By: Laura Walton AFC® I was sent to the principal’s office in the sixth grade – my skirt was too short. On the ride home, my mother alternated her anger between me and the school. I found that confusing but today I feel the same way about the cost of a college education. I get…
In March I went back east to visit my elderly parents. My father, now 94, one of the few remaining WWII veterans, still remembers the Great Depression. He’d never experienced a Starbucks coffee. It was time. Three small Starbucks drinks were ordered: 2 tall vanilla lattes, and 1 black coffee. As my Dad looked on,…
By: Laura Walton AFC® After my father passed away, my mother’s broker recommended she buy mutual funds that had an 8% front-end load. That meant that for every $1000, $920 was invested in the fund. This was a “suitable” investment but a no-load mutual fund would have been in her best interests. The fiduciary standard requires the…
By: Laura Walton AFC® Remember the Marshmallow Test? Are the results different if the kids are from Cameroon, a country in Central Africa, instead of the offspring of Stanford University professors? I talk about the Marshmallow Test in my presentations. Developed in the 60’s by Dr. Walter Michel, a Stanford psychologist, it tested the ability…
By: Laura Walton AFC® This is a touchy subject. In our 3rd DecadeTM program we recommend building a nest egg before tackling other life events like buying a house, getting married and having children. We’re careful to recognize that’s not everyone’s reality. I think back to a participant in one of our first classes – he and…
By: Laura Walton AFC® We track the march of time in hours, minutes and seconds without much thought. I start my workday at 8AM, head home for the evening around 5 and so on. Throughout the day I work down my “to do” list. Turns out I could, and probably should, be more scientific about…
By: Laura Walton AFC® In the budgeting world, it’s called leakage – the difference between what you think you spend and what you really spend. Leakage or spending on wants rather than needs typically takes the form of eating out, travel and just plain stuff. In the U.S., 34% of consumers say technology is their…