By: Laura Walton AFC® We tend to copy those around us either consciously or subconsciously. If you yawn, I yawn. I find myself crossing my arms when talking to someone whose arms are crossed. This instinct can even affect our decision making. If I don’t have enough information to make a decision on my own,…
By: Laura Walton AFC® People are calling Jerry Schlichter, a consumer rights lawyer in St. Louis, the 401k Lone Ranger. He’s successfully sued several large employers for mishandling their 401k plans; Boeing is his current target. When I heard the story on NPR, it was the 28% difference that really got my attention. Schlichter said,…
By: Laura Walton AFC® has fallen 10% in the last week as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The news is better this morning; the market opened up 300+ points. This is what we should expect from the market – volatility – but volatility can be hard to watch when it affects your investments.…
By: Laura Walton AFC® James Montier, a respected global economist, took a break from the world of finance to look at happiness. He condensed the results of his study of studies into a list of ten ways to improve happiness… They are, in no particular order… 1) Don’t equate happiness with money. People adapt to income…
By: Laura Walton AFC® The headline: “A 308-pound NFL player explains why he drives a comically small used car that cost him $9000”. We’ve heard the stories of pro-players who, despite huge signing bonuses and salaries, go broke in short order once their career ends…this photo tells the anti-story. John Urschel is an unusual guy…
By: Laura Walton AFC® Why do successful people and organizations sometimes fail and what does that have to do with financial success? Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, discussed what drives us from success to failure in his Harvard Business Review blog. His concepts apply equally to our financial lives and suggest ways to stay…
By: Laura Walton AFC® to arrest you. You owe back taxes. You can avoid arrest by paying what you owe immediately. How soon can you get to a bank?” This is the gist of phone calls received recently by several Tucsonans. We all know that scam artists exist and even thrive but when you get…
By: Laura Walton AFC® That’s a disconnect! The headline, “Shoppers buy more junk food when they bring their own bags,” drew me in but the last sentence really got my attention: “If food waste were a country, it’d be the third-largest greenhouse-gas emitter on the planet, after China and the U.S.” This article appeared in The…
By: Laura Walton AFC® When offered a good job in a tough job market, your first reaction is probably to say “Yes, I accept!” In my first couple of jobs, benefits were the last thing on my mind. But today, in hindsight, I can see that benefits might have been nearly as important as my…
The more classes we teach, the more questions we get on when and how to best use Roth IRAs. Questions also include the recently instituted Roth 401(k) that many businesses have started offering in the last two years. The purpose of this week’s blog will be to try and simplify not only what these Roth…