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The launch of a new decade is a great time to assess your financial status, and just as important, to focus on your financial future with a total makeover. This is especially true today when so many of us are still reeling from the battered economy and record unemployment. But regardless of your current financial circumstances, there is always room for improvement and step one is to create a list of goals.
To help you, take a look at the key priorities that are the backbone of any financial plan.  You have to know where you are starting from in order to know where you are going.

•    Establish your net worth: Add up the value of your assets- your home, investments, retirement accounts, savings, etc. Then add up your liabilities- mortgage, credit cards, personal loans, etc. When you Read More…

As a financial planner, I have always urged my clients to do their taxes twice a year. And though I’ve grown accustomed to hearing the grumbling about the hassles, after they realize how great an impact it can have on reducing their tax burden, they are always glad I suggested it.

Why file twice a year? Obviously the first tax return is for the purpose of filing before the April 15 deadline. The other “filing”  is actually a mock return done before the end of the calendar year so that I can assess where they stand tax wise. This gives me the needed time and flexibility to “change the score” of Read More…

Regardless of what survey you read or what poll you listen to one thing is very clear,  people  today are living longer, largely a result of modern pharmacology’s ability to convert an acute illness into a chronic illness.  As a result they will now require  many additional months and years of custodial or skilled care  costing additional billions of dollars .  However despite the fact that  over 50% of our adult population   according to the American Medical Association will require some  sort of long term care , lasting on average 3 years , less than 8% of the population has thus far purchased a traditional Long term Care  insurance product..

Make no mistake about it as people live longer there will be an ever increasing  need for  more custodial , intermediate and skilled  care required by  our aging population. However what seemed to stand  in most Read More…

There has been a lot of press lately about the high cost of divorce. Not the legal fees (although those alone can be staggering enough to be deterrents) but the unanticipated expenses. Apparently there can be many surprises along the way.

According to Ron Lieber, who writes the YOUR MONEY column for “The New York Times”, the obvious first decision is whether to use traditional legal channels to resolve the major financial and custodial issues Read More…

Every year at this time, I urge clients to give some thought to moves they could make between now and the end of the year to reduce their tax burden. It always surprises them that they have so many options. Here are some possible tax-reducing opportunities to consider:

Deferring Income: If you are expecting a year-end bonus, for example, and can take it in 2010 instead, Read More…

I wanted to inform you of an important concept that our readers should be aware  of. As a certified financial planner concentrating in the Eldercare marketplace Ive always advocated that a Parent should be actively involved in the process of choosing  a preferred method of care if and when it became necessary for him / Read More…

Upon the death of a loved one, there are always questions among surviving family members. Whether their questions concern legal, financial, business or personal matters, the uncertainty of how to proceed can leave a mourning family in great distress. Worse still, without having specific guidelines to follow, conflicts can lead to feuding and law suits, or at a minimum, unnecessary ill will. Surely this is not what the deceased Read More…

can a person aged 60-85 that has had various medical problems ranging from high blood pressure heart disease osteo-arthritis diabetes and even cancer still obtain life insurance or long term care care insurance?
The answer is yes depending on which insurance company an application is turned into.

Often times I hear the following questions from the 30-40% of the into one of the following 2 categories:

THOSE THAT HAVE ALREADY APPLIED FOR COVERAGE  AND BEEN TURNED DOWN

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Before our economic woes got our undivided attention, one of the greatest fantasies for employees and business owners was the idea of being able to take early retirement. But with the staggering unemployment numbers, it means that for far too many, early retirement has become a forced retirement.

If you are one of the millions of Americans trying to get back into the job market or back into businesses, Read More…

One of the most significant improvements on 403(b) plans is the requirement that employee/participants have several choices on where to invest their individual accounts. The downside is that many people don’t feel qualified to evaluate the merits of their investment options and need professional guidance. Districts would be well served to offer the services of expert, trustworthy advisors. Meanwhile, here are some important considerations for assessing retirement plan options:

Think Conservative The old rule of thumb was that the closer you were to retirement age, the more Read More…

Important First Steps for School Districts

• Review current policies, contracts and management procedures for 403(b)s and other benefit programs

• Develop a list of all current benefit providers that details benefits, offered, fees charged and services provided

• Review compliance practices as they relate to the new 403(b) requirements

• Read More…

Several years ago a well known  Financial Author  asked me to write a chapter for her book containing what I  thought was my best and most clever use of life Insurance that her readers would find unique and of Read More…

Our current financial situation will make any buyer of any new financial product think twice about what they are buying as well as the integrity of whom they are purchasing the product from. However what many people miss is the need to be be as equally vigilant in evaluating those assets they already own.

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As recently as last week, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit Europe. It has been four years since I was last there and a lot has changed. One of the greatest surprises was being welcomed as an American. On my previous visit, my family and I were spit at in Italy. Now they yell, “We Love Obama.”

Now that I am a little older, I became aware of something that was hardly on my radar during my earlier trip but was very evident this time around. In Europe the culture is all about living within your means. Americans, in particular, pride themselves on over indulgence. We even praise the Paris Hilton  types who are able to achieve the American dream without having to ever lift a finger. The Read More…

Very soon, Joe, the plumber, will say good-bye to his twenty minutes of fame and return to his real calling, unclogging drains and fixing leaky pipes. Joe’s absurd rise to notoriety made me think of the real unsung heroes in our communities who earn their living working with their hands and their hearts. Their voices are rarely heard, but their observations about life could provide some of our greatest wisdom.

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