Financial Advisor | CFP® | Dad | Steelers & Penguins fan | iPhone addict |
Last week over 200 young West Virginians and I attended the Generation WV conference in Charleston, WV. The mission of GenWV is to cultivate young leaders (21-45) across the state of West Virginia. Having missed the first two editions, I was excited to attend the sessions, meet new people, and meet a few people I… [Continue Reading]
This year I am “participating” in a great fundraiser for The Mario Lemieux Foundation. I thought this was a great idea last year, but didn’t participate for one reason or another. I decided to try growing a beard this year, and so far so good! Three games into the playoffs, and I’ve already been able… [Continue Reading]
Increasing your contributions by just 1% of your pretax earnings can make a huge difference. If you’re making $50,000 a year and get paid twice a month, that’s only $20 per paycheck. “Most people can afford to forgo that amount twice a month” is what I told Darci Smith of interest.com. Continue reading the entire… [Continue Reading]
I spent the past four days meeting and networking with advisors and and industry vendors at the 2010 T3 conference at the Torrey Pines Hilton in La Jolla, CA. My initial expectations for the event were based on the lineup of sessions and vendors, but found out quickly the true conference happens outside the structured… [Continue Reading]
I’m in San Diego this week for the 2010 “Technology Tools for Today” conference at the Hilton Torrey Pines hotel. It is “the” tech event for the financial advisory industry, according to my go to tech expert, Bill Winterberg. But that’s not what I’m writing about today. (For those interested in hearing about the conference,… [Continue Reading]
I was recently quoted in a Jeff Wuorio article on Fidelity.com: With the vast majority of couples making at least some financial decisions together, an identical money mindset can pose special issues. For instance, couples who are unduly conservative with their investments may inadvertently hurt their chances of reaching long-term financial goals, such as funding… [Continue Reading]
The benefit of micropayments isn’t just in dollars in cents. “The real value is the thought process that these contributions put you into,” he says. “It’s the idea that every small decision you make today is going to add up to something more valuable: college for your children.” – is what I told Erin Peterson,… [Continue Reading]
By now you’ve probably seen more than a handful of advertisements or solicitations encouraging you to convert your Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. If you haven’t, take a moment to google Roth conversions and see how many ads and articles appear, extolling this opportunity. Why all the hype? 2010 marks the first time… [Continue Reading]
You have probably heard many predictions about the future direction of personal taxes. Dating back to the 2008 campaign, everything from income tax brackets, to the estate tax, as well as capital gains tax rates have been debated. What is often lost in the discussion, is what is scheduled to happen this year, and 2011,… [Continue Reading]
“Control your investment costs,” says Russell W. Dunkin, a certified financial planner and wealth advisor in Wheeling, West Virginia. “The last report I read implied the average mutual fund costs borne by investors was about 1.5%.” Many high quality, no-load funds come in around .5% or less. “As a 401k balance grows and more times… [Continue Reading]
Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins "welcomed back" both Jaromir Jagr and Max Talbot. Jagr has been … [Read More...]
Not too long ago I raced road bikes, and was fairly competitive. Somewhere along the line I didn’t make the time to stay in good enough shape to hang with the local Wednesday night ride, and not long after didn’t ride much at all. I stayed in decent shape by going to the gym most… [Continue Reading]
The 2011 edition of the Technology Tools for Today conference wrapped up this afternoon in sunny Weston FL. Like last year, I’ve come away with several ideas about ways our financial advisory practice can make better use of technology. For extensive coverage of T3, check out the live blog by RIA Biz. As for me,… [Continue Reading]
By now you’ve probably seen more than a handful of advertisements or solicitations encouraging you to convert your Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. If you haven’t, take a moment to google Roth conversions and see how many ads and articles appear, extolling this opportunity. Why all the hype? 2010 marks the first time… [Continue Reading]
