Value Creation Blog

We're just starting the 4th quarter of the year. This is the time where you might be thinking about social security and if you qualify this year what are the rules and what should you do. 

Every Quarter, Jerry Chafkin the Chief Investment Officer of our partner at Assetmark writes an excellent re-cap of what happened in the markets over the past quarter. This quarter is no different.

You may have noticed that the stock market has been doing pretty well since Donald Trump was elected President.  Whether you like him or not, that is a fact.

The main reason you want to hire an investment/wealth manager is to help you avoid investment disasters, if possible.  If you look at the research firm Dalbar, you’ll see that too many investors make the same mistakes and as a result, get a return that’s much lessthan the market.

One of the things we don't focus on when it comes to our aging parents is their pets. Through no fault of their own, pets often get left behind in planning when we think about what's next for our parents or what's next for their pets who they truly love after they die.

Today, we're a society that is much more mobile than at any time in human history. All of this means that getting a good deal on an airline that doesn't punish you is harder than ever.

The main reason you want to hire an investment/wealth manager is to help you avoid investment disasters, if possible.  If you look at the research firm Dalbar, you’ll see that too many investors make the same mistakes and as a result, get a return that’s much less than the market.

Here’s a list of 7 that you should think about.

You think what happened yesterday will happen tomorrow.

All families have wealth.  For some it’s financial wealth and for others it’s values led wealth.  Still, for others there’s both and for way too many it’s none of the above.

I want you to make sure that you have family wealth and you manage it well. 

I’m lucky.  My father has done an incredible job of managing both in our family.  Through his leadership and wisdom, he’s passed lessons he’s learned to both my sister and myself and through us to our children.  Here are some of the things I’ve learned along the way:

You must talk about your values.

Way too often I hear families tell me that there were things they wished their deceased family members had told them before they die. Here are six things you need to think about and talk with your loved ones before your day comes.

If this was 1965 I might be writing a post about how to take advantage of the pension plan you have at work.  For the most part, a traditional pension plan is a thing of the past.  Today, you have to depend on what you save in your individual retirement accounts as well as thinking about the choices you have with social security.

If you’ve followed this blog for any period of time you’ve heard me rant about it’s not the investments so much as the amount you save.  Knowing how much you need to save is something you need to think about.  Another decision you’re going to have to make is when to start collecting social security.

You have more choices than you think.