Who is going to speak with Mom and Dad about driving and when is the right time to stop? Growing up on a farm in Africa we really had a lot more flexibility with many things compared to living in a city in America. My grandfather lived with us on the farm after he had retired and it was a wonderful experience – especially because he was someone who could … [Read more...]
Stop trying to make me make a decision – why can’t it be like we always had it?
December 15, 2015 by
The Holidays could be a stressful time! For those families who have worked with our Financial and College Planning services, you are aware that one of the ways that we save families money is to help students identify their strengths in order to make wise decisions on the college and career choices. In many cases, this could save an extra year or two at … [Read more...]
10 questions Parents should ask themselves early when thinking about College?
November 5, 2015 by
(For the sake of brevity, I have included 4 here and the rest will follow the next time.) The answers to these questions are different for each family and there are no right or wrong answers. Your family is unique and your needs are different from your neighbor. All we want is for the parents and the student to be on the same page so that there are no surprises … [Read more...]
College – What is my Money Strength?
October 21, 2015 by
Our main reason for helping families with the College Planning and Financial process is to identify areas that might be inefficient and to educate parents and students on how to correct that. One of the BIG areas where families end up spending $1000’s of dollars more on college is with the choices that are made with potential schools and career and major … [Read more...]
DO I KNOW WHICH METHODOLOGY MY COLLEGE USES?
October 7, 2015 by
When considering my list of colleges, it could be vital to know which methodology your choices use when working out how much financial aid they might assign to your student. There are 3 different methodologies that could be used in the Financial Aid calculation and each one has a different formula that could make or break your ability to send your student to … [Read more...]
GET READY FOR 2015 NATIONAL SAVE FOR RETIREMENT WEEK!
October 7, 2015 by
IMPORTANT TIPS TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU ARE PREPARING FOR RETIREMENT From October 19–25, take some time to look at your financial picture, think about your retirement strategy and zero in on your goals. Below are a few important tips to consider when planning for your future in retirement. ESTIMATE YOUR RETIREMENT EXPENSES Depending on your retirement … [Read more...]
Grow each year – A squash lesson for the young
August 28, 2015 by
Growing up in Africa, I started playing squash in my university days. I love the game so much that when I was younger I used to meet my friend at the courts at 5.30am - 3 mornings a week so that we could play and I could still be at work to open up my factory at 7.00am which is a common time in Africa for manufacturing facilities to start. Squash is a funny game … [Read more...]
Ten BIG mistakes that people make with retirement planning #5 and #6
July 15, 2015 by
5. Not taking inflation into account The simple definition of inflation is: The rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and, subsequently, purchasing power is falling. One of the scary things about retirement is that our dollars will have less buying power in the future, and we will need more dollars in future to purchase … [Read more...]
Ten BIG mistakes that people make with retirement planning #3 and #4
July 15, 2015 by
3. Underestimating how long we will live. Longevity risk is one of the main factors that cause concern as to whether we will have enough money to live out our lives in the kind of lifestyle that we would like to. Current life expectancy for females is 81.2 years and for men it's 76.4 years. That difference of 4.8 years could make a big difference later on. In … [Read more...]
Ten BIG mistakes that people make with retirement planning
May 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment
1. Not saving enough apart from my 401K – This one is pretty obvious, the more we save the better we will be off in Retirement. Too many people are relying ONLY on their 401K savings, but in many cases, even putting away the maximum we are allowed to into our qualified accounts will not give us enough to retire on alone. In addition, having a diversified … [Read more...]
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