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The first step to achieving financial independence is to define what financial independence means to you. It’s going to be different for everyone. How do you want your life to look? What do you want to do for work if you could choose? What would you like to do in your free time? How much free time do you want to have?

Own occupation disability insurance. It’s a regularly searched term for specialized professionals, such as doctors. Some people will search for physician disability insurance. Others may search for occupational disability insurance. I can see how own occupation disability insurance and occupational disability insurance can be interchangeable terms. The more commonly referenced terminology for occupation-specific disability insurance is “own occupation disability insurance,” so we’ll stick with that for today.

The name sounds assuring, but is the SECURE Act leaving womxn feeling SECURE about how inherited IRA’s (or 401(k)’s) are being passed along to their beneficiaries? From what I have seen over the past few months, NO! Let’s dive into why and what the SECURE Act did to the Stretch IRA.

Last week, with the Powerball winner claiming the grand prize of $730 million and the Mega Millions at $1 billion, it got me thinking – what would I do if I won the lottery that much?  Doesn’t everyone wonder that every once in a while?  What would I do first with the money?  I know my wife wants a new backsplash in the kitchen, so I supposed we could get that done. Or buy the forever home. Should I claim the lump sum or the 30-year payout?  Do I tell my friends and family?  Do I tell my wife?  (Just kidding….sort of).  How do I ensure I don’t go bankrupt like a lot of lottery winners?  It all starts with putting together a plan.  Here are some initial thoughts on how I would react and what I would do.

It may make you happy now, spending money on the things you want today, but you will be miserable later when you realize you cannot achieve the real things you want in life. Or you can make some sacrifices now, knowing you will be happy and satisfied for the rest of your life.

2020 has been quite the year. Given the dynamics of it all, people have found themselves with more free time. Combine that with a volatile stock market, and many individuals have taken up the hobby of day trading stocks. In short, day trading is the act of buying and selling stocks in a short period, usually based on price movements and headlines.

October is National Financial Planning Month, so it’s fitting we write about the benefits of financial planning! I define financial planning as the ongoing practice of creating and updating a strategy to achieve your goals. It’s not a one-time thing. It’s a continuous habit or routine. No different than regular car maintenance or dental care. Have periodic checkups with regular care in between.

One of the most overlooked components of financial planning is income protection. Income is the linchpin that holds your entire financial world together. Unless you are independently wealthy and don’t need to work anymore, you probably rely pretty heavily on your earnings. If this is the case, you should probably do everything in your power to ensure your income continues to flow, even if you are unable to work.

As the third quarter comes to an end, and we enter the last three months of the year, I thought it would be a good idea to put together a year-end financial planning checklist for you. Why am I writing a year-end checklist now instead of in December? Let’s be real, we don’t get much done between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, so you only have about a month and a half remaining to tackle everything. Below are ten things to take a look at as part of your regular financial planning housekeeping to maximize your opportunities and protect yourself where necessary.

First things first, we need to have a down payment of some sort for the house. Even if you qualify for a special financing program, like a VA loan, or even some physician mortgage loans that require 0-5% down, you will still need some money for closing costs ($10,000 give or take). The lender will also require you to have typically 4-6 months of reserves available after the down payment, and closing costs are accounted for (could vary by lender and property type/cost). They don’t let you liquidate your entire savings to use for the down payment.

Ask any entrepreneur what it was like in the early years. They will tell you stories about working 16 hour days, not seeing a consistent paycheck (even not seeing any compensation some months), and walking uphill in the snow both to and from work. The majority of new businesses fail within the first five years. The ones that make it have to fight an uphill battle to establish themselves. The same goes for financial advisors.