Carl Richards wrote the book The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way To Be Smart About Your Money. It's a good read and I'd recommend it. I LOVE the idea of a one-page plan. It forces you to simplify and be concise. It also requires a certain amount of flexibility because, obviously, not every situation [...]
By now you've likely heard that you should be investing toward big financial goals - like retirement. Great advice! But it can sometimes be a struggle figuring figuring out how to invest. Well, here's how to invest when you know nothing about investing. "Let me add a few thoughts about your own investments. Most investors, [...]
I read a post recently where someone said that even if you max out your 401k plan over your earning years, you wouldn't have enough money to retire. Is that true? I hadn't ever really considered the question before so I wasn't sure. Rather than just take this person's word for it, I did [...]
Warren Buffett believes that, over a ten-year period (or longer), the S&P 500 Index will perform better than most professional actively traded funds. He believes this so strongly that he entered into a million-dollar bet with a group of professional hedge fund managers. The bet ran from 2006 - 2016. Who do you think [...]
Have you ever heard the phrase "rolling returns"? Looking at historical rolling returns can be useful in understanding past stock market performance, risk related to timing, market fluctuations, and more. What are stock market rolling returns? An analysis of market rolling returns looks at performance results for a set period of time. In fact, it [...]
A million dollars. Sounds like a lot of money doesn't it? You're right - it is! But it's also a quite reasonable goal for many Americans. Let's see how much money you would need to save each month, week, or day - to retire a millionaire. A million dollars First, let me say that a [...]
I'm not against paying for financial advice. In fact, as a financial planner, I do some pro bono work but charge for most of the services I provide. Many people are of the mindset that they'd never pay for financial or investment advice - they'd rather just do it themselves and save the money. Hey, [...]
There is something called the 4% rule that is very helpful with retirement planning and goal estimation. What is the 4% rule? Should you use it in your financial planning? Let's explore the topic a bit further... What is the 4% rule? The 4% rule was developed in the mid-1990s. A study was done looking [...]
Many people think that if they don't have a lot of money, then why bother investing. That's the wrong way to think! There are great options for investing at any level - even investing small amounts. This is especially true with a recent change with the most popular robo-investing platform. So let's explore the question: What [...]
Do you know how much money you need for retirement? Most people don't. Without at least an estimated goal you have no idea if you are on track or not. You might not be saving enough - or you might be saving too much! Here's how to estimate your retirement needs for your financial planning. [...]