AJC Article: How Gas Prices and Housing are Impacting Your Wallet
What do your personal finances have in common with the U.S. economy? Both are heavily impacted by energy costs and home prices. In recent years housing and energy have taken their toll. Rising gasoline and heating/cooling costs have gobbled up family income while a depressed housing market erased family wealth and left Americans feeling uncertain […]
AJC Article: The rising cost of health care
My health insurance company recently dropped me a line to say that Piedmont Hospital – the source of most of my family’s medical care — may be dropped as an in-network provider. An unsettling way to start the New Year. I’m told that Piedmont and my insurer might still come to terms before the contract […]
The Benchmarking Dilemma
This world seems to be one where benchmarking is routine. We always want to know where we stand relative to others or where our team ranks or how well a school’s education is ranked relative to its peers. Benchmarking gives us a basis for making decisions and this isn’t any different in the world of […]
AJC Article: The Generational Divides
I recently finished the first draft of my new book, which was heavily influenced by a national survey I did on the behavior of retirees. The data was extremely enlightening and got me thinking about the amazing diversity of the population that makes up our nation. By most measures, the US population can be neatly […]
What Lies Ahead? CIA’s Financial Outlook for 2014
What Lies Ahead? Here’s our outlook for what to expect now that we’ve wrapped up 2013 and are heading into 2014. One for the Record Books: Looking back to 1970, the return for the Dow Jones last year was the 5th best annual return. If we look at the top 10 on this list, in […]
5 Financial Apps for 2014
Our team recently did an informal survey of our Facebook Fans on Money Matters to determine some of the top financial websites and mobile apps that consumers are using when it comes to financial planning, investing, and advice. Based on the list, here’s ten of the apps that seemed to resonated well. 1. Mint: Mint […]
AJC Article: Financial Resolutions for 2014
I recently completed a project designed to identify the secrets of successful retirees. We surveyed more than 1350 people in 46 states to determine the financial, investment, and consumer habits of “happy” vs. “unhappy” retirees and near-retirees. This project turned into a book called You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think – The 5 Money […]
The Ticket Price Taper
Who doesn’t love to see their favorite teams play in the biggest games for the respective sports? Whether it’s the Super Bowl, World Series, BCS Championship or the Final Four, as sports fans we always dream to watch our teams in these games. However, ticket prices tend to be a deterrent for us to be […]
Investing Lessons from College Football
In the South, many people are obsessed with college football and sometimes to the extent of ridiculousness, but it is a way of life down here and rarely do fans care about how they are viewed because of their passion for the game. The lessons that are learned in college football tend to be life […]
Thanksgiving Rendition
We spend a lot of time discussing the markets, the economy and how certain global events may impact all of these… and we do this because it is our job! This week is always special; it’s one of my favorite holidays and tends to be very meaningful to many other individuals. So, instead of breaking […]