Our Weekly Blog

Are you ready for retirement? You may hear this question often as you enter your late 50’s and early 60’s. It is a loaded question with many elements to consider: the conclusion of your career; where/how you will live; your emotional readiness to face this milestone; your health status; changes in family dynamics and work social connections; opportunity for more leisure time and travel; and last but not least, financial readiness. This blog focuses on financial readiness and how you can be financially better prepared to retire.

A Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) can be an attractive option for homeowners looking for short-term financing. However, it’s important to understand that a HELOC isn't suitable for everyone. Years ago, I spoke with a man that had a good size 1st mortgage as well as a HELOC. The HELOC was used to buy two cars and to travel. Not ideal.

When buying a family vacation home, it is very important to determine who is it for. This may sound like a rhetorical question but actually it is not. Parents especially are in the business of creating great memories for their children and often buying a vacation retreat brings visions of a place to rest, relax, and be together. When your kids are young this seems simple. But as your kids become young adults with friends and other interests, there is no guarantee that they will come to your dream vacation home.

Have you created a Login.gov account to access your Social Security information yet? The Social Security Administration is changing the way everyone accesses Social Security information online.

Research suggests that many aspects of our personality start taking shape in early childhood. Studies in developmental psychology indicate that traits like temperament can be observed in infants and toddlers. These traits often form the bedrock of our personalities, influencing how we interact with the world and respond to our experiences.

My point is that humans often look at recent history and expect it to be repeated again. In addition, humans also look wistfully at what could have been by somehow thinking: ‘If I invest now, I can have some of the great returns that have already happened.’ I’m hearing this now from some clients who want to get in on the big AI craze. Unfortunately, most of the time it is too late once the idea or stock has made it to the top of your news feed. And no one can turn back the clock as much as we wish for it. Historical returns are just that—historical, in the past.