During the Haiti crisis in the mid-90’s, I was a young sailor on watch. It was a calm, quiet, typical Caribbean sunny day and we were just off the coast of Hispaniola in the Windward Passage. Punching holes in the ocean, is what we called it,...

Note: This post is from our intern – Chris Ensch. Chris attended a recent Rotary meeting with me and ran into his old economics professor from High School (College Equivalency), my friend and fellow Rotarian, Mike Gallaher. Chris will graduate...

Today’s post was inspired by the excellent book: Team of Teams, by Gen. McChrystal Modern destroyers use gas turbine engines for propulsion and electrical power. As a young junior officer, I was required to learn all about these marvelous...

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few months, you’ve probably heard about the Bitcoin craze and other cryptocurrencies using distributed ledger technology. I’m a borderline technology geek, so I have been reading about, and...

The market is hot right now – to say the least. We all know it’s cyclical in nature so in a way it feels like we’re just waiting on the inevitable downturn: we just don’t know when, and we don’t know by how much. At current valuation levels,...

Without a plan it’s easy for things to get out of hand over the holidays. Here are some simple steps you can take to make sure all of your gifts get handled reasonably and efficiently: Make a list. Write out everyone you need to purchase a gift...

A recent Wall Street Journal front page story, “The Morningstar Mirage,” stated what most advisers should already know: Morningstar ratings don’t mean much. In my experience, those who rely upon star ratings do so for one of three reasons: ...

Created by Congress twenty years ago, the Roth IRA is starting to show up in seasoned retirement plans in a big way. I remember when the Roth IRA first came out, I thought of it as a tool best suited for younger people in lower tax brackets. Now...

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 – that long term care insurance makes sense. However, the premiums can...

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. I was depressed for days after realizing a few years ago that my...

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 advisors pay for their time on the radio in order to generate leads. Some,...

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 thought this weekend, here are some of my suggestions: 1. Don’t Panic....

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 he grew up in, where I had stayed many times as a guest, completely...

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 spending on a line item by line item basis, but our clients have...

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 finance our homes can impact our finances for decades. Ideally, it...

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 week. I attended the forum held in Dallas and wanted to share a...

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, head of U.S. iShares, as saying 85% of their exchange traded funds’...

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 like to call it, is critical to the success of your financial...

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 been formally documented is gratifying beyond measure, but it’s...

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 employees to help them understand and formulate a retirement scenario. ...

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 Leaves BOMs in a Muddle) to the CFP Board in-fighting (see One year...

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 yesterday: Dallas police and fire pension plan problems caused by extraordinary...

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 strategy. The idea is for our kids to already have some money...

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 spend excess money on something. If we’re lucky, it’s a one time...

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 was about to humbly pack up my equipment when he returned with a...