I read an article this morning in The Fiscal Times that said 59% of Americans surveyed by Gallup were worried about the sufficiency of their retirement savings.  Disappearing pension plans and concerns for Social Security have forced a reliance on 401(k)’s, IRA’s and personal savings for retirement security.  This thrusts the investment risk on to…

When I started my job at Legacy Trust, they provided me what I would call a welcome packet.  It talked about the values of the company, its history and culture as well as the expectations of its employees.  The welcome packet is very important because it helps to give me direction on how I present…

The baby boomer generation defies any simple description, except to say that it includes the massive number of people born after World War II, between 1946 and 1964, about 25% of the U.S. total population.  As the “boomers” have passed through each stage of life, this demographic juggernaut has had a profound effect on nearly…

More than five years later, the 2008 global financial crisis continues to have long-lasting consequences. One unsurprising side effect of the crisis is that it has led to increased public cynicism about our economic and political institutions, and about the financial services industry as a whole. The CFA Institute, a group of global leaders that…

My wife Deborah and I are the parents of a special needs child.  Lillian, our only child, was born with significant physical and mental limitations and we have devoted our lives to assuring she is provided the highest quality of care and given all the opportunity to maximize her potential. Lillian turned eighteen last fall,…

On my drive back home the other day I was listening to NPR’s Marketplace.  They had a segment titled “When the IRS ‘likes’ your Facebook update.” The segment talked about how the agency is using sophisticated algorithms to mine for data about what you are posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and other social media…

During “tax season”, I spend a lot of time talking with clients and tax preparers about, as you might expect, income taxes.  This often includes strategizing about how to reduce them in the future, or simply helping to collect the volumes of detailed information necessary to prepare a tax return.  Invariably, comments abound about the…

When I was nine or ten years old, my grandfather taught me how to play poker.  He brought out his loose change jar and counted out twenty five pennies for each of us, and walked me through a simple game of five-card draw.  I enjoyed learning the hierarchy of winning hands, and the strategy of…

Planning for retirement is something that most people put off until it is too late to have much impact. The unfortunate fact is that most of us will spend more time planning one vacation than we’ll spend on retirement planning in a lifetime. However, the disappearance of traditional pension plans, increasing medical costs, uncertainty about…

I was interviewed by Pete Daly of the Grand Rapids Business Journal on the pressing topic of managing Social Security. You can read my thoughts and the entire article here. www.grbj.com/articles/79304-managing-social-security-and-your-lottery-jackpot