As you have most likely heard by now, on September 7th Equifax – one of the ‘Big Three’ credit bureaus in the United States – admitted that its own lax security practices had allowed hackers to steal the personal identities of 143 million US citizens.   From mid-May through July, hackers exploited a US website application vulnerability to steal people’s names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and, in some cases, driver’s licenses numbers.   They also stole credit card numbers for … Continue reading

How do you replace your work paycheck? How can you make sure that your monthly income keeps up with inflation over the next 20-35 years or more? Many people want principal protection and income predictability. And nobody wants to OUTLIVE their money. Pensions, Social Security and certain guaranteed lifetime income annuities can provide the CORE income base. So income from your “market risk” investments must make up the rest. Investment returns can play a large part of how long your … Continue reading

Pablo Picasso said something to the effect that “the meaning of life is to find your gift… and the purpose of life is to share it with others”.  Norma heard writer/speaker Roy Spence speak at her company’s conference and she shared the basic message with me. It made a great impression on me so I did a little more research on his philosophy.   I only wish someone had shared this mindset with me 30 years ago. And then I thought I would share my take on … Continue reading

I know most of you reading this BLOG post are not paying $20,000 – $50,000 or much more a year (for the rest of your lives) for a life insurance death benefit to protect your loved ones (perhaps a Special Needs child) or to fund estate taxes. I mostly made this video for CPAs and laywers… …. But I don’t have any idea WHO in your family or circle of friends may be committed to paying a lifetime of premiums and want to explore if there was a way they could … Continue reading

The Social Security Administration has made a small change in accessing your account online. Beginning June 10, 2017 the SSA will offer two methods to check the identification of Social Security account holders. In order to ensure better protection for the consumer, the account holder will need a “one-time code” to log into the system. They will require that you enter a personal “code” that will either be texted to your cell phone or emailed to your preferred email address. Originally, there … Continue reading