Last week, we reviewed a book on children, money and values. One topic the book covered was saving for kids’ needs, which typically included either education or providing them a nest egg post-college. The book… Read More
How Federal Employees Can Plan a Successful Early Retirement
If you are a federal employee and are considering early retirement, this article will help you understand your options and how to determine if early retirement is feasible. We’ll examine how your FERS annuity and… Read More
Understanding Your Options and When to Withdraw from Your FERS Annuity
Federal government pensions are really pretty complex because they’ve become progressively less rich. The pensions for federal government employees that were employed before 1987, they had what was known as the CSRS or the Civil… Read More
Prioritizing Paying Down Debt versus Savings
Things are going well. Your income is up, expenses are steady and you’ve got money left over at the end of every month. You’re not planning on spending the excess cash, so you face a… Read More
A Few Thoughts on Debt and Financial Planning
In 21st century America, the list of things that are more common than debt is depressingly small. From mortgages to student loans to credit cards, the types of debt and the terms of that debt… Read More
Retirement Planning: Keep a Pension or Cash it In
Not so many years ago, financial advisors viewed retirement planning as a 3-legged stool. The first leg was a pension, the second social security and the third being the retiree-to-be’s savings. In the intervening years,… Read More
What We Can All Learn from Financial Planning for Teachers
When my aunt founded Minerva nearly 30 years ago, one of the first groups for whom she did a good deal of work were teachers. At the time, the State was looking for assistance with… Read More
What Does a Personal Financial Plan Include?
If you have considered working with a financial advisor on a personal financial plan, but have held off because you weren’t sure what the plan would include, this post is for you. The confusion around… Read More
A Fee Only Financial Planner’s Resolution – Implementing a Budget
One of the biggest financial changes my wife and I made over the last year was to put a budget in place. It may seem strange that a fee only financial planner wouldn’t have a… Read More
What I Wish A Financial Planner Had Told Me
I didn’t begin my career as a financial planner. Although I always had an interest in finance, an early opportunity to work in the music industry and travel the world was too good to pass… Read More