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Archive for June, 2011

5 Money Questions Graduates and Newlyweds Need To Have Answers To!

Posted in Financial Planning, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Tis the season for graduations and weddings. After attending a number of those events recently, I thought I would put together a checklist of the five questions that need to be answered by those who are newly married or graduating this spring and early summer. I’m making an assumption that most of those graduating or [...]

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Are My Social Security Benefits Really Going Down by 19%?

Posted in Retirement, tagged , , , , , , , on June 28, 2011 | 2 Comments »

In the past several weeks there have been numerous articles with different titles, but the message was that social security benefits might be going down by 19%. These articles were stimulated by a study released by the National Academy of Social Insurance in June 2011 that was explaining the impact of the changes passed by [...]

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Should I Sell Stocks to Pay Off the Mortgage?

Posted in Home Ownership, tagged , , , , , on June 27, 2011 | 2 Comments »

When stock markets are choppy, this is a question that often arises. With the market acting like a see-saw, investors are wondering: Why do I have money invested and earning ‘nothing’ when I pay 4% interest for my mortgage? On its face, this seems like a reasonable question. But there is more to it than [...]

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Life’s Blessings and Life’s Realities – For the Young Too!

Posted in Estate Planning, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

I am having the pleasure of writing this month’s blog from a hilltop overlooking the J.Lohr vineyards in San Miguel California. We are here celebrating the wedding of Edwin Perkins and Sumre Glass – the daughter of my ‘since second grade’ friend, Edward Glass. Substitute the names of your friends or love ones, it does [...]

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A Tribute to “Mr. A”

Posted in Estate Planning, tagged , on June 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

A Dying Man’s Gift to His Family Mr. A passed away a few days ago after a short and courageous battle with cancer. I call him “Mr.” with full intention because this was his request when we first met about eight months ago. Like the gentleman he was, Mr. A preferred to be addressed formally when [...]

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Succession Planning for the Family Farm

Posted in Estate Planning, tagged , , , on June 21, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Farmers are an interesting bunch. My family’s history with farming goes back generations. Now, however, the Coates family farm in northern Iowa is a golf course. I do not have the background of that specific decision to sell, but experience tells me it was not easy for my great-grandfather. This spring has been surprising and [...]

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Faces of Inflation

Posted in Spending, tagged on June 20, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Batman had Two Face. A formerly handsome district attorney turned into a physically and mentally scarred villain. Mark Zuckerberg gave us Facebook. In the 80’s we watched Faces of Death. (Well some of us watched for as long as we could stomach it.) And coming soon to a theater near you “The Faces of Inflation!”  [...]

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Summer Learning Opportunities

Posted in Education, tagged , , , , on June 17, 2011 | 1 Comment »

Most School Districts in Minnesota begin their school year after Labor Day. This is traditional in a state that has limited warm weather months and depends on tourism for a portion of its annual economic output. A later start to the school year also means that most Districts don’t release the kids for summer vacation until early [...]

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The Fed versus Deflation, Inflation and…Stagflation

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on June 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

The mighty Federal Reserve certainly has a big job to fight all things bad in the economy – unemployment, recession, deflation, inflation and something we haven’t seen in a while, but seems to be on the horizon – big, bad, ugly stagflation. Bernanke declared war on deflation with his easy monetary policy after the financial [...]

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School’s Out for the Summer

Posted in Education, tagged , , , , , , on June 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

By mid-June, most students have packed it up for the summer. The pool is open, the sun is out and exams, homework and the annoying buzz of an early alarm are all in the rearview mirror. While summer is typically a time of rest and relaxation, many parents still like to try and work an educational [...]

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