By: Laura Walton AFC® The line for charitable donations is often left blank when I create a budget with a client but that’s not to say they aren’t charitable. In 2015, a Gallup World Poll asked over 150,000 people which of the following three charitable acts they had undertaken in the past month: helped a stranger, or…
By: Laura Walton AFC® With 750,000 unique visitors to his website each month, he must have a compelling message! A friend passed along an article by Nick Paumgarten featuring Mr. Money Mustache that appeared in the February 29th issue of The New Yorker – I’ll be quoting liberally from it to introduce you to Peter Adeney and his…
By: Laura Walton AFC® When I started driving, gas was 35 cents a gallon! Adjusted for inflation that’s $2.26 a gallon today. Who would have ever imagined today’s prices would be lower than that? Below are the average annual miles driven by age group according to the Department of Transportation: Age Male Female 16-19 8206…
By: Laura Walton AFC® We are told that in order to learn from experience we need frequent practice and immediate feedback. How does this play out in money decisions? Richard Thaler’s book Misbehaving gives lots of everyday examples of how we humans make illogical decisions. Traditional economists assume we are logical thinkers and have all the relevant…
By: Laura Walton AFC® This week I’m talking with seniors at the University of Hawaii at Hilo about personal finance. They have a dilemma. The median price of homes on the Big Island of Hawaii is around $350,000 but the majority of jobs won’t support the attendant mortgage payment. The disconnect means they may have…
With the recent market downturn, I bucked the trend. Instead of selling, I bought. Carl Richard’s napkin drawing from his book, The Behavior Gap, reminds us of our instincts – run the other way when things get bad. But with the discipline of a long-term investor, I chose to take Warren Buffett’s advice to “buy…
By: Laura Walton AFC® Talk is cheap and, honestly, not nearly as motivating as hearing how someone makes good financial decisions in real life. Too many professional athletes end their careers broke despite huge salaries and bonuses. Here’s a different story… Steven Kutz’s article, “Why NFL player Ryan Broyles lives like he made $60,000 last…
By: Laura Walton AFC® We recommend reviewing your finances once a year. This year they may seem more naughty than nice but that doesn’t necessarily mean a lump of coal if, indeed, you have a financial plan and you are executing it. This year’s returns have been flat at best. A client emailed recently having…
By: Laura Walton AFC® Turtle doves are up 11.5% while French hens, calling birds, geese and swans remain unchanged. Not the usual ticker tape recap but rather the 32nd annual PNC Christmas Price Index ® results! In 1984, PNC Bank’s chief economist thought it would be fun to see how much the gift items in the 12…
By: Laura Walton AFC® Move over Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Retirement dollars are on sale TODAY! With shopping top of mind this time of year, we’re alert to bargains. The Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are on consumer goods and services, things we can use and gift today. But if you can forego the…