My money has value because I have values my money helps me achieve. In this season of New Year’s resolutions and old year evaluations, treat your imagination with the question: What’s the money for?
As we kept our spending frugal we gained enough margin to start businesses and employ people. And as employees find their area of genius, they help others through their productive work.
Q: I would like to see a portion of my investments make a difference in the world. Can you suggest an approach to socially responsible investing?
I realized that compounding was an awesome concept. Today those initially piddling amounts have grown to provide an enviable cash flow that allows me to live well and give to worthy causes.
One of my favorite things I’ve been able to do with money was something I did after finishing school, moving, and getting my first full-time job. I was out on my own, and I wanted to do something extra once I was independent.
New rules go into effect January 1, 2012 which change the way you need to compute the cost basis for mutual funds if you use average cost accounting. We recommend you change the method you use to something which allows better tax management.
Financial resolutions usually don’t even last until the end of January. Making a permanent change in our behavior requires both time and a steely resolve. We can only develop financial character one action at a time. Here are seven practices to take you from pauper to prince or princess if you add one each year.
When our children were young, we decided to budget for memory making. Birthdays, holiday celebrations and family vacations became our primary memory making tools. We invested in birthdays.
What is my favorite thing I’ve done with money? Feed others.
I recently established the “Moving Forward On Your Own,” charitable gift fund, which benefits widows and their families.
Q: I received a letter from a nonprofit organization to which I regularly donate suggesting I may be eligible for state tax credits. Can you please explain what this means?
“One of the young men was leaving for Afghanistan the next day.”
David John Marotta was featured on WINA 1070’s Rob Schilling Show on December 14, 2011. The topic was the high cost of regulation, leaning libertarian, and the roots of David’s leaning libertarian.
Other than Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens’s story “A Christmas Carol,” Tiny Tim is certainly the most memorable character. Dickens used the boy in the story to soften the hearts of both Scrooge and his readers toward the worthy poor.
An article by David John Marotta on how to glean information from your IRS 1040 tax return was featured in the latest Nov/Dec 2011 issue of NAPFA Planning Perspectives.
George Marotta, also known as “Papa” to me, is quite a fount of wisdom and knowledge. In this post, I give you Papa Marotta and a little bit of wisdom I managed to get him to share on grandchildren.
I can’t control the markets, but I can focus on what is important.
Q: We plan to use appreciated stock for charitable giving and are looking into using a Schwab Charitable Fund. Do you have any feedback on this strategy?
We’ve made contributing to microfinance a part of our annual charitable giving and in lieu of gifts to one another.
The best money decision I have made is purchasing the property I use for my business. The advantages are far greater than those of owning vs. renting a home.
To interest me, a game must have a simple but thought-provoking premise that allows for deep strategy. I’d never played Farmville but decided to recently because the parent company, Zynga, is going public this Thursday, December 15, 2011.
The “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (PPACA), is misleadingly named. It has neither protected patients nor made healthcare more affordable.
With impulses reeling, it is easy to find a gift that children will appreciate but difficult to find one that they will love to have. The gifts that I loved to have and the presents that I still cherish are the vocational gifts that my parents purchased for me.
“Sleeping well at night knowing our household is 100% debt free is truly priceless.” – Manisha Thakor, personal finance expert & author.
Q: I inherited shares of five stocks from my parents, who died many years ago. I am now 70 years old and would like to gift them to my grandchildren. How do you recommend I do this?
“Sunrises in my rocking chair, sipping coffee and watching the fog unveil each day.”
True life planning begins when you realize you are unique. There will never be another you in the history of the universe. Your calling is yours alone. Understanding yourself is the first step in managing your financial affairs to support your life plan.
Fun has no price tag and cannot simply be ordered online plus $3.99 shipping and handling. It’s true that money can enable experience but it cannot replace it. There is an art to having fun and it needs to be taught.
Even though money was tight, having margin in our budget for unknown unknowns kept us from punishing a student simply because they lacked experience bidding painting jobs.
Just a few weeks ago, my wife and I were going to join a diverse group of friends for dinner. My wife said we would bring dessert but on the day of the event, there was no time for baking.
Perhaps one of the most important parts of wealth management is learning what questions are worth asking.