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A Christmas Gift for the Ages

Not all Christmas gifts are created equal. Sure, it’s great to give gifts to light up your child or grandchild’s face when they rip off the wrapping paper, but what about giving something for their future? Two of my three kids have…

Holding Colleges Accountable

This wonderful article is written by Brian Wesbury, a terrific local economist at First Trust Advisors, L.P. It's time to think about something other than COVID, statues, the election, and defunding the police. How about higher education? Specifically,…
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How You Can Succeed Like a Pro in 2020

I thought you may be interested to know how an experienced (25-years) financial planning professional goes about planning for financial success in the New Year. MY GOAL - Live a balanced lifestyle, enjoying life today while saving for an uncertain…
retirement and college planning
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Can You Afford College & Retirement?

The real cost of college for many parents is they won't have nearly enough money to be financially independent when they would like to be. They may have had plenty if they didn't give hundreds of thousands of dollars to their kid's college(s). AS…
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How I Raised My Kids to be Financially Successful at Their Expense

      Did you raise your kids to be prudent spenders and good savers of money? After a slow start, I turned it around and can see the changes in my kids. It's not too late for you to do the same for your kids. It's much easier…
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The Myth of Compound Interest

Many people have heard the phrase "compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world"! Wrong, for most people with little money saved up (most people have less than $10,000 saved for retirement), compound interest is basically worthless. You…
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The Student Debt Crisis! Big Educational Loans

Will You Ever Get Out of Educational Debt? College student loans are growing daily and have now surpassed credit card debt by $600 billion. Watching the movie The Big Short  made many viewers wonder... Why didn't more people know…
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Our Story

My wife, Soni, and I celebrated 23 years of marriage recently and I thought I would share what some of the key financial decisions we made along the way and the impact they had on our family. The themes are consistent: Figure out what is…
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It's Never Too Early

The Time Value of Money is the oldest, wisest concept ever created for investors. Wait until you see what you could create by saving less than $7 a day toward college for an unborn baby! The real power of this concept comes from rate of return…
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Is College Worth it Today? An Alternative Idea

When I went to college ( U. Of  Iowa) the out-of-state cost was around $5,000.  Four years and $20,000 or so later I and was done (thanks again mom and dad for paying). My first salaried job paid me $19,500, or almost the equivalent of what…
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Father/Son Journey Continues

Yes, I am living vicariously through my son, Jake's, youth baseball career.  It's been a fun, interesting, and at times an exasperating experience so far.  Did I mention, expensive? We just spent the past five days in Ft. Myers as he traveled…
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You're Not Alone - Who Can Afford College Today? College Calculator

College costs for kids today are ridiculous and unaffordable for most people. We are in this together.  I have three children ages 14,13 and 11 that are planning on attending four-year colleges as of now.  The future costs could be close…