Friday, February 21, 2020
The majority of families I meet with have competent advisors—attorneys, CPAs, investment advisors and insurance specialists—that have guided them through their years offering what the professional believes to be the right...
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Wednesday, February 5, 2020
I have been working with a new client whose previous financial advisor had recommended she begin receiving her Social Security retirement benefits checks once she reached her early claiming age of 62. “Susan” had begun...
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Tuesday, February 4, 2020
We have an unfenced backyard and a 12-week-old puppy. The Cook County Forest preserve is less than a mile from our neighborhood, and the occasional coyote sighting has not been unexpected. As a result, when Bailey has to go out to...
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Friday, January 31, 2020
In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays the role of TV weatherman Phil Connors. His character finds himself re-living the same February 2 over and over again with the chance to optimize the outcomes when he realized the day would...
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Monday, January 6, 2020
I was recently interviewed about my experience helping families of seniors plan for care and transitions. In the article, Planning for Seniors we discuss four key areas of planning to simplify a care-giving situation and provide...
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Friday, January 3, 2020
1. Set a budget for monthly spending. 2. Eat 3 helpings of fruits and vegetables daily. 3. Get at least 7 hours of sleep. 4. Read a book a month. Often when the discussion of New Year's Resolutions comes up among friends or co-workers,...
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Friday, December 13, 2019
I stood there staring at the shower handle, knowing what I “had” to do. Last month, Carl Richards, author of The Behavior Gap challenged financial advisors to do something hard—to start their morning by making...
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Friday, November 15, 2019
“The checkbook and the calendar don’t lie.” I can truly tell what’s most important to clients by looking at where they spend their time and money. When something is important enough, they will make room in the...
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Monday, November 4, 2019
Perhaps cheering for the Bears this year is a little crazy, but this photo was taken some years ago when they were Superbowl contenders. Last week we said a final good-bye to our beloved dog, Scout. As the family grieved, tasks that...
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Wednesday, October 16, 2019
"Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree, and I'll spend the first four sharpening my ax"--Abraham Lincoln Habit 7 of Steven Covey's bestselling book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is "Sharpen the Saw". Consistent attention to...
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Wednesday, October 2, 2019
When I was a new financial advisor, I found that different people respond to different approaches when learning financial concepts. Some wanted to see the data, others were fine with a general discussion, but the vast majority of...
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Tuesday, September 10, 2019
"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" Though most people recognize this quote as a line from the late '90's hit "Closing Time" by the band Semisonic, it is actually attributable to the Roman writer and philosopher...
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Monday, August 5, 2019
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of reconnecting with a wonderful group of friends from high school to play a round of golf. Everyone threw in $10 to “the pot” for the winning team. For this golf round, we agreed we...
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Tuesday, July 30, 2019
In the movie Avengers: Infinity War, one of the superheroes, Dr. Strange, at a key part of the movie goes into a trance. During that time, he was able to time-travel run through more than 14 million potential outcomes of a...
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Sunday, June 30, 2019
“Ghosting” in the dating scene happens when there is the start of what appears to be a relationship and then all communications go dark—calls aren’t returned, emails go unanswered, text messages often remain...
Read MoreTip: How Much? Check your Social Security earnings and see an estimate of your benefits on the website, www.ssa.gov. Social Security’s been a fact of retirement life ever since it was established in 1935. We all think we know how...
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