Annuities: The Four-Letter Word of Finance
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to go headfirst into a topic that is extremely polarizing in the financial world–Annuities. In the...
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- Feb 23, 2022
- 9 min
The Next 30 Years
“Let’s play old guys versus young guys,” I said to the group. I always like to watch the younger guys’ eyes light up when I utter this...
- Dec 13, 2021
- 7 min
Money Conversations: Part 2
As I shared in Part 1, I love doing impromptu Q&A sessions during my workshops on retirement or financial planning. Just like attendees...
- Oct 7, 2021
- 42 min
Medicare: A Conversation About the Basics
Click on photo to view webinar UNEDITED Webinar Transcript: Michael Baker 01:14 Thank you for everyone that’s going to tune in and watch...
- Nov 10, 2020
- 4 min
2020 Jazz: Financial Plans Need Flexibility
Want to have a good laugh? I recently took a few moments to review my personal and investing goals for 2020. That’s right—I actually set...
- Oct 6, 2020
- 4 min
The Peril of Market Timing
The coronavirus is still very much with us, as is much of the economic dislocation created by the resulting lockdowns. An interesting...
- Sep 14, 2020
- 4 min
Process Is Paramount
Over the holiday weekend, I took up an activity that I hadn’t done in years. I worked on a jigsaw puzzle. The puzzle, a 600-piece global...
- Jun 12, 2018
- 7 min
Dear Retirement Investor, What If You’re Wrong?
Over the last several weeks, it has been a whirlwind of headlines from the financial media. Despite some very encouraging fundamentals in...
- Jan 5, 2018
- 4 min
The Time I Got a $7500 Haircut
What a finish to 2017! As unlikely as it may have seemed at times, the Republicans pushed through their tax legislation. I promised that...
- May 12, 2017
- 2 min
Can You Afford to Neglect the Details?
I recently read a book by Andy Andrews that was titled The Little Things, and if you’ve ever read Andy Andrews, you know that his style...
- Apr 19, 2017
- 6 min
The Problem With Tomorrow
I read a great article recently that was attributed to Jim Rohn, where he stated, “The problem with waiting until tomorrow—to do...
- Jan 30, 2017
- 5 min
Why is Saving for Retirement so Difficult?
In my years of experience in working with people and their finances, I have heard so many different reasons why saving for retirement is...
- Sep 9, 2016
- 4 min
Can a Financial Planning Movie Win an Academy Award?
Is it possible for financial planning themes to be at the center of a critically acclaimed film? Most would say, “Not likely.” However,...
- Jul 12, 2016
- 15 min
5 Ways to Ruin Your Retirement
A special note from 2020–There is no shortage of opinions when it comes to how to prepare and plan for retirement. While I believe that...
- Mar 10, 2016
- 5 min
How Does Credit Card Debt Destroy Your Savings?
As long as we have people writing about personal finance, we will have people writing about the destructive nature of debt. It’s one of...
- Feb 10, 2016
- 6 min
How to Stay Focused When the Stock Market Throws a Tantrum
The world of investing hasn’t been much fun since May/June of 2015. Last year, the stock market experienced its first real correction in...
- Jan 20, 2016
- 4 min
Market Worries–Some Perspective Is Needed
(Original content written Friday, January 15th to VCA clients) As I was returning from my lunch meeting today, I was weighing out the...
- Nov 23, 2015
- 9 min
Should Your Kids Inherit Your IRA?
It is often reported in the financial media that Boomers are under-saving for their retirement years, and a significant portion of...
- Oct 27, 2015
- 4 min
Are You Lost in a Sea of Information?
One of the most difficult things about the internet is the constant deluge of information. I heard it said very recently that one of the...
- Sep 24, 2015
- 4 min
Why Is Budgeting So Hard?
This is an interesting topic, and to be honest, the truth is that even I, a financial pro, hate to budget (gasp!). That’s right, I don’t...
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