News

One of the most common sentiments I’ve heard expressed by imminent retirees is that they are scared, one man even told me he was “scared to death” about what lies ahead in retirement. This kind of fear, ranging from apathy to paralysis, is the classic one we’ve all faced at some point in our earlier lives– fear of the unknown. It might be just the impact of life’s variables that are out of our control–genetics, world economy, or even the amount of money versus time we have left model that people have been worrying about for the last decade or so. Or it may very well be fear of a repeat of … [Read more...] about APPREHENSION, ACCEPTANCE, AUTHENTICITY

It’s a New Year, so many are looking at their future again, with fresh eyes! As you know, there are many specific steps that financial planners urge their clients to address prior to retirement–final push in contributions to retirement accounts, an honest address of the projected budget, how to optimize taxes and distribution of retirement monies, as well as considerations for health care options and Social Security strategies. There is always little or no emphasis of the steps you might address in the LIFE planning of your next chapter. Here are some steps you can take in the five years … [Read more...] about What You can do 5 Years Prior to Retirement to make a Smoother Transition

Last week the death of Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard Funds and father of the modern investment theory regarding index funds, was announced. His philosophy on investing was widely regarded as industry-changing– imagining that reasonable fees, little or none, would mean more money growing in your account! But in 2009 he published a book called Enough: True Measures of Money, Business and Life.  This idea of considering and appreciating how much is enough is as revolutionary as his investment strategy was, but it wasn’t or isn’t  easily embraced in our American culture. I recently had a 777 … [Read more...] about ENOUGH

As bracket time rolls around, aka MARCH MADNESS, or the NCAA Basketball tournament, there’s a lot of talk about the ‘bubble’– teams that might be eligible for the tourney’s brackets but need a crucial win or an opponent’s loss to put them in contention to go to the Big Dance. There are plenty of bubbles in life; events where some outside influences push you one way or another on a path, for good or for bad. Sometimes you are ‘on the bubble’– on the cusp of just getting a promotion or assignment but for the want of a few circumstances over which you have little control. Sometimes though, … [Read more...] about Are you on the ‘Bubble?’

It seems like if you look back on your working career, there was never enough time to do it all! Of course, career requirements for most took up large chunks of days, weeks, and months, with leftovers of minutes or hours allotted to other concerns–families, vacations, activities with friends, and maybe even some travel or hobbies. I know that as a working parent, I was always juggling the tradeoffs of the demands of work life and the time required to be spent away with the life and role as a mother to my three kids. They say that time is like a currency and there’s rarely a way to ‘earn’ it; … [Read more...] about CURRENCY of RETIREMENT: BITCOIN? GOLD? TIME!

I’ve been thinking about the use of my time lately, and as a person with an intense (sometimes!) work schedule, family responsibilities, and social and volunteer obligations, it often feels like I have NO TIME! Let me explain– the work I do is usually in blocks of days, leaving my home and traveling for at least 3 days, where I am in a different time zone, eating, sleeping, and trying to exercise, all off my usual “body clock”. As a result, and in order to keep forward progress on all of life’s requirements, I use a to do list to knock off bite-sized tasks that I can squeeze into the … [Read more...] about There is no Life with Just a “To Do” list