Do you regularly donate to charities and other non-profit organizations? Then you may want to open a Donor-Advised Fund. Donor-Advised Funds are becoming popular. It is easy to see why. They offer potential tax perks, and in some instances, a chance to grow money set aside for charitable gifting.1,2 It is all too easy to […]
Are Your Beneficiary Designations Up to Date?
Here’s a simple financial question: Who is the beneficiary of your IRA? How about your 401(k) or annuity? You may be saying, “I’m not sure.” It is a good idea to periodically review your beneficiary designations. Your choices may need to change with the times. When did you open your first IRA? When did you […]
How to Protect Yourself and Your Money From Hackers and Identity Thieves
As you may have heard, Equifax, which is a credit reporting agency, suffered a data breach that compromised the personal and financial data of more than 143 million Americans.1 The information accessed included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers. While this data breach is the largest in recent memory, these types of occurrences have become all too common and put us all at increased risk of identify theft. Unfortunately, the risks of identity theft extend beyond to just identity thieves taking out loans in your name. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect yourself. Continue Reading …
Do you know the difference between a fee-based advisor and an independent, fee-only advisor?
This is a very important question as how your advisor is compensated may create conflicts of interest, which can lead to significant financial consequences for you and your family. As brokers and insurance agents have changed their job titles in recent years to “advisors” and have replaced commissions with fees as their primary method of compensation, such conflicts of interests are not as easy to see today but are still there if you know where to look. Such conflicts are also not hard to find if you know what questions to ask. Continue Reading …
Bundle Up? Not When It Comes To Financial Services
For many people subscribing to satellite services or cable television over the last couple of decades, the business model has been “bundling services” like television, Internet and phone together for a single rate. However, in this system, many customers are paying for TV channels that they never watch or for a landline that they rarely use. With the increased popularity of “cutting the cord” to cable and satellite TV in order to watch TV series and films on Over-The-Top (OTT) content devices, there have been calls, even from Washington, for a “pay for what you watch” or “a la carte” approach. Continue Reading …
Finding Your Financial Advocate
When it comes to getting objective advice for your financial well-being, do you know the difference between being a customer and being a client? Understanding the difference between the two can make all the difference in the world, especially for financial services. A customer relationship is driven by a transaction taking place, such as buying […]
Ignore the Economists
CNNMoney just published an excellent article titled Don’t Listen to Recession Forecasters. This is a great article for those investors who believe they can time the market by predicting recessions. As the article suggests, the odds are greatly stacked against this approach. Here are two key points to consider from the article (with my comments): […]
