Are You Planning Properly For Your Fur Babies?
When I take on a new client, the first activity is to understand their values, their current and desired lifestyle, and assess how closely their cashflow management matches where their hearts are.
Teach Your Children and Grandchildren:
Among the most common refrains I hear from clients is, “We were never taught this stuff in school,” or “My parents never taught me about money.” For most of us, this is a truth-bomb extraordinaire.
Saving For a Fabulous 4th Quarter Harvest
I’m going to take a cue from Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and refer to our lives in quarters. She describes our 3rd quarter as one of becoming and our 4th quarter as one of harvesting. Her goal is to enable us to understand that we are likely going to live to 100, and we need to be conscious that the shape we’re in when we get there is up to us.
Losing The Conventional Wisdom, Part II
I recently read a post by a young finfluencer about something called the “family opportunity mortgage.” No doubt searching for fresh content, she rightfully made the point that it’s possible to use this tool to help your retired parents own a home. The challenge, however, is that the Family Opportunity Mortgage Program has been discontinued, so you can’t go to a lender and ask for one.
Losing The Conventional Wisdom Part 1:
Among the more pernicious myths of the 20th century is the notion that it’s good to defer taxes because, in retirement, we’ll all be in a lower tax bracket. This is treated as gospel by CPAs and mere mortals alike. We believe that, when the piper demands his due, we’ll be enjoying our financial freedom—retirement—at a discount.
We All Should Have a "Forget You Fund"
A professional colleague felt she needed to ask her husband to use a $5,000 bonus to start her own consultancy. Her bonus. Her income. And she had to ask … her spouse? The issue for her was less about getting permission than assuaging her guilt for using her money on herself and not on her family. (Spoiler alert: Her spouse was completely supportive, so she did it, she’s wildly successful, and she’s never looked back.)
The Triple Decker Club Sandwich Generation and Feeling Wealthy
Madrina Molly™ represents a huge change for me. For most of my adult life, I’ve arisen at 4:30 a.m., commuted to an office (or, more recently, to the next room) and structured my days around corporate or client meetings or both.
Who Is Madrina Molly?
A client once called me “Hada madrina de buenas ideas financieras,” which translates to the “fairy godmother of good financial ideas.” Another client called me the “Good Idea Fairy.” I sensed a pattern.
The Priceless Value of Experiences
I recently did a podcast with a local mental health service on how to survive money stress during the holidays. We forget that gifts of time, experience, and expertise are as valuable -- or more valuable -- than store-bought purchases. So, the show’s host and I instead discussed ways to avoid overspending, including some tips for planning.