The dawn of 2017 brings opportunities to create new resolutions or plans for the coming year — and also marks the beginning of tax season. While tax day on April 18th can seem far off, this year’s deadline will be here before you know it. As you start the process of gathering your tax documents and completing your return, we want to provide a reminder of common filing errors to look out for. Whether you hire [...]
When talking to potential clients about my investment strategy, it’s common to hear a lot of the same arguments for the ‘buy and hold’ strategy that their current investment advisor is utilizing. Below are the top 3 “investment myths” I hear the big investment advisory firms telling their clients: 1. Your portfolio will be just fine as long as you sit tight and ride it out. Historically, the markets have had more positive years than [...]
Guest Blog Post - Angie Chladek Our oldest daughter, Olivia, is 3 years-old, fiercely independent, and my biggest “helper.” As such, I’ve been researching lots of different approaches for chores and allowances to see what fits with our financial and parenting philosophies. I wanted to publish this information in a format that would be useful to our readers because so often, when you read something, it’s from just one person, touting one specific approach. As [...]
In Steven Covey’s book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” I realized that one of his habits (among others) applies particularly well to how we handle our own financial planning. As we always strive to “be better” than we were last year, I thought it would be helpful to re-visit this idea as a way to help you prioritize your financial tasks. In his book, Mr. Covey uses the graphic below to categorize all activities [...]
A few years back, Charles Schwab released a study entitled, “The New Rules of Engagement for 401(k) Success.” 70% of the survey respondents said their 401(k) is their only or primary source of retirement savings. However, only 42% reported having received professional financial advice in the past two years. Schwab’s analysis found that the use of advice can have a significant impact on people’s behaviors in 401(k) plans. Specifically, use of professional advice has a [...]
Dear Esteemed Clients and Friends, We hope this letter finds you well and experiencing the financial peace of mind you deserve. On Friday, November 4th, CWM celebrated our second year in business. We want to take a moment to extend our sincere gratitude to you for your support and trust over the past two years. We feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to serve our client’s financial needs. As such, we’d like to share [...]
This past week was a rocky week that ended in a sharp selloff over Thursday and Friday. The sharp decline in global stocks was mostly precipitated by the ongoing nightmare that is Europe. One very notable event this past week was the fall of the last safe haven - the Swiss Franc. The Swiss National bank (SNB) has done its very best to avoid devaluing their currency while all other currencies are in a race [...]
Do you currently have a life insurance policy? As a fee-only planner, I don't sell insurance. However, I have met very few people who don't need a policy. As we begin Life Insurance Awareness month, I want share with you seven disturbing statistics about life insurance ownership in the U.S.emergencycash 1. U.S. households are at risk: 30% of U.S. households (35 million) have no life insurance protection. 2. 2009: Insurance companies issued 9.4 million individual [...]
My wife often says, “I love a little hardship; I’d recommend it to anyone!” She doesn’t say this with blind optimism - she has experienced living meagerly (after living well for most of her life), and believes (as I do) that we are better people and that we have a stronger marriage because of all we’ve faced together. When my wife and I made the decision to become debt-free 3 years ago, we were 60k [...]
Do you know how much buying and selling your investments at the wrong time can cost you? According to Morningstar, stock funds returned 1.6% annually from 1999-2009. However, the typical fund investor only earned 0.22% annually. If you had an account balance of $100,000, that would equate to costing you $15,000. So what should investors do to protect their portfolios? Below are a few tips of mine for investors looking for guidance:cheap rate personal loan [...]