If You Could Time Your Last Dollar with Your Last Breath
I often suggest that good financial planning means we die with money left over. Conversely, that must mean that bad financial planning means we run out of money before we die. Of course, omitted from this binary look at the topic is the possibility that you’ll spend your last dollar as your last breath exists your body. Wouldn’t that be …
Shortened Workweek
If you worked one less day per week at your paid job, what would you do with your time? This can be a fun exercise, but it can also feel like asking you what you’d do if you won the lottery. You imagine all of the wonderful things you’d buy and become caught up in that fantasy only to snap …
ERG Team Building
As the first quarter of 2022 came to a close, the teams at Elevated Retirement Group and Elevated Capital Advisors spent an afternoon out of the office to recharge the batteries and engage in some good old-fashioned team building at Top Golf. Of course, the team building quickly turned into a competitive event with everyone trying to prove their golf …
Financial Finish Lines and Mile-Markers
The Boston Marathon is an event where otherwise normal people travel great distances, at great expense, to punish themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally for 26.2 uninterrupted miles, sometimes in the rain. The very nature of a marathon race really does beg the question, “Why?” In fact, I asked a marathon runner this question years ago, “Why would you choose to …
Does Cash Buy Happiness?
There have been a number of recent studies completed to determine what makes us happy. In several studies, it was concluded that quality relationships are most important in determining levels of happiness. Other studies looked at the effect of money on happiness. In fact, research by the Nobel laureate psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman showed that money increases happiness until about …
Briefcase Study: How Low Can You Go?
Reduced Stress Through Rehearsed Austerity A recent client review meeting reminded me that money can be stressful. This is a statement so obvious that it seems silly to write it out, but there it is. It can stress me out, and I’ll bet you feel it from time-to-time as well. While I won’t suggest that money’s emotional and intellectual burdens …
Back to the Basics: Inflation’s Effects on Your Retirement
The headlines are screaming, and the data is real: inflation is on the rise. In fact, we’re seeing higher rates of inflation now than we’ve seen in 40 years. Prices are going up and that can be a very scary reality for retirees. But how does that actually impact you? If you’re retired now or planning to retire soon, what …
Sport-Tuned Suspension
For years I’ve had an old truck, a 1975 Ford Bronco to be really specific. And if you’re a car person, you may have noticed that classic car values have been skyrocketing of late. Well, as charming as my simple old truck is, I decided to take this opportunity to make some pretty substantial updates to the Bronco, which are …
If You Knew, Would You Act Differently?
If you want to see my heart break, tell me a story about a family ripped apart by money quarrels. I just cannot stand to think that relationships once valued were severed by a disagreement over financial matters. I’m actually sick to my stomach having just written those two sentences. It just seems unnecessary, but it happens all the time. …
Sum It Up In Just A Few Words
Sometimes we overcomplicate things. And by ‘we’ I mean ME. Here’s an example. When we redesigned our website not that long ago, I thought it turned out really well. With lots of neat things to read and places to click, I thought we’d given readers of the site plenty to do to help them understand if we’re a good fit …
