The Abbreviation That Won’t Go Away Brexit! It stands for British Exit from the European Union (EU) which is due to happen on October 31, 2019. Well, it’s really been back in the news lately. But why, and what’s the big deal? As you know, I am an economist, so Brexit has particular intrigue to me. But, more importantly, as a financial planner, I believe it holds significant weight and importance in how it may impact the stock market, […]

  At SGL, we find that our clients, like most Americans, are trying to do their best with the money they have. They have various goals including: saving for or surviving retirement, dealing with home ownership (taxes, maintenance, downsizing, etc.), or paying down debt. Pitting those goals against the realities of jobs that don’t pay enough, inadequate retirement savings, rising health care costs, our predilection for wants vs. needs, etc., too many people fall prey to the old saying, “there’s more […]

  Knowing what risks you face can be important in every aspect of life. You know, for example, that when driving you face the risk of a car accident. What do you do to protect yourself? You wear your seat belt. When you head onto the lake to go boating or canoeing, you run the risk of falling in the water—so, you wear a life-jacket. The more you know about the risks you’re facing, the better prepared you’ll be to […]

  The “R” word for most folks is Retirement. With sudden losses in the stock market due to trade tensions with China, and a bunch of other national and global economic indicators that are softening, the market has once again taken a short dive to the negative, and a new “R” words is circulating—Recession. That’s a double whammy. Not only do you have to plan to make your money last through your lifetime, but now you have to make your […]

  At SGL Financial we take information security very seriously! As the Chief Compliance Officer I am responsible for overseeing our policies and procedures regarding how we handle our clients non-public personal information (i.e. social security number, account numbers, holdings, etc.). At our firm, we have established secure and encrypted client portals, we always verify client identities before discussing sensitive information via phone, and we are not allowed to take instructions received only via an e-mail or voice-mail message—among many […]

  If you’re currently with an advisor, or looking to work with someone new, there are some very important questions that you should have the answers to. See… the thing is, not all advisors are created equal. Some advisors are just “money managers” or “investment guys” and they don’t really provide much planning or retirement advice. Other advisors may say they have your best interests first, but they don’t give you the full picture, or the information you need to […]

  Money—we strive to earn it, save it, and then, when we retire, make sure it lasts the rest of our lives. As we age, we develop specific beliefs about money—beliefs we’ve inherited from parents, friends, TV, radio, books, and advertising. History teaches us that many of those beliefs have not served us well. Whether you have a lot or a little of it, it is the cause of over 50% of divorces and one of the main sources of […]

  When you are in the financial services industry, and especially when you specialize in retirement planning, you see a ton of articles, opinions, and research discussing various strategies for success. One of the recent articles I read discussed three specific phases that we go through during our retirement years. These phases are referred to as the “Go-Go Years,” the “Slow-Go Years,” and the “No-Go (or Won’t-Go) Years.” Specifically, the Go-Go Years are the early retirement years, often between 60 […]

  In retirement, the #1 challenge you will face is generating retirement income. Moreover, how do you generate income that is secure, reliable, and consistent? How do you do this through uncertain and occasionally chaotic market conditions? How do you ensure you don’t run out of money? These are some of the tough questions you will face when it comes to creating your own retirement paycheck. But there is a bigger question at play… a much more important one… it’s […]