August 15, 2018

I can’t say it takes up a lot of our day, but John and I do spend a little time answering a similar question using a variety of the same answers: “NO”, “I don’t think so”, “Have you really thought about this?”, and “Is this is the same brother-in-law that you told me last year was a loser and good-for-nothing?”

What’s the question you ask? “I’d like to invest some money in (fill in the blank on the latest investment opportunity).”

August 15, 2018

We heard from a financial planner colleague in Maryland who recently shared an absolutely incredible cybersecurity scam experienced by one of his clients. The series of events is so frightening that we’re compelled to strongly urge you to take steps to better protect your investment and other accounts. Cybercriminals are using technology to degrees never before seen.

June 30, 2018

While both sad and depressing, the story of Rita Sherman, as reported in The New York Times¹, should provide valuable lessons to every current and future retiree. (The title alone is depressing.)

Source: Direxion Funds

June 30, 2018

• 28% of American jobs do not require any formal educational credential, i.e., not even a high school diploma.

• Over the last 20 years, i.e., 4/30/98 to 4/30/18, inflation in the United States (using the “Consumer Price Index”) has increased +54.2% or +2.2% annually. An individual living on a fixed-income who has not benefited from “cost-of-living” increases would have only 65% of the purchasing power as of 4/30/18 that he/she had 20 years earlier. The consumer price index (CPI) is a measure of inflation compiled by the US Bureau of Labor Studies.

May 15, 2018

"I'm not going to live past 80!  I know it.  My Mother lived to 82, Dad died at 72.  Longevity doesn't run in my family.  Plus...who wants to live that long anyway?!"  I’m sure many of you have either uttered these words yourself or at the very least heard a friend or family member say them.  Digging into the underlying data, one might be surprised to see how long people are living these days.

May 15, 2018

Here are a few of the apps highlighted by MONEY Magazine¹ that may help make life a little easier (and less costly) to navigate:

March 31, 2018

By: John Zeltmann

My parents' estate planning attorney looked at me in disbelief: "Did you just say 'dry run'?"

My father had passed away ten days ago. My Mom, Sister, Aunt and I were sitting in a meeting room in the attorney’s office, reviewing my Dad's will and the immediate steps that had to be taken. Everyone was still in a bit of shock, reeling from the last few weeks. We had months to grapple with the prospect of life without Dad, but once he was gone, it still felt all too sudden.

December 31, 2017

I suspect more than a few of you have made a New Year’s resolution or two for 2018. Lose weight? Exercise more? Eat healthier? Drive less aggressively (for NJ residents only)? While I typically don’t make New Year’s resolutions, this year I have one I’m going to work on, and I invite everyone to join me: I need a new volunteer gig.

December 31, 2017

By: John Zeltmann

Meet Abby and Ben.  Abby is our 2-year-old daughter.  Readers of this newsletter have already met Ben (5 years old) in a recent article espousing the benefits of teaching personal finance to children at an early age. While Abby and Ben are great kids, there’s at least one thing I’m not ready to hoist upon them should my wife and I meet a premature demise: our retirement plan balances and life insurance proceeds.

December 31, 2017

As a matter of fact, in terms of life expectancy, where you live matters a lot, but only if you agree that an increase in life expectancy of up to 20 additional years is significant.