Graduation is a major step for those important young adults in our life. Whether it be graduating from high school or graduating from college, a parent’s goal is always to see their kids launch successfully and stay successfully launched. How do you do that? Well, we have few ideas for you. The Cost of Living.…
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Do you look at your money for what it is or do you look at it for what it is for? A few weeks ago, Dad came on our weekly radio program “Life Planning 101.” He shared several stories that have given us insight we use to help the families we work with today. One…
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Tom and Maria were married a little more than forty years when Tom suffered a severe stroke. The stroke changed him. It not only caused permanent physical impairment, but he became angry and unmanageable. As she struggled to manage him or tend to all of his needs, Maria was forced to get help. Life had…
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Have you ever met anyone that doesn’t have at least one area of clutter in his/her house? I would bet that even the tidiest of homes has a closet or drawer that gets cluttered from time to time. Life gets busy. We throw stuff here and there, planning to deal with it later. Then before…
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Did you know you can often choose when to pay tax? By default, you can often choose how much you will pay. There is no trick or “gotcha.” It is simply a result of understanding how taxes work for or against your situation. “The hardest thing to understand in the world is income tax.” —Albert…
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You are invincible, right? We all like to think we are… at least until we aren’t. Did you know twenty percent of men die before retirement age? Twenty percent! That’s two in ten men!1. The odds in Vegas can be worse than that and thousands of people still show up to gamble every day. So…
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Refer to any news media and the headlines are teeming with news about COVID…and has been for 2 years. It is no wonder that important information about other areas of interest is getting buried. After placing a few phone calls regarding various legislation that passed at the end of 2019, I thought it might be…
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A fellow advisor once told me a story about trying to help his grandmother with her life planning. “She refused,” he said. “She insisted that John, who had been her advisor and friend for years, was doing just fine for her. Besides, she couldn’t take away the business from a lifelong friend.” He continued by…
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How much house can I afford? How much car can I afford? How much horse trailer can I afford? Can I afford a second home? Can I afford a recreational vehicle? I think most of us ask ourselves this at one time or another in our lives, or at least we should. Honestly though, I…
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Money Magazine interviewed several successful individuals, asking them about the smartest financial advice they have ever received. Billionaire and founder of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson shared a story about his lack of knowledge in the financial realm and being humble about what you don’t know. Wow! Billionaire Richard Branson! Everyone else in the world…
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