September 19th was a big day for me. It was the three-year anniversary of my buying Larry Bakerjian’s wealth management business. Not coincidentally, the 19th also marked the 21st anniversary of having fulfilled my Marine Corps duties and being honorably discharged. I mentioned having both anniversaries on the same day was not a coincidence. When […]
CHOOSING SENIOR CARE You may not be in a position to care for yourself at home one day, and making the transition to some form of daily care won’t come easy. That’s why it’s good to have this discussion now. Thoughtful selection of a care facility Dean, my friend’s father whose story I’ve been sharing […]
ESTATE PLANNING Most people would like to control how their money gets used as they get old and where they would like it to go after they pass away. Those wishes form an individual’s legacy intentions. It’s good to put them down in writing. This is Estate Planning. It’s Step 2 in planning for your […]
INVESTMENT PLANNING One day, you or someone you love may need daily living assistance or monitored medical care. Are you ready for that day? What can you do now to prepare for it? “I never would have imagined it,” says Dean, who is 84 and the father of a friend of mine. “I had a […]
It may surprise you to learn that many economists and politicians believe we should eliminate the penny and nickel from our currency. If you’re like me, you probably have fond memories tied to our smallest denominations. As a kid, I remember buying penny candy from my neighborhood Magic Mart. I appreciated the efficiency of the […]
Who is Equifax, and why are they in the news? Equifax is one of the leading consumer credit reporting agencies. Earlier this month, they announced a major loss of data. Hackers gaining access to Equifax data have left 143 million consumers vulnerable to identify theft and credit fraud. It’s hard to believe, but with this […]
If there was a Hall of Fame for rock ’n’ roll fans, Jane Comitz and her husband, Chet, would be charter members. Jane and Chet enjoy traveling, as a lot of folks do. But they don’t stop there. They travel the world not just to see the sights, but to catch musical acts. ‘We wanted […]
My wife Roxane, my son Craig and I visited Washington, DC over Memorial Day weekend. We enjoyed seeing the sites and experiencing the ambiance of the city, though we missed the cherry blossoms by a month. What a pleasure to take in the National Memorial Day Parade — an awesome display of patriotism held annually […]
It was the topic this spring that everyone talked about — except for some lawyers and bankers who generated the talk. The Panama Papers, an April 2016 leak of 11.5 million documents from a Panama-based law firm, revealed the murky world of tax havens and offshore companies and identified by name some very wealthy people […]
If you’re like me, you’ve probably received abusive phone calls from people purporting to be from the IRS, or a bank or credit card company. Abusive phone scammers call my home frequently. A very common scam, one that is going on a lot right now, is the Angry IRS Caller. They speak with a stern […]