Planning for a Mid-Career Job Exit
The decision to leave a job can be one of the biggest and scariest of life transitions. This is especially true when you’re mid-career and don’t have a nest egg to fall back on, or your nest egg is still very much a work in progress. If you’re planning a full-on exit from your job […]
Investing Doesn’t Need to be Fancy
Investing for your future doesn’t have to be complicated or intimidating. In fact, as we often say, the best investment plan is simple and boring. Most people at the start of their financial planning journey begin by tackling the big, overarching question of what to do with their money. When we work with clients on […]
What Can We Learn from Recent Bank Failures?
Last week’s bank crisis that caused the failure of three banks sent a powerful message rippling through the financial world: risk is a real thing. Since this type of event can kick off mass hysteria, I want to take a pause and examine what we can learn about how we manage our finances. I see […]
The Benefits of Diversification in Your Life and Investment Portfolio
I’ve been contemplating recently how we humans seem to have a tendency to define ourselves by one or a few things, be it our work, our family, our hobbies, or our beliefs. I haven’t dug into the research behind what exactly drives our personal identities, but I’ve certainly felt this on a personal level. The […]
What if I Don’t Have Any Big Goals?
Have you ever thought, “Financial planning isn’t for me. I don’t have any Big Goals.” Or maybe you are actively involved in financial planning but think, “I don’t have any Big Goals right now – why am I even doing this?” I hear you. I’m an example of a person who currently doesn’t have any […]
Why is it so easy to spend money?
It’s a month after the holiday season and looking at your credit card bill probably makes you cringe. All that money, gone. Sure it was to buy presents or go out to dinner with out-of-town guests or send your yearly holiday cards, but the amount still makes you feel hungover. Why is it so easy […]
Do you really need a budget?
Budgeting is one of the most mainstream topics of personal finance. If you search “How to get better with my money”, you’ll find that having a budget is the overwhelming answer according to financial experts on the internet. Of course, having a budget makes sense. To build wealth, you need to spend less than you […]
‘Lives Under Care’ Instead of ‘Assets Under Management’
We were recently inspired to make a small tweak to one of our business metrics after reading an article on Rethinking65 by columnist James Brewer. In the article, Brewer proposes that financial planning professionals should drop the term “Assets Under Management” (AUM) and replace it with “Lives Under Care” (LUC) to better reflect the work […]
But, Why?
I purchased this sketch of Carl Richard’s “Why” to hang on the wall in front of my office desk some months ago. I sat at that desk, struggling to write this blog post. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to write about! As I gazed at the big “Why,” I started to ask myself questions: […]
What Are the Money Stories We’re Telling Ourselves?
I won’t survive without a full-time job that pays benefits. I’m going to cling for dear life to whichever job I’m lucky to get. People go broke if they go even a moment without full-time work, so if I ever do need to leave my job for whatever reason, I need to have something else […]