Educating Heirs on Student Debt
One of my favorite television shows is Shark Tank, which shows aspiring entrepreneurs pitching their business plans to seasoned investors, the “sharks,” in hopes of an investment. The sharks use their own money to invest, so they ask tough questions to help evaluate the business’s potential. Have they demonstrated sales? How much does it cost […]
College Savings Vehicles
So often in life and in financial planning, perfect can be the enemy of good. This is certainly the case when it comes to saving for college. There are many ways to go about it, but the most important choice is the choice to begin saving. Nonetheless, we often meet parents of five- and ten-year-old […]
The Complicated Calculations of College Costs
Parents of college-bound students are dealing with a chicken-or-egg dilemma. When it comes to student aid calculations, it just about requires a Ph.D. to understand how to fund a Ph.D. Different schools use different methods to evaluate different families, and when they get the results, they interpret them differently! Let’s wade into the wishy-washy world […]
Getting Creative with College Funding
In our previous discussions about college planning, we’ve discussed where and how much to save while acknowledging that these questions require several assumptions. Is it sensible to make saving for college a major financial goal when there’s no guarantee the child will attend? That’s a tough question for families and for this reason, we favor educating […]
Finding the Best Order for Funding Retirement
With a task as important as funding your retirement, determining which accounts to fund and in what order should not be taken lightly. Whether it’s a company plan, individual retirement account or taxable account, there are a lot of ways to save for retirement. So how do you decide where to put each dollar you […]
Balancing Saving and Giving
Most of our clients aspire to be financially self-sufficient. As those clients age, we notice some amount of transition into wanting to benefit others with accumulated resources. This giving can range from donations to charities of interest to paying for a grandchild’s education to helping a friend in need. We have been fortunate since the […]
Retirement Saving Myths and Misconceptions
We are fortunate to have a very educated and knowledgeable client base, but we are consistently surprised by the myths and misconceptions clients and prospects bring to the conversation. Below I have listed my Top 7 Myths and Misconceptions About Retirement Savings; it is by no means a complete list but highlights the most common […]
How Much is Enough – An Intro to Monte Carlo Simulations
When it comes to retirement planning, one of the most often asked questions is, “What’s my number?” In other words, how much money do I need to save to retire comfortably? Simple, right? Well, not exactly — it’s far more than just a static number posted on our refrigerators. Although there are quick formulas and […]
Insight into Fixed Income & Timing of Social Security
When entering retirement, the question of how to structure income can be the most influential factor in determining a family’s long-term financial well-being. Several factors such as income source, inflation, and sequence of returns present risks and opportunities for retirees. Today’s Atheneum discusses how we might explore retirement income with John and Jane Smith. They […]
The Grey Area of Paying Off a Mortgage Early
A key question that soon-to-be retirees often face is whether or not to eliminate a debt before retirement. Generally, we would love to see all our clients enter their retirements debt free. However, there could be some instances where making monthly debt payments is not necessarily a bad thing (i.e., zero-percent financing on a car). […]
Simplify Budgeting to One Key Number
“Where does the money go?” is a question we, unfortunately, hear all too often when discussing budgeting and cash flow. Often the only thing simple about a family’s cash flow is that it is simply confusing. Let’s look at how we help simplify complicated family finances into one key number. Often times we see clients […]
Cash Flow Autopilot
The Ballast Atheneum has focused on many aspects of cash flow planning, including budgeting, retirement savings vs. paying down debt, costs of vehicle ownership, and cash flow planning vs. long-term care. This article shares a case study that we try to create for working clients. We have implemented this Retirement Autopilot for many people and […]
