retirement

How does your mindset have the power to shape your financial success? Our beliefs drive our behaviors ultimately leading to where we end up in life. Here are 5 core beliefs I have about finance: I believe preserving capital and building additional streams of income leads to financial resilience. I believe I finance everything I…

How can I improve my ability to adapt to changing markets? By following this simple yet often misunderstood principle. I’ve been helping my teammates understand and apply it for a decade. Every asset purchase you make is a money-storage decision. Guided by this principle, here are some of the asset characteristics I seek: guarantees volatility optionality…

Me 10 years ago: I can’t buy that investment property. Why not? I don’t have enough money. Do you know any lenders or qualify for low-to-zero money-down options? No, and I don’t think so. What about your savings and investments? I don’t have enough. Do you save or invest? I do, but it’s all in…

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that bonds aren’t what they used to be. Values are declining, risk is up, investors are selling, bond funds are underperforming, and municipal bonds are no longer the safe haven they once were. “With the demise of the bond insurance industry in the financial crisis, credit quality in…

One of the biggest fears people have is running out of money in retirement. And for many Americans, this is a very real risk, not an irrational phobia. If you are a reasonably healthy 65-year-old non-smoker, actuarial tables estimate you’re likely to live to age 86, as a man, and 89, as a woman. And…

The interest rate on an investment or financial product is important, but it’s not the only thing that matters.  It’s one principle of financial strategy among many that should be considered before committing to a financial course of action. There is more to financial strategy than searching for the highest rate of return on a…

What does the principle of certainty mean to you when it comes to your financial strategy and the investments and products you choose to purchase? Are you thinking about whether or not your money will be available when you want to use it 5, 10, 20 years down the road? When you are analyzing whether…

Whole life insurance is a terrible investment… They said with authority. First, whole life insurance isn’t an investment, unless of course you consider it an investment in securing the foundation of the rest of your entire financial strategy. Second, compared to what? That’s a great question to ask whenever somebody makes an assertion about how…

Avoid losses and keep more of your money. What has a greater impact on your ability to build wealth: higher rates of return or reducing costs? While seeking out investments with the highest rates of return seems more exciting than figuring out how to avoid losing what you already have, it is the latter that…

A friend of mine asked how positioning high cash value whole life insurance as a tier one asset would be beneficial to a younger person planning to retire from W2 work at an early age. Great question. Cash flow is the gasoline that fuels your businesses and your personal economy, and it’s one of the…