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For the second straight week, a winning Lottery ticket was sold in a Publix in the Jacksonville area. Although the recent prize is “only” about $36 Million (significantly less than the prior week’s $1.5+ Billion), congrats to our winners. The two winners are classic examples of Sudden Wealth. Every day, a few Americans of various […]

Summer 2023 is over for most people, and year-end is looming for Financial Planners. Topics we address during the final months of each year include Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from Retirement Plans, establishing new Retirement Plans for individuals and small companies, Roth Conversion Planning, and (non-CPA) tax planning. Less likely to be on the Planning […]

For Americans, the likely most familiar reference to Malta is from the 1941 movie, the Maltese Falcon. This fictitious tale of a stolen bejeweled statue was custom made for a classic mystery thriller in black and white. The story, from the imagination of Dashiell Hammett, featured his famous gumshoe character, Sam Spade. Today, Malta is […]

Comprehensive personal financial planning begins with just plain getting organized. The best way to start is to prepare a Personal Net Worth Statement. Conceptually, that is as simple as listing all your assets, and subtracting from that total all your liabilities (debts). This produces a snapshot of your financial position at one point in time, […]

In 2019, on the Van Wie Financial Hour radio program, we reported on a spreading phenomenon known as “FIRE,” for “Financial Independence Retire Early.” In cultlike-like instructional guides, FIRE proponents attempt to entice people into a utopian world of carefree decades of cushy retired life, beginning in early or middle-age. To me, this is a […]

Last week we chronicled the evolution of investment portfolio diversification, from individual stock buying to Mutual Funds, and more recently, into Exchange-Traded Funds, or ETFs. Conceptualized in 1989, by 2003 there were 276 publicly-available ETF offerings. As investor acceptance broadened, new funds were launched by both existing and startup financial services companies. As of February, […]

Defining success in saving and investing is challenging; setting realistic goals is critical. Aiming too high requires excessive risk, increasing chances of failure. Seeking low, but stable, returns results in sure and steady loss of real value, as inflation and taxes punish already meager growth and income. Beating inflation over time should be a primary […]

Achieving eventual Financial Independence requires more than diligent saving habits. Once contributed, retirement dollars must be deployed into investments that are likely to grow over time while experiencing a level of volatility acceptable to the investor. On the low-risk extreme of investments are Money Market Funds and CDs, which earn interest at a rate that […]

My first “real” job was exciting and challenging, with a steady paycheck previously unknown to this student. Fringe benefits presented another entirely new, and decidedly welcome, concept. However, mandatory and optional payroll deductions depleted an otherwise impressive gross earnings amount to an underwhelming “take-home” remainder. From there, monthly obligations further challenged those limited resources. Fear […]