the other financial planner in our office, and I were listening to the report of the stock market rapidly dropping, while staring at each other in disbelief. It was October 19, 1987. We didn’t have a computer screen to look at, so the only continual […]
Have you ever thought about how you make your choices every day? Take traffic, for instance. My brother lives in Washington, D.C., and works roughly an hour away from where he lives. On any given day there could be traffic that extends his drive 30-40minutes, or even more! Because of the traffic the shortest route […]
We are often asked by first-time callers to our office if we are a “Fiduciary.” It seems like the word is all over the news these days, but what exactly does it mean? In a nutshell, a fiduciary is a person or organization who is ethically bound to put a client’s best interests first at […]
In my last blog we got back to the basics of how to prioritize paying down debts. Of course not everything is cut and dry, and as one of my friends pointed out, “Phil, your firm focuses on investments…shouldn’t I use my money to make more money in the stock market instead? Then I can […]
Recently I was having a discussion with a friend in his mid-20’s who is working two jobs and in a very good position of low expenses and high income to maximize his debt payoff. We were discussing his opportunity to pay down his large student debt during this period and he went on to mention […]
Don’t accumulate possessions…accumulate experiences. Yes, it sounds like strange advice coming from a financial advisor. On a daily basis I counsel clients to grow their assets, because one day they will be drawing from them. But as I cross another milestone – July 7, 2015, marked my 30thAnniversary in the financial planning profession – I […]
April 20th was my son, Philip’s, 23rd birthday. He didn’t ask for much…all he wanted was for Mom and Dad to travel to Williamsburg with he and Janae, his lovely fiancée, and “do the ropes course.” Sounded to me like a fairly simple birthday request, so I said, “Let’s do it.” What is a ropes […]
If you knew exactly how long you would live, what would you do differently? Would you travel more and work less? Would you start your dream business? Would you sell your house and live on a cruise liner? Would you spend all your money, or stockpile it to leave to your loved ones? In the […]
Happy New Year! If you’re anything like me or thousands of other typical Americans, you’ve resolved to get your life more organized this year. Now that could mean anything – from closets to paperwork, to anything in between. But how about Beneficiaries? You know, the people that stand to inherit your assets when you die? […]