Our mortgage loan officer told us what we qualified for and I couldn’t help myself as I burst out laughing. Shelly whacked me on the leg under the big conference room table as I regained my composure. “There is no way we can afford...

This is going to sound crazy, but maybe you should not be taking advantage of your 401(k). Maybe you should go ahead and pay taxes on your investments now, not later. Most of the people I come into contact with believe tax rates are...

I have had deep and detailed financial discussions with most of my clients during our current pandemic crisis. Some are having the most successful years of their lives while others have had their income decimated. It’s easy to...

Check out this fun excerpt from my latest book for your reading enjoyment. I used to tell this story to 401(k) participants in enrollment meetings. It’s a real conversation I had with my dad in our garage in 1978! What do you think?

I have had the opportunity to help many people gain personal financial success over the last quarter decade. It’s been a great ride, and I continue to be inspired by their achievements. How did they do it? I think these seven steps were a key...

In working with successful clients, I’m reminded often that just maxing out your 401(k) rarely cuts it. For most of the families we work with, it takes more than just retirement plan assets to effectively retire. Why? Because your...

Answer: Maybe not the account you think! This is a pretty common conversation that we have with clients. Here is a handy chart outlining the different options and their tax treatment: Tax Deferred – Pay it Later Tax deferred...

The first time I reviewed and worked with a nice bond retirement portfolio it was my grandparents investment account. In the mid to late 90’s I found myself driving down to Temple Texas once a week to help them out with medical and...

Many of the conversations I’ve had recently about the stock market have revolved around the question “why” as in, “why is the NASDAQ hitting record highs in the middle of a pandemic?” “Why is Tesla up so much?” It’s a natural...

In this video, Austin and I talk about Equity Indexed Annuities. We’ve been analyzing quite a few of these lately and there are two major takeaways: They are complicated. They provide a guaranteed income...

We would argue that the most important job of a Financial Advisor is to talk people out of decisions that could have potential long term consequences. A very real test of this came during the first quarter of...

In investing as in life, our attitude has a lot to do with how successful we are. Because I have worked with so many investors over the years, it has become easy for me to identify the attitudes that win and those that lose. Losing...

It’s graduation season again. Due to the COVID-19 crisis this one is a little different, but regardless many of our kids are moving to new horizons. We all have a strong desire to impart wisdom and advice to these graduates. Through...

For almost everyone in investing, there are two main risks: 1. The Risk of Losing Money 2. The Risk of Losing the Opportunity to Make Money Of these two risks, we can choose to eliminate one or the...

This crisis has affected different families in different ways and in varying degrees. I can’t emphasize enough that we are living through a significant event. Sometimes it may not feel like it but we are. Much of the normalcy of our...

COVID-19 cut hockey season short and we’ll see if my horns make it on the gridiron this fall for football season. In the meantime, it’s property tax season. If you live in Texas, you should have received your 2020 Value Notice by...

In the last four weeks something near the number of 26 million Americans have filed for unemployment. That is a crazy high number that has led to some eye popping GDP expectations for the quarter. Some reports expecting something...

Were you completely prepared for this? Was your family, your business, or your investment portfolio? I know I wasn’t completely prepared. How could I have been? The current crisis is a reminder to us all that much in life is beyond our control. ...

Over the past month, many different areas of the US economy have come to an almost full stop. This as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, and subsequent reaction of government officials ordering people to stay home. To keep people and businesses...

*4/23/20 Update: EIDL and PPP EIDL and PPP checks are flowing. Remember, the EIDL check you receive is a tax-free grant. Make sure you annotate clearly on your books as something like EIDL – Other Income so your accountant can exclude it from...

It’s been over a decade now, and time softens even my most dramatic memories. I was in Chicago for the launch of an intensive year-long coaching program for advisors. My career up to that point had been successful but not focused. This program...

There is no question that viruses are deadly and scary. According to the CDC, the regular, annual seasonal flu quietly kills somewhere between 291,000 and 646,000 people per year worldwide. Viruses are one of the most primitive living organisms...

There was a major selloff in the stock market this week as investors processed information about the coronavirus. As we discussed these events, Austin and I inadvertently found ourselves talking in terms of what we thought could happen next....

There is a new sleeve of our portfolios that we are becoming more and more helpful. Adding to the traditional stock and bond mix, we are using Defined Outcome ETFs. Defined Outcome ETFs are buffered investments around different indexes that...