Money Matter$

With interest rates at historic lows, there seems to be a pretty simple answer. Yes! …Probably. There as an old rule of thumb that said if you can reduce your interest rate by 1.5%, it is worth refinancing. Loan officers often tell you about the “monthly cash flow savings” from refinancing, calculating that if you’ll save $200/month off your current payment and their fee is $2,400, that you get your “money back” in only 12 months. However, what they sometimes fail to mention is the fact that you’ve often extended the length of your loan to get that cash flow savings. The only savings that really matter is the interest savings you'll reap over the life of the loan.

I’ve watched Bitcoin increase in U.S. dollar value nearly 300% in the last year. If ever I was subject to FOMO (fear of missing out), there was a strong pull in 2020; with Tesla stock and Bitcoin leading the charge.

It’s not surprising that the majority of people take social security as early as they can at age 62 - over 34% in 2018 - although from a financial standpoint almost no one should. Perhaps the early-takers thought “it might not be there later”. However, we are dealing with the federal government...

At age 72, the government is ready to begin collecting tax on all of your deferred income and growth inside your IRAs and 401(k)s but you want to avoid paying the tax. What can you do? There are a least four legitimate strategies to delay or avoid taking RMDs.

We encourage our clients to provide us copies of their life insurance policy statements for analysis. During the financial planning process, we perform a life insurance needs analysis, and determine if the client has too little coverage, too much coverage, or just the right amount of life insurance coverage – or if they need life insurance at all.

People go crazy around Christmas time when it comes to buying presents for themselves and others. There are so many great “deals”, especially on new phones. Last year, Brett Arends of MarketWatch.com, put the lifetime “opportunity cost” of always owning the latest iPhone at close to $300,000.