Recent Articles

Predicting the Future

Human nature includes the desire to predict and or anticipate both the immediate and longer term future. The reason for doing so is often to eliminate or reduce the fear or anxiety about the unknown. Human beings detest uncertainty and will do almost anything to reduce this uncertainty.

In ancient times people made special offers to local gods. In modern times, people watch news broadcasts and try to interpret how current events will impact their investments.

Basics For a Wise Financial Strategy

Before a sky scraper can reach for the clouds, it needs a very strong foundation. Once the building is complete, the foundation is virtually unseen. The same goes for our financial plans. Following are the basics of a strong financial foundation:

Budget - Governments and businesses use budgets to properly allocate resources. It's known as good business. A budget can help you figure out where your hard earned income is going and to identify ways to cut spending or increase savings.

Estate Planning Saves You Money !

With the New Year fast approaching, consider giving some thought to how you want to distribute your assets, household goods and other gifts to your heirs as you contemplate your other New Years' Resolutions. This, including tax planning, is what lawyers refer to as Estate Planning.

Estate Planning can be a simple or complex matter depending upon your specific situation and the needs of your heirs. So why bother to worry about having Wills, Powers of Attorney and Living Wills or Medical Directives updated to reflect your hopes, wishes and personal values?

The Three ECs of Life Insurance

Life insurance is initially purchased for any of a number of reasons. As time goes by, many people question why they are still carrying their policies as the original purpose no longer applies.

Here are the three uses of life insurance:

Financial Strategies for the "University Years"

Many parents wrestle with the dilemma of how much financial support to provide their children attending post-secondary programs. The costs today are much greater than what the parents paid for similar schooling some thirty or more years ago.

Tuition costs alone have risen at least tenfold since the 1970's for a basic humanities degree, never mind the enormous cost increases for professional programs such as engineering, business, law and medical school.

Investor Emotions & Media Influence

During a recent client call, the topics discussed included how the media influence people's investment behaviors. This client woke up one day with an 'epiphany' thinking that a market correction was just around the corner. They did admit after a discussion that they had been reading something to that effect in the newspapers during the weekend.

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