As you may have gathered by now, I’m not your father’s financial planner. I don’t simply focus on how much money you need to retire. Now don’t get me wrong, having enough money for what we now call “retirement” is all well and good. I’m suggesting something different; something that will alter how we live…
Top 10 Reasons Not To Use Your Parents’ Financial Planner
As we approach the holidays, I thought it would be fun to “make a list and check it twice.” This list really has nothing to do with the holidays or Santa. In fact, it’s a Top 10 list inspired by a conversation I had with my friend Katie Finch (Thanks Katie!). Here are the Top…
What’s your financial plan? What a dumb question…
This might be a shocking title coming from a guy who is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM, yet I’m sticking with it because it’s true. How can you have a plan specific to your finances? Can you really separate your financial plan from your life plan? When the question in the title is asked like this, our…
Flexibility and Results – The Hidden Connection
“Notice that the stiffest tree is easily cracked while the bamboo survives by bending with the wind” – Bruce Lee Everywhere you turn there is a “right” way to do something. Whether it’s the right way to eat healthy, save money, exercise or raise your kids, all the experts somehow claim to know what’s best for you…
Personal finance is like massage therapy
If that title doesn’t blow your mind, nothing will. But it’s true… After 4 days of golfing in Myrtle Beach, my body desperately needed to be straightened out… and Stacey Lubas, owner of Well Kneaded Therapeutic Massage was just the person to do that. As I lay on the massage table I started to realize…
Does your career wear the pants in the relationship?
Many people build their lives within the boundaries set by their job. Whether it is reliance on the paycheck, potential career path opportunities, health insurance, 401(k), or a number of other perceived benefits we receive at work, occupations provide a sense of security for many people and we get comfortable with a certain lifestyle. We…
Is Time on Your Side?
Time is precious. It’s all we have. Everything we do fits into the time we have on this planet. We can’t live outside of time. That’s neither good, nor bad, news. It’s just the way it is (disclaimer: I usually can’t stand the phrase “it is the way it is”, yet this is one of…
The stock market is like a wild bull – Here are 5 tips on how not to get bucked
In many ways, the stock market is a living, breathing animal with the ability to thrive or dive at any moment. Have you ever taken a ride on a wild bull? Ya, me neither, but that’s the image I want in your head. As one anonymous professional bull rider said about riding a bull, “Riding…
We Are Reason Making Machines
As humans, we are reason making machines. We have reasons for everything! There’s a reason for why we ran out of gas, overdrew our checking account, missed a mortgage payment, ate too much ice cream… and the list goes on. When it comes down to it though, the reasons don’t matter. Focusing on what I’ll…
Creating a structure to hold YOU accountable – A secret to financial success
A few months ago I injured my shoulder which prevented me from doing my typical workout routine. Rather than look forward to working out, I felt frustrated when I thought of going to the gym. After several weeks of this behavior I noticed a decline in my weekly workouts. Of course, I had valid excuses…