Do you or your parents need long-term care insurance? Let me give you my perspective as a financial professional who does not sell insurance.
People use their retirement income for what they value the most: family, friends, personal independence, and dignity. People need long-term care when a chronic condition limits their ability to carry out basic self-care tasks.
(more…)
People often spend their entire lives endeavoring to build wealth. But wealth can be lost unexpectedly in a moment. What can you do?
It would be tragic to you and your family to lose the wealth you have carefully built over a lifetime. Fortunately, there are risk-management tools to help you protect yourself and your family from the unexpected.
Some think the path to building family wealth is discovering secret, unknown investment treasures in the global marketplace.
Numerous articles disclose portfolio managers’ “secret stock.” Others tout “under-the-radar investments” that Wall Street doesn’t want you to know about. The articles suggest that they will help you discover the next hot stock and act early enough to hit the jackpot and strike it big.
(more…)
An ancient Chinese proverb goes as follows: Money can take one man anywhere, but it cannot pass through three generations.
This Chinese proverb is remarkable in light of current financial statistics. 90% of families do not retain their unity and their finances after three generations.
(more…)
Leaving a legacy has much more to do with character than with money.
Let me share two stories to illustrate the point: (more…)
As an investor, do you prefer to be a lender or an owner? One of the most basic choices an investor makes is whether they want to invest as a lender or as an owner. Historically, lending and owning have had distinctly different characteristics of return and risk.
People who invest as lenders typically invest in CDs, corporate bonds, government bonds, Treasury bills, and bank accounts. As a lender, investors receive a promise that they will be repaid their principal with interest at a predetermined rate and time. This promise is only as good as the financial strength of the corporation, government, or bank that you lend your money to. There is no upside participation in the future success of the borrower.
(more…)
Today, we have access to so much information that it is difficult to figure out where to direct our time and attention.
It has been said that we live in the information age. However, a friend of mine corrected me. He stated that we now live in the recommendation age. With so much information available, it is difficult to determine what information is trustworthy.
(more…)
Many retirees face a similar challenge once they retire. How much money can they withdraw from their investment accounts for spending without running out of money in retirement?
Nobody wants to run out of money. But what is a safe withdrawal rate? Some people only spend portfolio interest and dividends, leaving the principal intact. Another strategy is to withdraw 4% of the initial retirement balance and adjust the dollar amount annually for inflation. There are both pros and cons for each of these strategies.
(more…)
