Joy. Gratitude. Contentment. These words often seem alien to modern life in America. “Discontentment” is a multibillion-dollar industry. “Advertisers get discontentment,” writes Annie Leigh Edwards for The Grit and Grace Project, an online magazine and podcast. If I had … if I could … if I was … are like sand in our eyes, an…
From Thanksgiving to the New Year, we often pause to give more charitably, to express our gratitude, and to reflect on life lessons learned. The life lessons resounding in my mind play like a Jim Croce song, “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. You don’t pull the mask off…
Bah humbug! After the holiday cheer has faded, will you feel like a holiday chump? In the new year, some households may reel after opening their credit card statements. So is there still time to both enjoy the holidays and be fiscally responsible? As I flip the wall calendar to December, as usual, I have…
With stocks in a recent slump, there is growing fear that November’s midterm elections are going to generate new chaos in the investment markets. Will the Democrats take over Congress and the Senate? If so, will they immediately begin impeachment proceedings against the president? Lauren Rublin, a managing editor at Barron’s, adds perspective: “Our concern…
Have you been wondering how to make your money last through retirement? Dr. Wade Pfau has a recipe for retirement survival. Dr. Wade Pfau, professor of retirement income at the American College of Financial Services and director of retirement research at McLean Asset Management, recently visited Knoxville to speak to the East Tennessee Chapter…
Featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel: August 29, 2018 Recently, a friend asked me to review a sales pitch for an alternative investment product. As he repeated the “Financial Adviser” sales terminology, I cringed. Any time I hear words like “guaranteed” or “low risk” in the same sentence as “up to 8 percent return,” my…
Featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel: August 21, 2018 Mabel is the youngest member of our family. She is 8 years old. We love her and she enthusiastically and unconditionally loves us. She is a dog. We bought Mabel on Craigslist – she is a 70-pound, mixed-breed. In July, Mabel began having violent seizures. As with many…
Featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel: July 17, 2018 Do you need to have “The Talk” in your family? No, not the birds-and-the-bees talk, I’m referring to the talk with an aging parent about their finances. According to one survey, 54 percent of baby boomer respondents said they would rather talk to their children about sex…
Featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel: May 29, 2018 How much is enough? Obviously, it is a subjective question. Enough to just get by? Or enough to be “comfortable?” According to a 2017 Charles Schwab survey, respondents said they would be financially comfortable with $1.1 million. But really, when it comes to personal financial planning,…
My youngest child, a college freshman, recently sent me a long text discussing the potential opportunities for Bitcoin miners. As we know, last year, Bitcoin rocketed from $1,000 to $20,000 before splashing down below $9,000. I know an 80-year old investor who has shifted most of his portfolio into stocks, particularly into healthcare and…