Anyone contemplating retiring in the next few years already has a lot on their mind—wrapping up things at work and planning the next phase of life, getting financially confident they are ready to make the leap, building a retirement income plan, and navigating the healthcare transition that comes with leaving an employer. All essential areas to address but the retirement... Read More
A couple weeks ago, a client—having just returned from sabbatical—told me she has “one more sabbatical before retirement.” Her plan, she said, is to have her “last day of Intel employment be the last day of [her] next sabbatical. “But then,” she continued, “I will probably want to work until I receive my April vesting…and then the next quarterly bonus…”... Read More
Just like when it comes to investing, in business, most of the time, success doesn't happen by following the latest and greatest fad pitched by the guru of the month. But instead, it comes by getting the fundamentals right and doing the things most people ignore. With that in mind, here are three critical financial strategies that most business owners... Read More
Investing – Simple and Complex On paper, investing is simple - invest in a broad basket of stocks and over time you’re likely to achieve positive returns (historically speaking). Who hasn’t seen this chart before? Source: Dimensional Fund Advisors However, in practice, investing gets a little more complex when things like time-frame, objectives and preferences get factored in. ... Read More
Understanding Entity Structure Most small businesses are started by those that are particularly skilled and/or passionate about providing a service or product. For many, providing this service or product is the fun part of running a business. From technology consultants to golf pros, it’s the running of the actual business that causes headaches. Under the headache category often falls the... Read More
If you’re like most business owners, you spend most of the day running your company—working with employees, customers, and trying to grow it. Then you might make time for family, friends, and maybe (hopefully!) some hobby or activity that you enjoy. However, I’m guessing time for retirement planning is pretty far down the list. And this might seem rational: it’s... Read More
Every couple of months I come across an article warning consumers of the perils of timeshares. Simply Google “Are timeshares worth it?,” and you will find dozens of articles and posts on the subject. Most of these articles detail why a timeshare is a “bad investment,” and usually the analysis is correctly assuming the purpose of the purchase is monetary... Read More
“…people always live forever when there is an annuity to be paid them,” or so says Fanny Dashwood, the step-daughter in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. She says this in persuading her husband against making annuity payments to her step mother-in-law. We never find out how the annuity would have worked out for Mrs. Dashwood, but the US government doesn’t... Read More
Whether it’s an employee of one of the many technology companies we have in Portland, a retiree, or an entrepreneur, they all want an answer to the same question: am I on track to achieve my financial goals? And like any goal, answering the question requires knowing both the objective and the starting point. What do you want to accomplish... Read More
This past weekend, I had the joy of watching the movie The Sandlot with my 7-year old daughter and 4-year old son. My joy came from my kids laughing at all the moments in the movie that I laughed at the first time I saw it 25 years ago. They particularly enjoyed this scene and learning what a “pickle” is... Read More
