
Do You Need Long Term Care and Life Insurance in Retirement?
As we get older and enter retirement, some decisions need to be made regarding insurance coverage. We know from our own experiences with elderly parents – and from what we read – t...
As we get older and enter retirement, some decisions need to be made regarding insurance coverage. We know from our own experiences with elderly parents – and from what we read – t...
At this point, just about everyone seems to be enrolled in a high deductible Health Savings Account (HSA) compatible health plan. The escalating costs of healthcare are astounding....
From time to time, clients ask me to comment on what they hear from financial advisors on the radio. The first thing I try to explain is these are paid advertisements. Local adviso...
Unfortunately, the recent Equifax data breach affected almost any American who has ever used credit; so that probably includes you and me. After a little bit of research and though...
I am sure many of you have experienced a similar moment in the last few days. For me, it was a picture posted on Facebook by one of my old college buddies. A picture of the house h...
I have the opportunity to review client spending patterns regularly, and it’s one of the most important exercises in our client process. Very few of us voluntarily want to discuss ...
For many of us, our house represents a significant portion of our net worth and mortgage payments dominate our monthly cash flow obligations. Therefore, the way we purchase and fin...
In June, the CFP Board released proposed revisions to its Standards of Professional Conduct, for public comment. The public forums on these proposed changes just wrapped up last we...
Wow, the market is pretty hot right now with valuations at all time highs. Data suggests small investors are jumping in with both feet. A recent WSJ article quoted Martin Small, he...
We’ve had some great budgeting discussions with some our clients recently. If you work with us, you know we regularly update cash flow statements. Knowing your “burn rate”, as we l...
We tend to believe once our estate documents are signed, we can lock them away only to be seen again when we are gone from this world. The sense of peace in knowing our wishes have...
In this final quarter of the year, I had the opportunity to run retirement plans on quite a few 401(k) plan participants. Whenever possible, I enjoy sitting one-on-one with employe...
With regard to a fiduciary standard for my industry, it’s been a long road so I won’t bore you with the historical details. From the lawsuits (see End of “Merrill Lynch” Rule Leave...
For the last week, our local news in the DFW area has been all abuzz about problems within the DPFP (Dallas Police & Fire Pension). A great MarketWatch article came out yesterd...
Putting your child on an allowance is a critical step towards their eventual financial independence. It’s important to keep this future goal in mind when devising an allowance stra...
Disposable is a terrible descriptor for excess income. If we’re not careful, the excess income we earn over what we need can become a trap. More often than not, we’re going to spen...
At the urging of a friend I scheduled a golf lesson last weekend. The instructor patiently watched as balls ricocheted left and right off my 8 iron. With a grunt, he disappeared. I...
In America, paying down debt is a rite of passage. Most of us at one point or another have felt the suffocating effects of too much debt. Deleveraging can be a long and complicated...
Consumers and practitioners alike often fall into a trap. In lieu of calculating a retirement plan, we instead rely too heavily on oversimplified rules of thumb and general advice....
It’s tax planning season at Schulz Wealth. From now until Thanksgiving, we’ll have our eyeshades on, reviewing accounts and client files to make sure we close out the year in a tax...
The Wall Street Journal did a whole series of articles last week on the big shift major mutual fund companies are seeing away from active management. See: Wall Street’s ‘Do-Nothing...
Do you have a fire safe at home? If you don’t, you should. It’s an important piece of any Estate plan, and too often overlooked. Some people prefer safe deposit boxes, but I like t...
Indexing is not the same as smart, low cost investing. With indexing, you accept the market performance of an index designed to measure market performance. A key point here: market...