“Money is not the most important thing in the world. Love is. Fortunately, I LOVE money.” – Jackie Mason “Money and women. They’re the two strongest things in the world. There are things you do for a woman you wouldn’t do for anything else. Same with money.” – Satchel Paige “Money can buy…
Here are some traditional gifts of love that you can replace with gifts of financial health with your sweetie. Cost of one dozen red roses delivered: $69.99 Invest $69.99/year for 20 years at 7% and you will have $3,070. Enough to buy a 7-day Caribbean Carnival Cruise for two! 5th wedding anniversary: Wood…
Happy New Year! As a financial planner I have some hopes for your 2016 to pass along. May you find joy in the free (or very inexpensive) things in life – sunsets, walks with your dog, a home cooked dinner with family, or hugging a friend. And then, take the savings from fancy vacations, dinners…
“Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas.” – Johnny Carson “Christmas is the season when you buy this year’s gifts with next year’s money.” – Author Unknown “Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.” – Victor Borge “There is…
Since this blog will be going out near Christmas, I’m going to skip the heavy mental work and provide you with a heavy recipe instead. They are addictive, high fat, and by the time you buy all of the butter and cheese you will be broke. However, they are super-delicious and worth it. The recipe was…
It occurred to me as I wrote the last blog that I maybe was putting the cart before the horse. File-and-Suspend strategy is pretty complex and most people don’t understand even the basics of Social Security. So, here are a few concepts that will help you speak that beautiful language that I call Social Securitese.…
It’s November and what a perfect time to thank my wonderful network of friends, clients, and colleagues for giving my name to their friends, clients, and colleagues! So, here is a list (in no particular order and probably incomplete) of people who have referred Sullivan Financial Planning in 2015: Erica Johnson, Ambler and Keenan David…
Now, this is the kind of news I like to see. Charitable giving from all sources was $358 billion in 2014, the highest amount since its 2007 peak. Fifty four percent of the year over year growth from 2013 was driven by individuals. See, we don’t all have to be Bill and Melinda Gates to…
Even financial planners have a rough time getting Social Security information. I recently tried to log in to my Social Security account and was told that an account couldn’t be created for my Social Security Number. “Please contact us for help!” So, I called the number, interacted for about 5 minutes with the robot on…
In the May, 2015 print edition of Money Magazine, there is an article called 101 Ways to Build Wealth. These list-type of articles come around often and say many of the same things, but a few interesting ones I found were these: “Tip #15: Don’t Tend to Your 401(k) After a Rough Day at Work.…
