There is a plethoria of information and financial planning aimed at helping people prepare for retirement.  In industry lingo, this is the accumulation stage.  Max your 401(k) contributions. Consider a Roth conversion. Use tax deferred investment vehicles. However, there is also important planning that needs to be done for the “distribution stage” of retirement, the period [...]

An article, The Balancing Act:  The Importance of Re-balancing your Portfolio, by a fellow NAPFA member – Jim Shagawat, helps explain why consistent rebalancing is so important to your financial success.  Timothy Financial has long advocated consistent rebalancing as a critical component to any healthy portfolio.  Among other advantages, rebalancing forces you to have the disciplined plan [...]

A free consumer webinar series is being offered by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.  It is designed to help consumers across the country better understand personal financial matters.  Each session will be led by a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor and are for educational purposes only so you know you’re getting expert, conflict-free advice.  The sessions are web-based so [...]

Are you planning on doing a project yourself because you think it will be cheaper?  Think again.  An article entitled “Your Money or Your Time” in the magazine Real Simple jumped out at me because it explores and explains this dilemma in a scientific fashion.  The article explained why three factors hinder you from making a [...]

August:  The time of year that you see extra-long twin sheets on sale, cars jam packed with stuff traveling down the highway, and now smaller and smaller laptops being bought at Best Buy.  Yes, August is the time for college freshmen to embark on a new stage of life called ”independence”  or at least “live outside of mom [...]

Most people understand that a well designed estate can help them leave their loved ones with the most assets possible.  They go through great lengths to develop a strong trust or will, get expensive life insurance policies or jump through hoops of other complex vehicles.  And when it’s signed and notarized, clients sit back and relax, mistakenly [...]

Now that the market is flooded with “low” prices on real estate, people are looking for that great deal.  Buy low, rent or sell high and make quick money.  Seems easy, right?  Read this excellent article, “Real Estate Horror Tales” by Caren Chesler in Financial Advisor Magazine to find out why real estate  is not [...]

We get asked about investing in gold from time to time and our advice is usually the same (see our 11/20/09 blog).  A recent article by The Economist entitled “Gold: Store of Value”, helps explain why the “value” of gold is  based on uncertainty of the major economies and currencies, not sound investing principles.  The article points out the following ideas listed [...]

The fastest-growing age group is now the “100-plus.”  Their numbers have tripled in the last 20 years, jumping from 37,000 in 1990 to more than 96,000. The Census Bureau estimates that by 2040, American centenarians will number 580,000. Many of us are now blessed with this longevity.  Retirement no longer just means a beach home [...]

Annuities sound like a great idea – “guaranteed” returns with income for life – but in reality annuities have yet to live up to the hype and are extremely complex products.  1. Unfavorable tax treatment.  Any growth is ordinary income (not capital gain), and you can never take a loss. 2. Annual Expenses.  You can find some [...]