By Glenn J. Downing, MBA, CFP®
Channeling David Letterman and all those Top Ten lists. I thought it might be fun to compile one of my own. To wit:
The Top Five Mistakes People Make With Their Money
This is a list compiled after about 25 years of experience.Â
Mistake #5
You eat out way too much....
By Glenn J. Downing, MBA, CFP®
We usually understand the time value of money in two contexts: the growth rate of an investment, and the inflation rate.  Nonetheless, the TVM is a topic that should be understood by everyone serious about financial planning.
Sketch Out a Timeline
To conceptualize ...
by Jonathan G. Cameron, CFP®
By early 2015, the amount of outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. exceeded $1.2 trillion. What a staggering number! Tens of millions of young professionals carry significant student debt balances. The payments may be stiff. It can take years to pay off many of thes...
By Glenn J. Downing, MBA, CFP®
In this blog post I want to go just a little bit beyond the basics of traditional IRAs and how they work.Â
What are Traditional IRAs?
An IRA is an individual retirement account by definition, with the emphasis on individual. One IRA means one owner, so there can be ...
by Jonathan G. Cameron, CFP®
Nobody plans for a disability. In our experience, people are more willing to incorporate life insurance into their financial plan than disability insurance. Why is this? Let’s first get into the differences between disability and life insurance.
Disability Insurance vs...
By Glenn J. Downing, MBA, CFP®
I’ve been pondering this.
This Page is Intentionally Left Blank
It sort of hit me one day after having noticed This Page is Intentionally Left Blank in clients’ brokerage account statements.
Seems to me that if there’s printing on the page, it is not blank, is it? ...
by Jonathan G. Cameron, CFP®
In the previous installment of this 2-part series, I discussed how you can prepare yourself for a mortgage application in terms of your credit report and credit score. In this installment I’ll look at the criteria that lenders use when evaluating your application. Â
Wh...
by Jonathan G. Cameron, CFP®
So you’re getting ready for your first home purchase. Congratulations! This is the first in a two-part series that should be helpful to you. Your First Home Purchase Part II is all about the criteria lenders use when evaluating your application.Â
Down Payment and Qual...
by Jonathan G. Cameron, CFP®
Student loans are often top of mind for many people in the early stages of a professional career. You’ve made an investment in yourself by getting a great education, and now you’ve got to make enough money to build a life, but also to repay those loans. The main piece...
by Jonathan G. Cameron, CFP®
We’ve all seen the financial headlines:
“Sell everything and buy gold!”
“Time to take profits off the table!”
“The market is poised for a big upswing – get in now!”
“Make 16% guaranteed with tax lien certificates!”
“Buy my real estate flipping system and control yo...
By Glenn J. Downing, MBA, CFP®
As many of you know, I am a CFP® instructor with Zahn Associates and have been for many years. As I write I'm reviewing the material for General Principals of Financial Planning, which I’ll be teaching again soon. Part of that course is college funding.
In the conte...
by Glenn J. Downing, MBA, CFP®
The fundamental reason to buy life insurance is that someone else is depending upon you for a living. Plain and simple. It is risk transfer: in exchange for premium dollars, the insurance company will make a payout at your demise.
The life insurance industry is on...
