Money, Happiness, & Meaning
We’ve all heard the adage, “Money can’t buy happiness,” but the truth is more nuanced. Let's dig into the research.
We’ve all heard the adage, “Money can’t buy happiness,” but the truth is more nuanced. Let's dig into the research.
“What books would you recommend?” “What podcasts do you listen to?” At Foster Group we often get asked questions like these. Here’s a short list of some recent responses from our team.
People come to terms with the fact they will one day retire. Maybe not in the next year or two but sometime in the next five. Often, it’s a reality they’ve been denying.
For most of us, it’s that time of the year when we make benefits elections for next year. These are important decisions.
“Past performance is not indicative of future results.” Most people think of investing when they hear or read the sentence above, the ultimate statement of caution. What do you think of this statement when it comes to baseball?
How Do Treasuries Lose Money? US Treasury bonds are generally regarded as safe. Sometimes they’re referred to as “risk-free” assets. This is a bit of a misnomer.
The different ways people react to and treat wealth and finances is fascinating. Although not everyone can be put in a box, there are five main personality types when it comes to psychology and wealth: Neuroticism/Emotional Stability, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Openness.
Does war in Israel mean a big market meltdown? It’s hard to escape the war news. One way to think about the future is by looking at the past for similar circumstances.
Nearly four out of ten Americans lack enough money to cover an unexpected $400 expense? The statistics on this have remained consistent over the years. One of the first steps in building a strong financial foundation is creating an emergency fund. The idea is to prepare for the unexpected expenses of life.
The IRS is allowing some people to skip their Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from inherited IRAs. If you inherited an IRA in 2020 or later, you may not need to make a distribution this year. Read for some background.
Have you ever said to yourself “If I would have just bought that stock, I would be set!” Or “How did I not see this coming? I was watching this stock years ago!” Or maybe “I should have never sold that stock!”
If you think talking about money with your spouse, parents, or children is difficult, you are not alone. Here are three tips to get started on a healthier money talk journey with your loved ones.
In our family, we have a tradition in which, the night before our kids’ birthdays, we pause for a moment to recap the last year by reminiscing about their successes and failures. It dawned on me that these are the same feelings investors experience and learn from on their financial journeys.
The beginning of the fourth quarter is a great time to check-in on your finances and make sure you consider planning opportunities before the end of the calendar year. Read this blog to see my top three priorities when it comes to fourth quarter planning.
Takeaways from a smattering of the headlines across a wide range of news sources in 2022 and early 2023.
As a financial advisor for the past 28 years, I’ve been asked about real estate hundreds of times. Every type of real estate carries pros and cons, risks and rewards.
I used to laugh at the TV commercial years ago that stated, “Most people spend more time planning their vacation than their retirement.” It’s funny how your perspective can change with time. Now, I gladly note all details of a personal trip, perhaps as a parallel of my work.
The current state of the housing market has left many puzzled. In a scenario where interest rates are soaring, one would naturally anticipate a decline in housing prices. Surprisingly, this anticipated correction has yet to occur.
I’d love to be the person who can tell you why a car squeaks when you drive it and who could fix it. But as time goes by and I haven’t developed those skills, I’m coming to grips with the fact that it probably just isn’t in my wheelhouse. It’s not that I couldn’t learn, it’s that I’d rather focus on and learn about other things. There comes a point with your personal finances when you need to decide what you’ll do and what you’ll pay someone else to do.
Insurance is one of the few things you buy which you never hope to benefit from, because that typically means something bad has happened. I encourage you to take a few minutes to confirm items that could make a massive impact on your financial situation if an accident were to happen.
We create a legacy through a long series of intentional choices. Discussing things that are more important than investment returns and account allocations, leaning into the heart of things that really matter and put together a plan to achieve those things.