I recently read a book, Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be by Frank Bruni, that shed some light on the college admissions hysteria many families find themselves immersed in, particularly those who live in affluent communities. Over the past decade, college admissions rates have plummeted, with some of the elite schools now boasting rates in the 5% range, yet families have become ever more focused on obtaining admission to a small list of these elite schools. Read more
If you were inspired by the young people leading marches against gun violence around the country on March 24th in the March for Our Lives and want to do something to have an impact, one action you can take is to make sure you don’t own any stocks of companies that manufacture guns in your portfolio. Read more
In honor of International Women’s Day (March 8th), it seemed appropriate to write about how women can become more financially empowered. For various reasons, including longer life expectancies, women are more likely than men to be on their own at least once during their life. Yet many women aren’t comfortable managing their personal finances and often defer to the men in their lives to do it for them. Read more
Fortunately, I haven’t received too many questions from clients about bitcoin and crypto-currencies, but it is a very popular topic these days and I’ve heard it brought up many times in various forums. I thought I’d share my thoughts on the topic, so you can be better prepared to respond to those people who might be suggesting it’s the investment of a lifetime. Read more
The beginning of the new year is a perfect time to do some financial housekeeping. Over 44% of Americans set new year’s resolutions and financial goals are among the most popular. Here are some timely ones given events over the past year: Read more
Year end is the time many people focus on charitable giving, probably partly due to tax planning, but also as a reflection of the gratitude during the Season of Giving. Two ideas I like to share with clients, if appropriate, are the concept of a donor-advised fund and the Qualified Direct Charitable Rollover from a retirement account. Read more
The data breach at Equifax, which exposed at least 143 million people’s financial data, is a symptom of the Age of Accelerations. Accelerations in globalization and technology are enabling thieves to be ever more sophisticated in their crimes. If even a company where data security should be paramount can be compromised, how are far less sophisticated consumers to protect themselves? Until the system changes, it is on us to protect ourselves. Read more
With over 100,000 people displaced by the North Bay fires, chances are even if you weren’t directly impacted by them, you may know someone who was. Recovering from a catastrophic loss of this nature is complicated by the emotional challenges of grieving from the loss. We’ve included some tips below to help begin the long road to recovery, gathered from survivors of previous fires and insurance experts. Read more
Redwood Grove Wealth Management is pleased to announce that Tanya Steinhofer was awarded the 2017 Heart of Financial Planning award by the Financial Planning Association (FPA). The Heart of Financial Planning Award recognizes financial planning professionals, firms and organizations that demonstrate remarkable commitment and passion to contribute or give back to the financial planning community and/or public.
A Massachusetts woman recently won the biggest lottery prize in US history – $759 million. She did what many lottery winners do and contrary to what most financial planners would advise, which is to quit her job and take the prize as a lump sum of $480 million before taxes, instead of installments over a period of years.