Well, it’s official: as of yesterday, March the 6th, I’m an “All But Dissertation” or “ABD” Ph.D. Candidate (as opposed to a student!) In honor of the occasion, I’m summarizing a recent piece of research that I enjoyed and talking about the issues leading into the research and the takeaways therefrom. The piece is “Off Target: On the Underperformance of …
There’s some age-old wisdom in car buying: “Don’t buy a lemon, look under the hood.” The basic idea here, of course, is that before you buy a car you should look not just at the outside of the car but the interior and the actual mechanical workings. While this is seldom a concern when buying new (and thus the premium …
If you review any nationally representative dataset (the Survey of Consumer Finances, the National Financial Capability study, the National Longitudinal Survey, the Health and Retirement Study, among others), you will find an incredibly consistent data point: The higher the income, the assets, and the overall financial affluence of a household, the more common it is that they will have a …
In 1991, the New York Times reported on the remarkable life of Theodore Johnson. Theodore did not win the Nobel prize, nor was he a celebrity, inventor, or even a local celebrity of any real fame or renown. Rather, Theodore was a UPS driver. This was in a time before the internet hit any critical mass or made any great …
There is a constant hem and haw to the discussion around financial planning, largely derived from the various interests of the firms that offer it and discontent about how “those other guys” do it wrong. You know the ones. Yet, against a backdrop in which being a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ is compensation-neutral, a constant argument and debate is about how …
If you’ve ever watched the HBO show “Westworld”, the phrase “That doesn’t look like anything to me” has a special meaning. In the show, the ultra-wealthy vacation in what is ostensibly a live-action roleplay theme park, filled with “hosts”, synthetic androids that represent the townsfolk and bandits of an old western. The hosts do not know that they and the …
Financial planning is a profession that has grown out of the traditions of several others: amalgamating segments of knowledge from attorneys, CPAs, stock brokers, insurance agents, economists, psychologists, and traditional institutional finance, financial planning draws from many fields and pulls in many resources and theories in its practice. In my own pursuit of a Ph.D. in Personal Financial Planning, I’ve …
An Author’s Note at the Outset: About a dozen agents lacking in reading comprehension have rushed forward, shrieking their objections to this post without actually reading it carefully. So, I’ll put the warning up front: the purpose of this post is to highlight that a traditionally structured product is not a strong wealth accumulator. It is not to demonstrate a …
Colorado is a well-known destination for climbers, hikers, skiers, and all sorts of adventurers. It’s no surprise that not only is it a popular place to live, but a popular place to retire. Retiring in Colorado, whether you’re a local or a newcomer, comes with some particular planning elements that should be considered. So today, we’re talking about retiring in …
Welcome to 2023! The holiday omnibus bill brought out a significant number of changes to retirement accounts and other investment vehicles. Today we’re getting you caught up on just a handful of the many updates included in the “Secure Act 2.0.” We’ll start with the generics that apply to everyone, and some business-owner specifics are at the end. Required Minimum …