Financial Clarity Blog

As a parent and a financial advisor, I feel a duty and obligation to teach my kids about money. It will be embarrassing for me if my kids aren't knowledgeable about money and finances by the time they are adults. Many of you are probably curious to learn effective ways to teach your kids about money as well. We all want our kids to grow up to be successful adults who make smart decisions, financial and otherwise. Today, we will walk through 11 ways to teach your kids about money so you can get them started on the right foot.

Longevity planning and Long-Term Care planning are an integral part of a solid financial plan, especially for LGBT families. But you have to trust that the advisor you work with will help you find, what you want, what you need, what you can afford, and what you can get approved. They also need to give you options if you cannot get the type of coverage you want or need. It is helpful to work with someone who is an expert in working with someone like you.

An important aspect of financial planning is risk management. How we manage the financial risks that could affect us could mean the difference between achieving financial independence or not. When planning for your financial goals, consider what risks could hinder your ability to achieve those goals? What can you do to either mitigate them? Today we will discuss what financial risk is, why it arises, and how managing risks can impact your financial future.

Predictions date back to the beginning of time. As hunters and gatherers, we had to predict several things. We could catch dinner, the best method for detecting it, and what the weather would be like to plan accordingly. We had to predict where predators may attack from and the best defense strategy in case we get attacked. Making short-term predictions is built into our DNA as a form of survival. However, we as humans and the world around us has evolved. The same predictions that kept us alive for thousands of years don't always apply to personal finance and investing rules.

It may make you happy now, spending money on the things you want today, but you will be miserable later when you realize you cannot achieve the real things you want in life. Or you can make some sacrifices now, knowing you will be happy and satisfied for the rest of your life.

October is National Financial Planning Month, so it's fitting we write about the benefits of financial planning! I define financial planning as the ongoing practice of creating and updating a strategy to achieve your goals. It's not a one-time thing. It's a continuous habit or routine. No different than regular car maintenance or dental care. Have periodic checkups with regular care in between.

One of the most overlooked components of financial planning is income protection. Income is the linchpin that holds your entire financial world together. Unless you are independently wealthy and don’t need to work anymore, you probably rely pretty heavily on your earnings. If this is the case, you should probably do everything in your power to ensure your income continues to flow, even if you are unable to work.

Ask any entrepreneur what it was like in the early years. They will tell you stories about working 16 hour days, not seeing a consistent paycheck (even not seeing any compensation some months), and walking uphill in the snow both to and from work. The majority of new businesses fail within the first five years. The ones that make it have to fight an uphill battle to establish themselves. The same goes for financial advisors. Only about ten percent of people who start a financial advising career make it past five years (we have a much better record than that at Finity, knock on wood). Starting a business and succeeding is hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it. When I started this career, I laid out a mental game plan for myself. If I wanted to be my own boss and take vacations whenever I want to without requesting time off, I was going to have to put in the work. My plan was as follows:

Most people fear the unknown. For many of our clients, financial topics are a huge question mark in their lives, and getting the help they need is scary. There’s fear that they’re going to ask the wrong person and get the wrong answer, but there is also fear that someone will try to take advantage of them. The financial services industry doesn’t always have the rosiest reputation. There have been many well-intentioned laws passed in the last few years to protect consumers, but I think the pages of disclosures it takes to comply with those laws can sometimes make things even more confusing. The last thing we want is for people to not get the advice they need, because of fear.

A common question we will get from young professionals is whether or not they should refinance student loans. Over the last several years, with interest rates as low as they are and many people carrying student loans with interest rates above six or seven percent, a number of companies have entered the student loan refinancing game.