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Document Retention
Who hasn’t wondered how long we should keep various documents? Keep them too long and it becomes unwieldy and makes it hard to find what you want. Don’t keep them long enough and you may not be able to respond to the tax man or some other authority. Is an electronic copy good enough or […]
How to Recognize and Address Cognitive Impairment
Many of us have experienced our own “senior moments.” Where are the car keys? Why did I come into this room? What’s the name of that person? Most of these memory lapses are a normal part of life and are very manageable. On the other hand, cognitive impairment can progress to a point where it’s […]
Year-End Financial To-Do List
Yep, 2020 is almost over. (I know, many of us are saying thank goodness!) There’s so much going on in December that it’s difficult to find time for the important, but none urgent items. Here are a few important financial items that it would be good to take a look at. Holiday Debt It’s so […]
Comprehensive Financial Planning
Your financial well-being depends on a number of factors and they’re all important. For example, suppose you don’t properly understand how much you need for retirement and you consequentially run out of funds near the end of your life. Or, suppose your savings are on track, but that a major medical event or a liability […]
The Value of a Financial Advisor
We’ve talked before about the value of a financial planner, but the current pandemic has brought certain aspects of this value into sharper focus. One could construct a laundry list of reasons a financial planner can be an important partner, but I really liked a recent Vanguard study that organized these benefits into three categories: […]
Financial Navigation During the Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic continues and certainly will do so through at least the end of the year. While this is an unprecedented period for almost all of us, there are some well-known things we can do to successfully navigate our way through it. I’ve summarized a few of them below. Watch Cash Flow. This is […]
Using Credit Cards Wisely
During the coronavirus stay-at-home and safer-at-home periods, many of us have been buying groceries and other necessities on the internet using our credit cards. This has reminded me that it might be a good time to review some of the basics for the use of credit cards. Fully Pay Card Debt Each Month. It’s important […]
Using the Pandemic as a Catalyst for Financial Change
As I write this article, Colorado is transitioning from stay-at-home to safer-at-home rules. We’ve had almost 24,000 coronavirus cases and over 1,300 coronavirus deaths, our unemployment rate is currently about 11.3% and our older citizens or those with health risks are still advised to stay at home. So, while we’re trying to find the right […]
Financial Resolutions for 2020
Let me start out by wishing you a Happy New Year! There’s no better time to think about your financial resolutions for the coming year than January. This gives you the full twelve months to pursue these objectives. 401(k) Plan. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, fully funding your 401(k), 403(b) or […]
Financial Preparation for the Loss of a Spouse
You can lose your spouse in a number of unpredictable ways. Certainly death is a certainty at some point, but incapacitation and divorce are other examples of the loss of a spouse. The effect of such a loss on you is magnified if your spouse handled many of your financial matters on his or her […]