Financial Planning

For the more than 60 million Americans who are on Medicare, this time of year is an important one. Medicare Open Enrollment began on October 15 and runs through December 7. Beneficiaries can now review health and drug plans, compare coverage options and make changes to their healthcare coverage for 2021.

When people use the word “own” in the context of investments, they are most often referring to possession – the investments that one has purchased and that belong to them. But do you OWN the investments you own?

After living through the experience of being an executor, the importance of an estate planning version of a GPS navigator is crystal clear to me. But it takes foresight and execution. You don't do it for you. You do it for those who come after you.

The dictionary defines stimulus as “something that incites to action.” When applied to personal finance, a stimulus, then, is critical. Personal financial planning must be about action, or it’s powerless.

We can self-inflict significant – sometimes irreparable – damage to our personal, long-term goals when we fail to communicate or communicate ineffectively.

Like the NBA, personal financial planning is a “make-or-miss league.” There are loads of “advanced analytics” and “in-game strategies” to distract us from doing the mundane work of practicing our free throws.