Blog Posts

By: Marc C. Shaffer

It is easy to stray from basic, solid principles of finance. These remain true no matter what your age or circumstances. To make it easy, here are seven keys to fulfilling your financial vision of a steady tomorrow.
Consider each one closely. They should be ingrained in your brain. You need to continually read and practice them.

1. Pay yourself first. Make saving for your future a first priority, which you put before your other financial obligations. Put away as much as you can, and try to save at least 10% of your annual income (total, not take-home). Depending on your obligations, you may be able to save more or less. The more you save, the more wealth you create – but something is better than nothing.

By: Marc C. Shaffer

Happy, financially successful people set out concrete goals and work to achieve them. To start spending your time and money on things that really matter to you, create written goals based around what you value in life. To ensure that you won't stray from your objectives, it is important to write them down.

Why are goals important?

1. They provide us with purpose and direction.

2. They help us convert our thoughts into concrete actions.

By: Michael J. Searcy

Some of the most important financial issues in our lives are never addressed because they feel too overwhelming to tackle. Our brains revert to thinking if we could just devote one day, one week, one month to accomplishing a task, it would instantly be complete. Because that thought process can set us up for failure, training our thoughts to work in a new process can be the advantage we need to accomplish our financial goals. By understanding that each small step is an accomplishment, we can focus on the overall picture. When it comes to being prepared and financially secure, even the slightest edge can set us far above the crowd. Here are some common issues and tips for achieving that slight edge:

By: Michael J. Searcy

You've already hit three home runs for the season—sounds like a great record right? Well, that depends. Are you playing Little League ball, or batting in the major leagues? The truth is, numbers can tell whatever story you want them to tell if they're not being measured against appropriate comparative benchmarks.

Benchmarks—statistical measures of, among other things, inputs, outputs and performance. They're one of the best indicators of how well your financial portfolio is performing against the market, but many investors are often confused by the numbers. Some financial professionals are quick to promote their performance numbers against well-known indicators like the S&P 500 index or the Dow Jones Industrial Average, especially when their numbers far out-perform the standard. However, oftentimes you'll find these quoted benchmarks have little similarity to the allocation of your portfolio.

By: Michael J. Searcy

When working with caregivers to dependents with special needs, I hear over and over, "The information is available, but making sense of everything is overwhelming!" Caregivers want to keep the hope that their dependent will become a highly functioning individual, so the wait-and-see approach often wins over diving into the details and worrying over creating a long-term plan. On top of the multitude of health concerns caregivers face, the thought of creating lifetime financial assistance for their dependents can be a challenging responsibility that can get pushed to the backburner. While rushing decisions may not be in the best interest of a caregiver, there are steps to be taken that provide a solid start toward preparing for the future.