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The Best Investment I Ever Made

By on March 14, 2013 in Balanced Living, Child's Play

Reconnecting With The Past About 22 years ago, I was asked by a girl I liked if I would volunteer to tutor a child from the Cabrini Green area.  I said  “ok” and went to the Fourth Presbyterian Church on Michigan Avenue in Chicago the next Wednesday night having no idea what to expect.  When [...]

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Dow Hits All-Time Record – Looking Backward and Forward

By on March 5, 2013 in Achieving Financial Independence, Investments, Policy and Your Money, Post-Retirement Planning

  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) closed just above its peak 5 ½ years ago, but as you will see below much has changed over that time. The Last Time The Dow Was Here (Oct. 2007) vs. Today: Dow Jones Industrial Average: Then 14164.5; Now 14253 Regular Gas Price: Then $2.75; Now $3.73 GDP [...]

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How to Save Money While Getting Healthy

By on February 27, 2013 in Achieving Financial Independence, Balanced Living

Earlier this month, I was reminded by a sports nutritionist how horrible soda is for your body and how critical water is to living a healthy life.  The nutritionist mentioned that a lack of the ability to focus is a common symptom of dehydration and adversely affects kids at school and adults during their daily [...]

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The Truth About Sequester, Budget Deficit and National Debt

By on February 21, 2013 in Achieving Financial Independence, Policy and Your Money

The Sequester was put in place late in 2011 (known Budget Control Act of 2011)  as a negotiating ploy signed by Congress and President to reduce Government spending increases by $85 billion annually or a meager 2.4% of our national Government’s $3.6 trillion annual spending.  It is a very small amount and does not affect [...]

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Huge Future Retirement Expense is Lurking

By on February 19, 2013 in Achieving Financial Independence, Estate Planning, Goals-Based Planning, Investments, Post-Retirement Planning

Chances are more than 50/50 that you will need help getting along later in life.  The cost is prohibitive and someone (not Medicare) will pay the bills.  Home health care is expensive and nursing home care is REALLY EXPENSIVE. The tab could be a few hundred thousand dollars!   “Failing to Plan is Planning to [...]

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What is Your Retirement Number? – Why It’s Going Up…

By on February 11, 2013 in Achieving Financial Independence, Investments, Policy and Your Money, Post-Retirement Planning

This catchy marketing phrase coined by ING has taken an interesting and horrible new twist for current retiree’s trying to live off the interest generated from bonds and other fixed interest investments.  Unfortunately, “your number” is a moving target based on several key variables, some of which you cannot control. We can control our spending, [...]

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Parenting – Should I Share This Story About a Recovering Drug Addict With My Teenager?

By on February 4, 2013 in Balanced Living, Child's Play

My son is a 14-year-old high school freshman with aspirations of playing baseball in college.  In an effort to encourage him to read more on his own, I bought him a book about the life story of a famous major league baseball player for Christmas.  I knew the basics of the well-known (by baseball followers) [...]

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5 Big Financial Planning Mistakes – COST YOU A BUNDLE

By on January 28, 2013 in Achieving Financial Independence, Balanced Living, Counting Your Pennies, Estate Planning, Goals-Based Planning, Insurance, Investments, Investor Psychology, Post-Retirement Planning

Avoiding life’s big financial planning mistakes is not hard if you plan well. Financial planning, however, takes a backseat to day-to-day living for many people and this is where the potential problems creep in. Here is a list of five key planning issues that everyone should address: 1.     Not Enough Liquid Savings Having plenty [...]

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4 Expectations from President Obama’s Second Term

By on January 21, 2013 in Investments, Mortgage, Policy and Your Money, Post-Retirement Planning

Americans have re-elected President Obama and he was inaugurated for a second term.   The president won the Popular and Electoral College vote.  President Obama has promised to bring our country together during a time when after he first term, our country has never been so divided. If you look at the map of who won [...]

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2013 Investment and Economic Outlook

By on January 14, 2013 in Achieving Financial Independence, Goals-Based Planning, Investments, Investor Psychology, Policy and Your Money

The past decade has been a difficult one for investors with volatile stock prices and economic uncertainty. At times we lived though some very frightful times going back to the Dot Com blow up and all that has happened since. There have been many predictions for a bleak future this year and throughout history as [...]

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