FINANCIaL
FIELd NOTES
Planning for Irregular Expenses in Retirement
Most pre-retirees I meet with for the first time have a fairly good estimate of the regular monthly expenses. However, the area that is hard to predict and plan for is the unexpected costs. One exercise that I like to do that brings clarity to this is to review actual expenses for the past few years. We often find that irregular expenses are the culprits – helping a daughter with her car, an HVAC replacement, or a dental procedure.
It can be tempting to assume that these expenses will mostly vanish in retirement, but they don’t. These one-off financial obligations can put a significant dent in your retirement savings if you're not well-prepared. While there can be a lot of surprise expenses, I found that they typically fall into four key areas…
Steps to Protect Your Late Spouse From Identity Theft
Losing a spouse is a deeply emotional and challenging experience, and dealing with the aftermath can be overwhelming. Amid the grieving process and the myriad administrative tasks that follow, it's crucial not to overlook the potential risk of identity theft.
Sadly, scammers target deceased individuals because there is often no one tracking their finances. In doing so, they target their surviving spouses, who are left cleaning up the mess…
Why Your Credit Score Probably Doesn’t Matter That Much
Many people’s first financial education is on the value of your credit score. As teenagers go off to college, parents talk to their kids about the importance of “building credit” and get them started on their first credit card.
While there is a little truth to this, your FICO score is not the foundation of your financial health that many people think it is…
What I'm Teaching My 6-Year-Old About Money
Zeke, my oldest child, just turned 6! This has been a special year as I watch him take an interest in some of my earliest childhood activities – climbing trees and making forts, building slingshots from broken branches, and turning any simple activity like taking the trash out into a race.
One of the things we have been working on in the past few years is that it’s okay to wait. Delaying gratification makes whatever you are enjoying all the better because of the wait…
How Being Present Increases Happiness in Retirement
I love the game of soccer. I played it growing up for many years and still try to catch as many games as I can. Those who share my love of the game certainly know who Lionel Messi is – arguably the best player to ever play the game. He was recently offered a historic $1.6 billion to sign with a Saudi club. He declined it and surprised the world by signing with a US soccer club owned in part by another great of the game, David Beckham.
Beckham was trying to land Messi for years but knew it was a long shot. Earlier this year he woke up one morning to a shocking text informing him that he had landed Messi. Just recently Messi moved to Miami and had his debut game. As Messi got ready to take the field, thousands of fans and celebrities whipped out their phone to record the moment. As I watched Messi come onto the field, the camera panned to Beckham who was sitting down, patiently watching Messi and fully taking in the moment…
My Thoughts on $1 Trillion of Credit Card Debt
Last week financial news outlets raised alarm bells on consumer credit card debt as it passed the $1 Trillion level.
Let me start by saying that any and all credit card debt should be eliminated first in most situations. It is nearly impossible to get ahead financially while paying 15-25% interest on that debt. Credit card debt is no joke.
But many have used this moment to suggest that the US consumer is overspending on an unsustainable path. “This can’t go on forever.” It may come as a surprise to some that it actually can go on forever…