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…
By: Laura Walton AFC® Treat yourself this weekend to some of the best originality Tucson has to offer! Cultivate is a pop-up market featuring local designers, makers, independent shops, and artists with an additional mission of cultivating community. Built on the very timely sentiment “that authentic relationships and face-to-face connections are essential for personal and creative growth,”…
Russ Wiles, The Republic | azcentral.com | Americans pay a price for procrastinating on financial matters, but many delay anyway. Missed financial opportunities abound, whether it’s in getting a late start in retirement planning, failing to draw up a will or simply…
By: Laura Walton AFC® But you can find out what you don’t know with just a few clicks. Nearly 25,000 people from all 50 states have completed the National Financial Literacy Test – a 30 question test designed to measure participants’ ability to earn, save and grow their money. The average score to date is…
By: Laura Walton AFC® Our spending patterns are habits and habits can be powerful. One way to break them is to go cold turkey. Below is an account of a married couple who have been through the 3rd Decade™ program and decided to double down on saving, investing and paying off student debt by instituting their…