Finally....A Fiduciary Standard that Makes Sense

Finally....A Fiduciary Standard that Makes Sense

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...

Lessons and Insight into Dallas Police & Fire Pension Debacle

Lessons and Insight into Dallas Police & Fire Pension Debacle

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...

Kid Allowance Do's and Don'ts

Kid Allowance Do's and Don'ts

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 Income is a Dangerous Concept

Disposable Income is a Dangerous Concept

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...

In Investing As In Golf Instincts Can Lead Us Astray

In Investing As In Golf Instincts Can Lead Us Astray

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...

Need Help Prioritizing Debt for Payoff? Let Me Help

Need Help Prioritizing Debt for Payoff? Let Me Help

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...

Retirement Planning Can Be More Complicated Than It Seems: 4 Traps

Retirement Planning Can Be More Complicated Than It Seems: 4 Traps

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: 6 Things to Consider Now

It's Tax Planning Season: 6 Things to Consider Now

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...

Two Critical Problems with Conventional Mutual Funds

Two Critical Problems with Conventional Mutual Funds

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...

A Fire Safe is a Great Investment: Why You Should Have One

A Fire Safe is a Great Investment: Why You Should Have One

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 vs Low Cost Investing: There's a difference

Indexing vs Low Cost Investing: There's a difference

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...

Investment Returns and Presidential Elections

Investment Returns and Presidential Elections

One month away from the general election, everyone is talking about how the next President will affect the stock market. Opinions vary based upon political leanings, but most belie...

3 Reasons to Get Serious about Your Finances

3 Reasons to Get Serious about Your Finances

updated May 1, 2018 For many people, there is a point where things change financially. It’s at different stages of life for different people, but at that point, it’s time to get se...

5 Questions to Consider Before Current Market Conditions

5 Questions to Consider Before Current Market Conditions

As an investment adviser, people ask me all the time “how’s the market doing”, and I always try to answer politely. Believe it or not, I never watch CNBC and unless I’m trading tha...

Long Term Care Dilemma: 7 Mitigation Steps

Long Term Care Dilemma: 7 Mitigation Steps

One of the first things I realized when I started in this business was the need for long-term care insurance. It was clear then, and is still true today, that living longer increas...

Life Insurance Agents: Where Did They Go?

Life Insurance Agents: Where Did They Go?

Life insurance agents created the financial planning community, and sadly their own was damaged in the process. Can recent regulation spur a rebirth? Needs-based selling, where an ...

Advisors: It’s Time to Drop your Series 7

Advisors: It’s Time to Drop your Series 7

You’ve still got time. Think of the DOL’s new fiduciary rules as a shot across the bow. Heed the warning, change course, and discover how rewarding this business can be without the...

New DOL Regs: Business as Usual?

New DOL Regs: Business as Usual?

It’s inevitable, from working over twenty years in an industry like mine, you tend to get a little cynical. The ink is hardly dry on the new “fiduciary” standard promulgated by the...

5 Reasons to Fire your Financial Advisor

5 Reasons to Fire your Financial Advisor

updated April 25, 2018 If your advisor is not on the same page with you, it makes it harder to weather downturns. There are five very basic service points your advisor should be hi...

Reality Check: What is Stock and Why Own it?

Reality Check: What is Stock and Why Own it?

With billions of dollars exchanging hands each day, continual fluctuations in prices, and constant media chatter about the “market”, it’s easy to lose sight of what we are actually...

Bear Market Planning: The Steps You Should Take

Bear Market Planning: The Steps You Should Take

We headed into our first semi-annual client reviews of the year last week with a certain level of apprehension. A big drop in the market right out of the gate wore heavily on my mi...

Step 1: Benchmark your Retirement Plan to Avoid Litigation

Step 1: Benchmark your Retirement Plan to Avoid Litigation

For many years now, the Department of Labor has been steadily attacking business as usual in the retirement plan selling business. Based upon the Pension Protection Act of 2006, fi...

Tornado Drill lends a Fresh Perspective

Tornado Drill lends a Fresh Perspective

Last Tuesday, we pretended like a tornado hit the office. All day we worked from home, testing our communications and computer systems to make sure we would be able to do our jobs ...

Good Steps for Planning your Christmas List

Good Steps for Planning your Christmas List

Without a plan it’s easy for things to get out of hand. Here are some steps you can take to make sure all of your gifts get handled reasonably and efficiently. Make a list: Write o...

Security Measures - Your Investment Adviser and You

Security Measures - Your Investment Adviser and You

Like all Registered Investment Adviser Firms, we maintain cyber security policies and procedures to protect sensitive client data from theft and fraud. Many of the measures we take...