One of the dozen state propositions on the California ballot this year was Proposition 19. It was one of two propositions to address property taxes. It passed with 51% voting in favor, while the other property tax-related proposition, Prop 15, failed. What does Prop 19 mean for California homeowners? Read more
Many people are currently in open enrollment for employee benefits right now. An often-overlooked employee benefit that can really pay off in the long-term is the Health Savings Account (HSA). HSAs provide a tax-advantaged way to save for healthcare costs, now or in retirement. Read more
The 2020 election is arguably one of the most important elections in a lifetime. Much is at stake: management of the pandemic, the economy and on-going racial strife, trade relations with China, and election integrity and its impact on our democracy. Many investors are wondering how this election might impact the stock market. Read more
With the Nasdaq, Dow and S&P 500 indices hitting all-time highs recently, you might be wondering if the stock market has become completely untethered from reality. After all, we’re still in the midst of a global pandemic that has resulted in a sharp rise in unemployment, millions of struggling businesses and individuals and a sharp contraction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Two adages might help explain this apparent disconnect: Read more
The federal government has already poured $3T into the economy to soften the economic pain caused by the coronavirus. It is currently debating sending another $1T to $3T into the economy to deal with the prolonged nature of the downturn. You might be worrying about the impacts on current and future generations of this high level of spending. After all, how is the government going to pay for it all? Doesn’t the federal government have to balance its budget eventually? Sadly, there are several pervasive myths related to the federal government’s deficit that lead to misunderstanding and confusion. Here are a few of the more common ones: Read more
I was asked to share my top 3 personal finance tips with a class of local high school seniors. There are so many smart money habits new adults need. Where to start? I tried to focus on the ones that would set these newly minted adults off on the right path. Here’s what I came up with: Read more
April was the 20th anniversary of Financial Literacy Month in the US. This year, the movement was overshadowed by the global coronavirus pandemic and has many wondering if financial literacy matters in the current environment. It matters more than ever! A new survey from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) finds that nearly nine in 10 (88 percent) Americans say the COVID-19 crisis is causing stress on their personal finances. Read more
On Friday, March 27th Congress and the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, an unprecedented stimulus package worth $2T to address the economic impacts of COVID-19. Here are some of the aspects of the plan that might impact you. Read more
As news of the coronavirus stokes fear and uncertainty on a variety of fronts, it is only natural to wonder if you should do something to your portfolio to account for the news. In most cases, the answer is a resounding NO! Here’s why. Read more
Almost every day there is an article in the news about financial fraud. Much of it impacts seniors, like a recent scam involving fraudsters posing as social security representatives. However, we are all at risk, especially if we believe we are too young, too smart and too vigilant to fall for a scam. Sadly, the scam artists are very sophisticated and intelligent too, and are experts at separating people from their money.
That said, much of the financial fraud targets seniors, because our cognitive ability declines as we age and this reduces our ability to handle financial complexity and makes us vulnerable to abuse. Read more