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Retirement and financial independence are two terms that are often used interchangeably. However, they have different meanings and implications for your financial future. In this article, we'll explore the differences between the two concepts.

Amid the bad news piling up from COVID-19, one positive development emerged on March 13th; interest on federal student loans would be waived until further notice. 

Markets crash all the time. You should, at minimum, expect stocks to fall at least 10% once a year, 20% once every few years, 30% or more once or twice a decade, and 50% or more once or twice during your lifetime. Those who don't understand this will eventually learn it the hard way.

Someone emailed me last week asking why this is:

You've probably heard of an alpha wolf, but what about an alpha manager? This is the kind of financial adviser that everyone planning an estate should be working with.

Being realistic about investment performance will help you stay on track.

In an ideal world, would you prefer your investments to perform worse than expected, as expected, or better than expected?

I suspect, for both the short and the long term, you’d prefer them to do better than expected.

Managing finances properly is mainly common sense. While we’ve all made financial mistakes, most of those mistakes are easily rectified, particularly when promptly corrected. However, there are some financial decisions that can be much harder to recover from. Here are just a few of them:

The results of research which studies investor behavior and analyzes investor market returns, consistently shows that the average investor earns below-average returns.

For the twenty years ending 12/31/2015, the S&P 500 Index averaged 9.85% a year. A pretty attractive historical return. The average equity fund investor earned a market return of only 5.19%.

 A post-secondary degree is proving more and more beneficial to earn a foothold in the workforce. There are many ways parents can tackle the daunting task of raising a child and then helping them with higher education costs. Contact a CFP® Professional TODAY for help in creating a financial plan that draws a roadmap for accomplishing all of your financial goals!

Being financially savvy will mean different things to different people. But a common trait that the money-smart share is an affinity for long term financial planning and goals.

Those who are great at it don’t have to make huge sacrifices, but still manage to enjoy a high standard of living while traveling and pursuing a range of hobbies.