While recently participating in a professional education conference, I attended a session on the subject of women and investing. Going into it, I expected a discussion around communication styles or financial planning needs that might be unique concerning female clients. However, I quickly realized that the speaker’s topic was actually around the research showing that…
Sustainable, responsible, and impact investing (SRI), which is a discipline that avoids or favors certain investments for moral or ethical reasons, has become big business, with an increasingly wide range of options for investors. SRI consists of three main parts: screened investing, shareholder advocacy, and community investing. In the 1970’s, a new era was emerging…
If someone gave me a $100, I would walk around as if I’m Donald Trump or Daddy Warbucks. It’s a flush feeling. If we go to dinner, I’m buying. A few days later it would be back to normal with the typical $5 to $20 in my pocket. What is this behavioral phenomenon of “found…
It’s always a “smart” investment strategy… When trying to establish an individual’s net worth, most people think first and foremost about financial capital—how much someone’s house is worth or how much money he or she has in the bank. There is, however, a second component to personal and professional value that’s a little more difficult…
How is your nest egg? If you do not have the savings that you want to have and/or do not have a plan to get there, perhaps a different approach is in order. It has occurred to me that whenever there is an emergency we drop everything else and focus on that event or problem.…
With the debate over the U.S. government debt, the debt woes in the Eurozone, and talk of a double-dip recession–not to mention protestors camping out on Wall Street–suddenly fairly complex economic issues are showing up in the mainstream news. In our own conversations with clients, we recognize that sometimes the lingo used in the financial…
An interesting financial planning idea that is making the rounds these days is also one of the simplest: a letter to yourself. More specifically, a letter from your future self to you, today. Come again? Imagine yourself in five years, assuming everything has gone more or less as you hope it will. You’re healthy, in…
Whenever there’s a lot of fear, there also seems to be a lot of misinformation, and sometimes good information mixed in with bad. This is certainly the case with identity theft, which now, according to a 2007 survey of the Federal Trade Commission, counts some 8 million people a year as victims. So what can…
Penny-Pinching Consumers The economy has spurred Americans to save money any which way they can. Here’s where we’re pinching pennies: Purchasing more generic brands 63% Brown-bagging lunch 45% Going to the hairdresser or barber less 39% Cancelling one or more magazine subscriptions 33% Cutting down on dry cleaning 22% No longer purchasing morning coffee 21%…
Now that the weather has finally begun to show signs of spring, it seems a natural inclination for many of us to look around our homes and begin some cleaning, organizing, sorting out and donating. There is a lot to be said for the psychological impact of a clean and tidy homestead, but these activities…