Life Planning

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    THE FINANCIAL OLYMPIAN™ CREED

    ByMichael

    Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Pause and take a moment, remember those men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us so that we can live and make the choices given to us by our freedom.

    The Army, National Guard, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy all have creeds. A creed is an oath or saying that provides a value structure by which to live or work by. Creeds then set the tone of life in each service. If you join one of these branches, you will need to learn its creed.

    These military creeds are learned in basic training. The creeds are learned and lived until the daily activity and actions of a United States soldier or cadet are ruled and governed by their creed. The discipline demonstrated by these women and men is worth learning for our life.

    How can you apply this?

    Be a Financial Olympian™ and live the Financial Olympian™ Creed:

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    Is Retirement Still a Reality?

    ByMichael

    Is retirement still a reality? Yes, but it’s a shifting and evolving reality.

    “Retirement” Is Outmoded:

    Traditional notions of “retirement” are outmoded. In particular, the expectation that people should want (or be forced) to stop working at age 65 no longer makes sense in a world in which people live longer, live healthier as they age, and the ratio of old to young is considerable and growing.

    Yet as longevity has increased over the past century, we’ve tacitly tacked all the added years on at the end. Apart from the undesirability of making “old age” the longest phase of one’s life, it’s unrealistic to expect that most workers will be able save enough over the course of a 40-year working life to fund a possible 30-year (or longer) retirement.

    There should be no hard boundary on where work ends and retirement begins. Instead, we need to think in terms of a new “life script” that allows for greater flexibility, time off or part time work mid-career, more opportunities for education and retraining across our life course, and “phased retirement” in which people reduce their hours, shift into less demanding roles, and so on, but not abruptly leave the workforce at some pre-set (and arbitrary) age.

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    Sticker Shock in Richardson

    ByMichael

    I officially live in a “HOT” place. No, I am not talking about August in North Texas. I am taking about the real estate in my neighborhood.

    Just like many of you, I got sticker shock when I received my 2016 Notice of Appraised Value from the Dallas County Appraisal District. Since 2013 real estate in North Texas has been rising and I have experienced it. How much is my increase?
    2013 Base year

    2014 +3.27% Increase

    2015 15.35% Increase (capped of course at “only” 10% for tax purposes)
    2016 9.22% Increase

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    How Much is Your House Worth? 2016

    ByMichael

    Which is better for you?
    Going to the Doctor when you are sick or going to the Doctor regularly for preventive checkups and maintenance?
    Just like everything else in your life it is always better to be proactive versus reactive. Being proactive in retirement means getting the most from your 401(k) plan retirement plan.
    These are my FIVE Steps for participating in and having a successful 401(k) whether you are a participant or the company administrator/fiduciary.

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    Five Top Tips for 401(k) Participants

    ByMichael

    Which is better for you?
    Going to the Doctor when you are sick or going to the Doctor regularly for preventive checkups and maintenance?
    Just like everything else in your life it is always better to be proactive versus reactive. Being proactive in retirement means getting the most from your 401(k) plan retirement plan.
    These are my FIVE Steps for participating in and having a successful 401(k) whether you are a participant or the company administrator/fiduciary.

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    Why 1% makes a difference

    ByMichael

    In our life, we spend a lot of time thinking about problems. What if we say a magic word and make them all go away? Maybe we can.

    The words aren’t like Dorothy clicking her red heels together and saying “There’s no place like home”. You don’t need Greek phrases or a special diet/pill you saw on the shopping channel to make it work, either.

    Surprise is it not a four letter word, it is worse, it’s a simple six-letter word: growth.