You can do three things with the money you make: spend it, save or invest it, or give it away. People who are wise with money tend to do all three and stick to a ratio that makes sense for their situation. The percentages you commit to each category can vary...
Starting over and beginning again contain similarities in nature, but they are different. Starting over is when we recognize we could have done things differently in previous years and are looking to improve our focus in the upcoming year. Beginning again is...
Four thousand one hundred sixty weeks. This is how many weeks you would have if you lived 80 years. I do not know how that makes you feel, but it forces me to have a new perspective on the fleeting amount of time we have on this earth. Carpe Diem! It is easy to get...
Buffer Your Budget If you were the Chief Financial Officer of a business, would you manage the company budget the same way you manage your household budget? I believe some of you would, but odds are most of you would not. I am not shaming any of you for how you handle...
Imagine for a moment that your working career is coming to an end and retirement is on the horizon. What does that look like for you? Are you going to travel to exotic destinations, live in a golf course community, spend more time with the grandkids, volunteer in...
Consider This Program with Joe Clark, CFP, and Grant Soliven. In this segment we will cover: Going into retirement, you have to have a clear picture of your standard of living. Join us as we discuss the best way to find out your true budget. Call 800-928-4001 or email...
Consider This Program with Joe Clark, CFP, and Grant Soliven. In this segment we will cover: When planning for retirement, there are certain triggers or transitions that can push you closer to making a decision to leave the workforce. It is important to have a strong...
Consider This Program with Joe Clark, CFP and Jamie Burton. In this segment we will cover: Practice makes perfect! Your budget will address defining your standard of living in retirement, but what do you need to consider when creating one? Call 800-928-4001 or email...
Any journey begins with a single step. Those words are particularly applicable to the retirement planning process. Unless we inherit wealth, most of us begin the retirement savings journey with a very modest sum. Although the terms “saving” and “investing” are often...
That may sound like a small fortune or an amount you have already surpassed. Regardless, a sound retirement is the combined management of your budget, tax bracket, volatility of your investment account, Social Security timing, inflation, changing needs and life...
One of many benefits of being a speaker, radio host and columnist is access to great and unique thinkers. The 31 years in the financial planning profession has allowed me to discuss many concepts regarding your finances that I have agreed with, implemented and others...
Vacation season is upon us. We received a question last week regarding saving for a vacation, and it is one worth discussing. Can you use your Roth IRA for vacation expenses? The Roth option can be very confusing. The Roth concept, named after Senator Richard Roth,...
It can be hard to admit a mistake or a problem to others, especially if you feel bad about your choice or believe you will face judgment. Embarrassment, regret, and a host of other emotions can spur decisions in the moment that we want to forget about in the future....
Life is a series of conundrums. Families move from wondering how to make ends meet today, and save for the future. They accumulate and preserve and one day realize they have no idea how they accumulated so much in their retirement accounts. Next, the third stage of...
Welcome to this week's Consider This with Big Joe Clark radio show, hosted by Joe Clark, CFP. This episode originally aired on December 8, 2018. To find our podcast, check out Consider This Program. In this episode you will find information about: Mutual Funds, Tax...
The previous generation grew up with the dream of getting accepted to their preferred university. Today the dream seems to be coming out of school without the crushing debt load that stifles post-collegiate life. According to Student Loan Hero, we now have 44.2...
Welcome to this week's Consider This with Big Joe Clark radio show, hosted by Joe Clark, CFP. This episode originally aired on June 9, 2018. To find our podcast, check out Consider This Program. In this episode you will find information about: Marrying Young, Debt vs....
In the interest of honesty and fairness, know that I wish I had written this post 13 years ago when building a home – or read it from someone else who had. Surely, there are plenty who had, but it wasn’t anything that hit my radar or went looking for. I say these...
Spring is here and house shopping is underway. Exciting, anxious and traumatic are a few emotions for the first-time homebuyer. There are expectations and requirements well as acronyms and terms that are brand new to our vocabulary. There are ARM’s, fixed and...
Finally it’s spring time and we can soon begin opening the windows and enjoying the sunshine. So often we spend the winter months tucked away indoors trying to stay warm by the fire and hoping it doesn’t snow enough to require the shovel to be taken from the garage,...
Financial literacy covers two primary considerations: knowledge of how various investment products work and when to utilize them. My personal “Why” as defined by noted author Simon Sinek, is to educate people about their finances so they don’t make inefficient...
Well it’s that time again, where many people sit down and decide which New Year’s resolution they will set as the clock strikes midnight to bring us into 2018. According to Google search data pulled by iQuanti, getting healthy and organized are the two most searched...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] National Home Ownership Month may have been in June, but housing is a perennial topic of interest. For most of us, our...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Bringing two lives together to form one family unit is an exciting time. The joining of things, beliefs and money...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Religion, politics, and money. As children, many of us grew up believing that these topics were taboo – or at least...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] There are those peaceful moments in life - early summer, sitting on the porch swing with your Labrador lying in the...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Fiction writers use words to convey a story. If they are skilled, the words used can draw us into the events so much...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Welcome to 2017. Most likely, you’ve set some goals for the year ahead, including financial objectives. Now it’s time...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Okay, why read this blog about buying a car from a Financial Advisor? Well I have seen a fair number of sunsets in my...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] When you think of insurance the first things to pop in your head are probably, life, health, homeowners and auto...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] The feeling of owning a home free and clear of debt is a milestone many people treasure. Naturally, retirees often...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] A major shift is taking place in the credit card world. On October 1, retailers were required to accept chip-equipped...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] June may be National Homeownership Month, but housing is a perennial topic of interest. For most of us, our home is...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Kids are starting to longingly look out the windows of their classrooms as the grass becomes green again and the...
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4" offset="vc_hidden-xs"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="sidebar-main"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Waking up early and heading to the gym is tough. But once the workout is over, the payoff is often a tremendous energy...