One of the more interesting proposals to come out of the current administration over the past year recently just floated down the newswire. While not yet in the form of a bill in congress, the administration has suggested it will push to allow the use of a portion of available 401(k) (and possibly other similar retirement plans) to purchase a …
The Challenges of Financial Literacy
Open, honest, non-judgmental question: What do you know about finance? Perhaps more importantly, how do you know what you know? Did your parents sit you down when you were young and teach you everything you know today? Did you take a class in High School or maybe college? Sit through a “Financial Peace University” series at your church or sign …
Evolution in the Financial Advice Industry
Over the winter break, I took the time to peruse Bob Veres’ new book, “A Behind-The-Scenes History of the Financial Planning Profession.” This won’t be a book review, though one will likely be forthcoming (early thoughts: It’s quite good, if quite long.) The relevance of this particular 736 page read is not to begin an exhortation of the short but …
These Aren’t the Droids You’re Looking For
It’s a curious observation that in the world of financial planning, much like many other professions, there’s a regular decade-ly hysteria about whether the next generation of technology might do away with this financial planning business altogether. Before I was in the planning business, it was the idea that non-levelized commissions would drive the brokerages out of business. With the …
Recruiting Wealth Planning Analysts
Over the past two months, we underwent the process of recruiting for two wealth planning analysts at our firm. We’ve written about our recruiting and hiring process before, so you can see how we’ve hired for other positions in prior blogs. We won’t do a write-up every time we hire someone at MY Wealth Planners, but we do think it’s …
Car Shopping
If you’ve watched a TV or streamed a video at any point since Thanksgiving, you are keenly aware that it’s the annual holiday BIG BLOWOUT ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME SALE AT [Your Local Dealership]. Pick your auto brand, and apparently, there has never been a better time to buy your spouse a luxury sedan or truck with a big red bow on it …
The Cycle of a Dollar in a Small Community
Over the past few weeks, the emphasis on the ecosystem between big and small businesses and those both local and national has come into greater focus. While we often talk about personal financial topics or those current events affecting the national ecosystem, and therefore the markets more directly, this week we’re turning our attention to our small business community in …
What Is Your Why?
“One question: what is your why for scaling?” A colleague with a planning practice in Arizona asked me this over the weekend. I answered, but it left me ruminating on the question. Plenty of growth in the world of finance is growth for growth’s sake. Those who’ve made a thorough study of finance and inflation understand that no growth is …
Job Post Signals
This blog continues a two-part series on job seeking. For those readers happily employed or otherwise retired to a life of work-optional, this may not be the most salient read, but it could prove useful for someone else in your life. Otherwise, you can expect us to return to some of our more regular or otherwise “normal financial educational” programming …
Job Market Signals
It’s a curious thing, the job market. While Bureau of Labor Statistics data suggests that unemployment is only sitting at 4.3%, the media ecosystem seems to be in disagreement about what constitutes a good or bad job market. In a period of just a month or two, articles such as “Work-Life Balance Will Keep You Mediocre” or thought pieces about …