Search Results for: financial
A Conversation About Money
I can’t stand Andy Rooney. You know, the old guy with the ridiculously bushy eyebrows who ends every 60 Minutes show with a three-minute babble on a topic, usually as fascinating as designer toilet paper. I mean, three reporters have just given us 57 minutes…
A Penny Saved…Nine easy ways to trim the fat out of your budget
Let me guess: You’re already struggling in this economy, Christmas is in the past for another eleven and a half months, and all you got this year was an empty bank account, right? So, what is the best way to start the New Year? Trim…
August 2010 - HE SAYS / SHE SAYS: If Someone Gave You An Extra $1,000 A Month (And You Couldn't Pay Bills Or Save It) What Would You Spend It On?
HE SAYS: I tend to be very conservative when it comes to spending money. I wouldn’t say that I’m a cheapskate, but I always try to get the best value for my dollar. This month’s topic presents an intriguing challenge for me: what to do with…
August 2010 - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The New Health Care Plan
Officially, it’s known as the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)” as amended by The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Or, as most of us call it, “ObamaCare.” I used to object to the latter title, but we’ve all been calling the Economic…
Justice For All - Lowcountry Legal Aid
The American ideal of equal justice for all is the foundation of our nation. Yet this basic principle is tested every day when representation is out of reach for people who are facing civil legal problems and are unable to afford an attorney. In 1998, recognizing…
Need a Loan? Atlantic Community Bank will help you get it
Here’s the deal. You want to buy a car. Detroit rejoices! Your local car dealer rejoices. Your family rejoices. You’ve had your eye on that new Prius. But then you check your RSS feeds on the Web, turn on the television or open the newspaper only…
September 2010: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT - Annuities
Maybe you’ve seen it on YouTube: Suzy Orman is on MSNBC saying absolutely, definitely, no way should anyone buy a variable annuity; and then a woman calls in and explains that the basic death benefit in her deceased husband’s variable annuity netted her a bonus…
Stock Market? What Stock Market?
Have you gone into “stock shock?” Are you trying to figure out what to do with your money, other than deposit it in the Bank of Sealy Posturepedic (under your mattress)? James Lockhart, president of Harbor Light Wealth Management, and Robert Star, the firm’s managing…
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT - Long-Term Care
I purposely left the word “insurance” out of the title to this article, because, insured or not, there is a good chance you are going to need long-term care. So, how are you going to manage it? Here’s what you need to know. DEFINITIONS The U.S. Senate…
What you need to know about Roth IRA Conversions
TRUST ME! I know this month’s topic seems a bit narrow and technical, but it is actually the hottest tax and personal financial planning issue of 2010. Expect, starting January 1, to be inundated with newspaper articles, mailings and even direct phone calls urging you…
What You Need to Know About Social Security
You’re closing in on 62, the age at which you can begin to collect on Social Security. It is decision time. Take the check now or wait? What you need to know is that this decision is neither easy nor trivial. What is Social Security? When…
What you need to know about… Estate Planning and Taxation
Let’s start with the basics: YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. Sorry, I didn’t mean to be the one to break the bad news, but someone has to do it. Apparently, many people have not gotten the word, because only 40 percent of all Americans have…
What you need to know about… Investments
Let me first be clear about what I mean by investments. “Investing,” as opposed to “saving” means putting your hard-earned money at risk, and this is not something you should consider doing until you have put away enough savings, as in cash and cash equivalents,…
What you need to know about… Retirement Planning
Retirement planning, financially-speaking, is a lifetime process. You need to start your plan during your first working years, tweak it constantly along the way and begin to finalize it perhaps a decade before you cash your last paycheck. Following are some pointers to help you…
What You Need To Know About…Mortgages (Part I)
I hesitated to tackle this subject because, as we’ve all learned in a very painful way, the world’s economies almost imploded over the complications from residential mortgages. Who am I, a simple, humble small-town financial planner, to try to explain a topic that befuddled the…
What You Need to Know: The Financial Basics
The question I’ve been posing to friends all month is what basic financial advice to give to a 22-year-old who is fresh out of college and facing the stark reality of separation from the First Bank of Mom and Dad. Here are their consensus thoughts: No…
What you need to know… about being a “Personal Representative”
All the talk lately of “death panels” and “Pulling the plug on Grandma,” begs the obvious question: What do you do if you get the call that “Grandma” died and you’re the one in charge of her estate? If you are married or you’re a trusted…
I can’t stand Andy Rooney. You know, the old guy with the ridiculously bushy eyebrows who ends every 60 Minutes show with a three-minute babble on a topic, usually as fascinating as designer toilet paper. I mean, three reporters have just given us 57 minutes…
A Penny Saved…Nine easy ways to trim the fat out of your budget
Let me guess: You’re already struggling in this economy, Christmas is in the past for another eleven and a half months, and all you got this year was an empty bank account, right? So, what is the best way to start the New Year? Trim…
August 2010 - HE SAYS / SHE SAYS: If Someone Gave You An Extra $1,000 A Month (And You Couldn't Pay Bills Or Save It) What Would You Spend It On?
HE SAYS: I tend to be very conservative when it comes to spending money. I wouldn’t say that I’m a cheapskate, but I always try to get the best value for my dollar. This month’s topic presents an intriguing challenge for me: what to do with…
August 2010 - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The New Health Care Plan
Officially, it’s known as the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)” as amended by The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Or, as most of us call it, “ObamaCare.” I used to object to the latter title, but we’ve all been calling the Economic…
Justice For All - Lowcountry Legal Aid
The American ideal of equal justice for all is the foundation of our nation. Yet this basic principle is tested every day when representation is out of reach for people who are facing civil legal problems and are unable to afford an attorney. In 1998, recognizing…
Need a Loan? Atlantic Community Bank will help you get it
Here’s the deal. You want to buy a car. Detroit rejoices! Your local car dealer rejoices. Your family rejoices. You’ve had your eye on that new Prius. But then you check your RSS feeds on the Web, turn on the television or open the newspaper only…
September 2010: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT - Annuities
Maybe you’ve seen it on YouTube: Suzy Orman is on MSNBC saying absolutely, definitely, no way should anyone buy a variable annuity; and then a woman calls in and explains that the basic death benefit in her deceased husband’s variable annuity netted her a bonus…
Stock Market? What Stock Market?
Have you gone into “stock shock?” Are you trying to figure out what to do with your money, other than deposit it in the Bank of Sealy Posturepedic (under your mattress)? James Lockhart, president of Harbor Light Wealth Management, and Robert Star, the firm’s managing…
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT - Long-Term Care
I purposely left the word “insurance” out of the title to this article, because, insured or not, there is a good chance you are going to need long-term care. So, how are you going to manage it? Here’s what you need to know. DEFINITIONS The U.S. Senate…
What you need to know about Roth IRA Conversions
TRUST ME! I know this month’s topic seems a bit narrow and technical, but it is actually the hottest tax and personal financial planning issue of 2010. Expect, starting January 1, to be inundated with newspaper articles, mailings and even direct phone calls urging you…
What You Need to Know About Social Security
You’re closing in on 62, the age at which you can begin to collect on Social Security. It is decision time. Take the check now or wait? What you need to know is that this decision is neither easy nor trivial. What is Social Security? When…
What you need to know about… Estate Planning and Taxation
Let’s start with the basics: YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. Sorry, I didn’t mean to be the one to break the bad news, but someone has to do it. Apparently, many people have not gotten the word, because only 40 percent of all Americans have…
What you need to know about… Investments
Let me first be clear about what I mean by investments. “Investing,” as opposed to “saving” means putting your hard-earned money at risk, and this is not something you should consider doing until you have put away enough savings, as in cash and cash equivalents,…
What you need to know about… Retirement Planning
Retirement planning, financially-speaking, is a lifetime process. You need to start your plan during your first working years, tweak it constantly along the way and begin to finalize it perhaps a decade before you cash your last paycheck. Following are some pointers to help you…
What You Need To Know About…Mortgages (Part I)
I hesitated to tackle this subject because, as we’ve all learned in a very painful way, the world’s economies almost imploded over the complications from residential mortgages. Who am I, a simple, humble small-town financial planner, to try to explain a topic that befuddled the…
What You Need to Know: The Financial Basics
The question I’ve been posing to friends all month is what basic financial advice to give to a 22-year-old who is fresh out of college and facing the stark reality of separation from the First Bank of Mom and Dad. Here are their consensus thoughts: No…
What you need to know… about being a “Personal Representative”
All the talk lately of “death panels” and “Pulling the plug on Grandma,” begs the obvious question: What do you do if you get the call that “Grandma” died and you’re the one in charge of her estate? If you are married or you’re a trusted…
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