Recently, one of our clients experienced an extremely sophisticated fraud attempt that involved fake bank fraud alerts, impersonated government agencies, AI-style voice spoofing, and instructions to move money into gold and cryptocurrency “for protection.” What made this situation especially concerning is that the client actually tried to verify the
Imagine you bought a house several years ago when mortgage rates were very low. Your payment was manageable, and everything seemed fine. Now imagine that loan is coming due, and you have to refinance it at today's higher interest rates. That is similar to what the U.S.
How would you feel if you hired an architect to custom-design and build your dream retirement house that turned out looking like everyone else’s house in your neighborhood? Not good, I’m assuming. This is going on every day in the world of financial, retirement, and estate planning.
If you are like you, you cringe when you see what Paris Hilton and others have done with their inheritance. Think about how you would feel, if she were your granddaughter and she was using your money to ruin her life. Most people are not aware that you can design
In the 1983 hit film, Trading Places, starring Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy, Akroyd’s character, Winthorpe, is haggling with a pawnshop owner over the value of the watch he is desperately trying to pawn in order to get cash. When the pawnshop owner offers $50 dollars, Winthorpe indignantly says,
Due to failing health in old age, Groucho Marx's family decided that they should make his decisions for him. The story goes that family took him to court and wrestled decision-making control from him. For the rest of his life, his decisions were not his. He lost
In the good ole days, when your car as on the fritz, your mechanic needed a trained eye and ear to figure out the problem. Today, they need a mechanical and computer training. The engines and systems are much more complex. Your engine needs to be hooked up to a
If you have ever been laid off, you know what it feels like when the paychecks stop. If you are retired, your paychecks must come from your capital. And they must last a lifetime… through up and down markets. Through good economic times… and bad. Through good health… and bad.
Soulful singer Adele can belt out beautiful songs. She can also grow facial hair. Ever since she had a baby. Weird. It seems that she is not the only one who has had odd side effects from pregnancy. Here are a few other strange effects some women experience from pregnancy:
The habit of “beginning with the end in mind” was introduced 25 years ago by Dr. Stephen R. Covey in his groundbreaking bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This means that you should have an image of the end of your life as your frame of reference, so
If you know someone who lived through World War II, they can give you some good ideas for living frugally. Of course, they had no choice back then, and much of what they would suggest might seem over the top now. Let's look at a few of those
We've talked about the dangers of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) planning before. And we can't say it enough. Doing anything yourself, unless you are trained and experienced is dangerous and costly. If your phone is broken, do you try and fix it yourself? How about your