Years ago I had a client for whom I created a financial plan designed to get them comfortably to the end of their lives. A few months after the husband passed away, we received a call that was out of the ordinary. This nice lady needed $25,000 to pay for some remodeling in her home.…
An extensive exit poll this week demonstrated the vast divide in American politics. On each issue the respondents came down heavily along party lines. One question that stood out to me was, “How do you feel about the state of the economy?” Over 85% of Republican respondents said it was “Great” while over 85% of…
Years ago I hired a personal trainer to help with some body building goals. As I worked with him for a few months I saw significant improvement in the way I felt, and the way I looked. After a while I got tired of paying him so I let him go, thinking I could move…
Financial advisors often write articles telling investors what they are doing wrong. Some print booklets with titles such as, “The ten biggest mistakes investors make,” or “The eight reasons to never own (fill in your favorite investment to hate)…” I would like to turn the tables and discuss mistakes Financial Advisors make. 1 – Telling clients they…
Our African safari included a tracker who sat in a chair mounted on the front of the jeep. Over multiple game drives we gained a great appreciation for his remarkable skills. Each drive would begin with his asking what we wanted to see that day, and without fail he would find it for us. Whether…
As a pilot I am often asked, “What if something goes wrong?” Things do go wrong sometimes, but passengers rarely hear of it. They go wrong for commercial pilots too. In one funny exchange I heard a commercial pilot announce an urgent landing due to a “strange smell in the cockpit.” That definitely generated a…
Launa and I recently returned from a photo safari to Africa. Even though it was on our bucket list, we had some apprehensions about this trip given the immunizations, safety warnings, political uncertainties, etc.. The unknown always brings with it some anxiety and so we did all we could to educate ourselves on our destination.…
I am pretty happy this week because our St. George airport has finally re-opened after being closed for runway repairs. Though only a few years old, the runway had become unusable due to damage from underlying expansive soils. The loss of air service, and the high repair costs could have been easily avoided had the…
I would like to share some thoughts with my younger readers. In my youth I remember thinking there were two types of people, old people and young people, and I was one of the young ones. I never realized I would one day join the other group until recently when I entered a crowded waiting…
I have decided this week to list a few areas of the economy that I believe are worthy of a look by investors. I base my thoughts on the well-known elephant theory that I teach regularly. It is that if you want to capture an elephant, you don’t sneak up behind it with a rope,…