If there is a uniquely American character trait it might be this….
…our aspirations are focused on having our children routinely and comfortably exceed their parent’s level of attainment and achievement.
We commonly expect them to receive a better education…and to pursue career opportunities that were unheard of in their parent’s prime…and then to enjoy the harvest […]

Check out this latest survey on the financial aspirations of Gen X and the Millennial generation.
According to a recent online survey conducted by the Northwestern Mutual Foundation,  among the respondents age 30 and older, 60% indicated that they would need (want?) $1 million in order to retire comfortably.
Call it the democratization of wealth.
In this same […]

Is it just me, or have you noticed how stressed out your tax preparer is every new year…until the April 15th filing deadline?
I try not to add to their preparation work during those frantic early months.  Going back decades now, we always file automatic extensions on all family and business returns.  This allows us to […]

That’s about as ugly a headline I ever hope to write.
But I can’t claim authorship–credit the quote to former Colorado Democratic Governor Dick Lamm, who immortalized this phrase when he suggested that seniors (aging baby boomers…aka the pig in the demographic python) had a duty to die, so as to prevent Medicare and Social Security […]

Bet that got your attention…those are two words you hardly ever see linked together.
Much has been written about the stupendous wealth transfer underway as the aging baby boomers prepare to pass their assets to the next generation.
But there is a flip side to this sunny scenario.
What will become of those who become insolvent, whether from […]

The modern portfolio construct of asset allocation has been grievously wounded during the recent market mauling.
There was no shelter from the storm.  Virtually all asset classes declined, leaving the experts befuddled.
But there is another tool available to investors that allows them to arbitrage their way through the thicket of the tax burden…and that is asset […]

Most of the pending legislation comprising financial regulatory reform will serve no purpose other than to add to the regulatory burden facing private enterprise.
It will boost government employment, of course, but its effect on productive America will be to function as a shadow tax….something that removes capital from the private sector as it transfers to […]

Step one was making sure that your current designations on your workplace retirement savings accounts were in order.
Step two involves some more sophisticated estate planning…
…a task that takes on an entirely new dimension when you have heirs spanning one or two generations.
Start with the idea that there are two kinds of retirement accounts:

Those that […]