Are You Feeling More Wealthy In The Time Of COVID?

Are You Feeling More Wealthy In The Time Of COVID?

COVID-19 has been devastating to Americans’ health. But it also appears to have improved their views on wealth. The Charles Schwab Corporation surveyed 1,000 Americans aged 21 to 75 to discover their perspectives on saving, spending, investing, and wealth. The survey was conducted in January (before the outbreak) and again in June. One of the…
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How Do You Become A Thought Leader?

Every week I receive numerous invitations to attend some financial conference or webinar offered by a so-called “thought leader.” Have you ever wondered how one qualifies for this particular epithet? I searched Google for the topic “How to become a thought leader” and found dozens of articles. Most talked about domain expertise, motivational skills, and…
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Two Simple Rules for Safely Managing Debt

I think it’s fair to say that we may be approaching another debt crisis in the U.S. According to the New York Federal Reserve, as of Q1 2018 credit card debt stood at $792 billion, auto loan debt at $1,188 billion, student loan debt at $1,453 billion, and mortgage debt at a whopping $8,982 billion…
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What Is Your Advisor Really Costing You?

In a recent article in Morningstar, John Rekenthaler talked about how Ameriprise and other brokerages/custodians/advisors offer funds based on how much revenue they get from the fund companies.  These so-called revenue-sharing agreements, he argues, are a way for the brokerages to hide the income they are actually earning from the advice they are providing to…
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More Financial Protection For Seniors

Since 2005 the population of individuals aged 65 and over in the U.S. increased from 36 million to over 50 million.  It’s expected to double to nearly 100 million by 2060.  When you take into account the fact that these seniors own over 75% of all financial assets (according to the Securities & Exchange Commission),…
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Personal Financial Satisfaction Near High

Some positive data about Americans’ personal finances comes to us from the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). They have been reporting a Personal Financial Satisfaction Index on a quarterly basis since 2004. In spite of its name, though, this index is not based on a survey or poll.  It is rather a calculation based on…
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