A common debate or question for financial planners is whether it’s better to rent or buy a home. As with most things, it depends, but as a general rule, if you don’t intend to constantly move long distances (more frequently than every six years or so), it becomes a valuable wealth-building tool to own real estate. However, real estate is …
The United States has, for many decades now, emphasized above many options “the value of an education.” A significant portion of state and federal tax dollars is spent on K-12 education, with some states going further and providing additional funding at the undergraduate collegiate level and beyond. This cultural trend was magnified at the end of World War Two, when …
Disclaimers and Disclosures: As of this writing, I am the owner of a Registered Investment Adviser Firm offering ERISA Plan Fiduciary services, and this represents a conflict of interest in that anything Mr. Itzoe has written in the book that better aligns with what I do, I am likely to tout, and anything that varies, I am likely to critique. …
The Financial Planning Association’s Annual Conference is a tradition stretching back decades, bringing together academics, financial planning leaders, industry experts, students, and practitioners to share the latest research, best practices, and latest thought on how the profession of financial planning can improve the lives of everyday people. This piece is going to be a summary of the content I learned …
Understanding that two weeks ago I wrote about the behavioral financial biases that lead to someone with political beliefs having their perception of money and the economy skewed by their politics, I’m now probably going to stick my foot in deeper water by talking about a recent political issue: the president’s taxes. In the interest of trying to keep as …
One of the most common points of improvement early on in the financial planning process is cash flow management. Whether the client lives paycheck to paycheck or is sitting on a significant amount of cash in their checking and savings accounts, most people don’t know the answer to “what’s right for me?” and consequently either overspend and run a constant …
In my newfound academic studies, I get the opportunity to read research. A lot of research. A lot of research. This isn’t for the pure fun and joy of it, but because the effort to obtain a Ph.D. is equal parts your own research and learning what’s already been done in the field. Consequently, you spend a significant amount of …
The United States has, by design, a politically polarized governmental system. While many other democracies practice with a parliamentary system, which utilizes proportional representation to allow for multiple small parties to build coalitions that result in majorities, the United States system favors deliberate disfunction. Concerned about tyrannies of the majority, the founders put in place a number of mechanisms to …
Every two years, a research team from the University of Southern Maine and kitces.com (a popular research and thought leadership platform in financial planning) conduct and release a study on “How Real Financial Planners Actually Do Financial Planning”. The study, the only of its kind, surveys hundreds of financial planners from an array of business models on how they conduct …
At MY Wealth Planners®, we are a Fee-Only Financial Planning firm. This means we are paid directly by our clients and no one else. This is an advantage to our clients for an obvious set of reasons: fee transparency, reduced conflicts of interest, and in many cases, lower costs to clients. However, when the public is asked to compare financial …