A Secret Wealth Builder: Health Savings Accounts
When people think about building a nice nest egg, creating a Health Savings Account is not the first thing that comes to mind. I find that a Health Savings Account, or HSA, is often an afterthought for a lot of people — if you’ve even heard about it. But an HSA is a really valuable […]
How to Build Wealth: Debunking Some Myths
One myth perpetuated by our culture is that in order to become wealthy, we need to get in on the next Instagram, pick stocks like Warren Buffett or have some miracle happen to us. While these fantasies can help us dream, they also can leave us chasing smoke and mirrors. The truth is that hitting […]
How To Reduce Money Anxiety & Feel More in Control!
Mental accounting is an economic concept that has gained recognition over the past thirty years. Popularized by economist Richard Thaler, mental accounting describes how we often mentally segment money for different purposes despite the fact that our money is fungible. In other words, the money coming into our lives — income, bonus, gifts, inheritance — […]
Are you worried about your parents’ finances?
When working with diverse ages of people, I hear all sorts of concerns: everything from how to manage spending to how to save for a lifestyle change. Lately, I’ve been hearing more about another looming anxiety: parent finances. Are you worried about your parents’ finances? This is an often overlooked and under-discussed area of a […]
What is Asset Allocation? And Why It’s Important for Your Investing.
With every client, my goal is to create a tailored investment strategy that manages what we can control. After considering variables like investment fees, taxes, and comfort levels with volatility and risk, we often settle on something called an asset allocation. The term gets thrown around a lot, so I want to delve into the […]
The Next Millionaire Next Door: A Book Review
The Next Millionaire Next Door: Enduring Strategies for Building Wealth by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and Sarah Stanley Fallaw, Ph.D. There are countless books available about “how to get rich”: Invest in this fund, buy this piece of real estate, whatever. Don’t you find them all a bit… out of reach? I know I do. […]
Financial Windfalls: Take it Slow!
“What would you do if you suddenly had a million dollars?” Everyone’s asked the “What if” question when it comes to financial windfalls. Receiving an unexpected sum of money is something we dream about. And sometimes, monetary surprises (and annual events) do happen: you receive an annual bonus, your restricted stock vests at work, you […]
Happy Money: A Book Review
Some Thoughts on the Book Happy Money Finally! A book packed with insight on how to make the best use of our money. We’ve all heard plenty of anecdotes here and there, but Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending breaks down the “why?” on many of those intuitions we have about spending money. What […]
Your Relationship with Money
Where did you learn what to do with money? By default, family, friends, and the media often shape what we do or do not do with our own money. Some have called these our money “beliefs” or “scripts”. As money philosopher Jacob Needleman says, “Everyone is weird about money!” I would agree and add that […]
Podcast Interview: The Role of Money in Our Lives (VoiceAmerica)
In November 2018, I was interviewed for VoiceAmerica’s “On Living“: a podcast dedicated to exploring the trauma and beauty of being human. What better forum for talking about the role that money plays in our lives? In the interview, we explore the role of money in our lives: how our belief systems, values, and conflict play […]