Category: Financial Planning
-
Trends in home ownership
The rate of individual home ownership is stuck at the lowest point in our lifetime. The trend will be further aggravated in 2017 as interest rates rise, real estate tax incentives diminish, and disposable income falls for the lower half of American households. Yet it remains unclear whether the homeownership issue indicates a serious underlying economic problem or a…
-
Life at age 30: then and now
Wall Street Journal reports today that half of today’s 30 year olds earn more than their parents (adjusted for inflation) at the same age. I don’t see evidence of that early success in my communities today. At age 30 back in 1990 most of my peers owned houses, perhaps had a a rental property or…
-
Thinking about changing accountants?
The decision to change accountants often comes as the result of pain experienced. It is important to explore this experience so that we can learn from it and make improvements for the future. Author Rob Nixon suggests that we ask the following questions and then find a way to turn the negative comments into positives in…
-
Change to Privacy and Security Agreement
I made some changes to my privacy and security statements and will now request that new clients affirmatively acknowledge and accept the agreement before I make any other follow-up communication. Part of the reason is to emphasize my reliance of text, email, video conferences and document portals. Surprisingly, I still get calls from people who say…
-
How to deal with shock increases in health insurance expense
Shocking increases in health insurance rates for 2017 have many of my small business clients reeling. The problem affects most people who pay for their own health coverage throughout the country. Some states and certain health plans are hit harder than others. The smallest rate increase I’ve seen directly in communications with clients is about…
-
Trends in individual health insurance, 2016
In the 19 states that have not expanded eligibility to Medicaid to lower-income individuals, the results of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are minimal, at least as observed from ‘street level’ among those who are not covered by group or government-sponsored health plans. In Florida, for example, more than half a million remain without health insurance.…
-
Is it smart to pay no taxes?
Donald Trump brings fresh attention to the possibility that affluent individuals and businesses can pay no federal income taxes. Last night, at Hofstra University, Trump said “That makes me smart”. Is he right? Is it smart to pay no income taxes? The first point we should reach is that it is possible for an affluent…
-
North American Life View: a first glance
I’m excited to review a revolutionary way for individuals to purchase cheap regular term life insurance that does not involve the obstacles or gimmicks that we have come to expect. It’s quite simple really, mostly just a leap forward in the insurance industry’s level of technology deployment to deliver what consumers demand. This blog post is…
-
Big news in consumer life insurance
It’s funny how life works sometimes. Earlier today I put put out a blog post on the topic of business networking vs. paid referral services that said “…my primary source of revenue over the entire span of my working career as an independent accountant has been paid reviews or endorsements of some type…I do not do…
-
Crowdfunding at its worst
It was bound to happen. A crowdfunding platform called First Asia Alliance apparently misrepresented investments, may have mishandled investors’ money and now the owners may now be bankrupt. Crowdfunding is a ripe opportunity for fraud and we know that mismanagement is rampant in some non-business crowdfunding platforms like Gofundme. Fortunately, this failed crowdfunding project was in Asia so few…