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A client e-mailed me about the market, worried that he needed a parachute for that day’s free-fall.

You know I love budget consciousness, so when I saw that the Social Security Administration had suspended the mailing of Social Security Statements I was a little sad, but understanding. That’s a lot of

I talked with a client who lives and practices just outside of Joplin, MO, a city recently devastated by a tornado that destroyed the main commercial drag through town and 7000 homes on either side of it.  He told me that 22 dentists lost their practices that day. I later found out that “Of 58 dentists, at approximately 40 locations, there are 23 who had total destruction of their offices and others who have damage from the storm. As well, several doctors’ homes were completely destroyed or suffered varying degrees of damage.“ (click link to find out how you can help)

My client also shared a story of a physician’s practice that was up and running in another location by the end of that first week, thanks to his Business Interruption Insurance.  Please use this story as motivation to check your coverage, usually included on your commercial property or comprehensive insurance, to see if it is sufficient to get you through a disaster.

Two articles came out at about the same time last fall, targeting different audiences, but both highlighting “5 mistakes” people make when preparing for retirement.  It was likely a coincidence, but interesting to compare the two. The article circulated through Associated Content, and picked up by numerous consumer publications, talked about how people start saving too late, underestimate the cost of not only healthcare but retirement in general, don’t diversify enough, turn a blind eye to their investments, and find too many excuses to spend their retirement BEFORE they retire.  The other article, written for Financial Planning magazine, an industry publication for financial planners, had a slightly different perspective.  The mistakes were listed as retiring with too much debt, lack of insurance (supplemental health and long-term care), ignoring inflation, relying too heavily on one income source, and not protecting savings (moving to more conservative investments as retirement nears).

Perhaps Values-Based Cash Flow Management would be a more palatable term, but money that is not spent in line with what you truly value is wasted.