Author: Jeff Diamond

Planning for Early Retirement: Accelerating Savings and Investment Goals

Written by Jeff Diamond on August 5, 2024.

Discover tips for planning for early retirement, including strategies to accelerate your savings and investments.

Retiring early is a dream for many people. After all, the allure of trading the daily grind for a life of leisure, travel, and pursuing passions is undeniably appealing. However, turning that dream into reality requires more than just wishful thinking; it demands a strategic and disciplined approach to financial planning. Whether you’re aiming to retire in your 40s or 50s, the journey to early retirement is paved with smart savings strategies and savvy investment decisions. Let’s dive into planning for early retirement and how you fast-track your path to financial freedom and enjoy the retirement you’ve always envisioned.

Starting a Family: Budgeting for New Parents and Future Education Costs

Written by Jeff Diamond on July 22, 2024.

Explore our essential tips on budgeting for education to help strengthen your child's financial future from the beginning.

Starting a family can be a beautiful and significant phase in life marked by immense joy, but it also comes with profound new responsibilities. Among the most crucial responsibilities for new parents is financial planning, since adjusting to life with a little one involves not just changes to daily routines, but also in how you manage your finances. To set your growing family up for success, it’s important to begin organizing your everyday expenses and budgeting for education costs early on. If you’re a new parent or planning to start a family soon, below are some practical guidelines to help manage your finances effectively as you navigate the exciting yet challenging journey of parenthood.

Confirmation Bias in Investing: How to Challenge Your Investment Beliefs

Written by Jeff Diamond on May 27, 2024.

Explore the impact of confirmation bias in investing and learn how to make more balanced and informed financial decisions.

In the intricate world of investing, cognitive biases have the power to significantly skew decision-making processes, often leading to less-than-optimal outcomes. One such pervasive psychological trap is confirmation bias, which can happen even when you’re not aware that you’re falling into it. This article explores the concept of confirmation bias in investing, illustrating its impact on investors and offering practical advice for challenging entrenched investment beliefs. By fostering awareness and promoting a critical mindset, investors can enhance their decision-making skills, ultimately leading to more informed and balanced investment choices.

Inflation and Retirement: Better Preserve Your Purchasing Power Post-Retirement

Written by Jeff Diamond on April 8, 2024.

Discover how to better protect your financial stability from inflation in retirement and better preserving your savings' purchasing power.

Retirement planning often centers around accumulating enough assets to enjoy a comfortable and secure lifestyle. However, one critical factor that can erode the value of these carefully saved funds is inflation. Inflation, the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services rises, erodes purchasing power over time. For retirees, who typically rely on a fixed income, the impact of inflation can be significant, making it essential to develop strategies to protect against this diminishment of purchasing power in their golden years. Below, we’ll discuss this challenge, as well as strategies you may use to better protect your financial security.

Succession Planning: Preparing Your Business for Retirement Transition

Written by Jeff Diamond on March 11, 2024.

Business succession planning is about preparing for a smooth transfer of ownership and continued operations after you retire.

Tips to Plan for the Continuity of Your Company After Your Retirement

You’ve invested years into your small business – maybe even a lifetime – and yet the time will come when you may consider retirement, whether from necessity or desire. Crafting a business succession plan now may help you prepare the company for a smooth transition to new management or ownership when the time comes. Succession planning can also help you prepare for unforeseen circumstances, so developing a clear succession strategy may be an important step in keeping the business you’ve built thriving for years to come. Below, we’ll discuss some common key elements of succession planning that you might consider as you think about the future.

Starting Your Year Clear: Consider a New Approach to Achieving Your Retirement Goals

Written by Jeff Diamond on January 8, 2024.

Approaching your retirement goals in a holistic way means you can set the state for financial security and fulfillment, too.

Does Your Current Approach to Financial Planning Match Your Aspirations?

While it’s always smart to be thinking ahead about your retirement goals, the beginning of a new year offers an opportune time. This is because many of us are feeling motivated about the fresh start and potential opportunity a new year brings. So, as you consider your retirement goals and plans, ask yourself whether your current approach aligns with your aspirations. In this article, we’ll share helpful perspectives and strategic considerations that can help you gain clarity and purpose for your retirement strategy so that you can achieve more toward your goals this year.

Wealth-Building Habits to Start the New Year Strong

Written by Jeff Diamond on December 18, 2023.

It takes discipline to identify and implement wealth-building habits, but your future self may thank you.

Help Secure Your Financial Future and Find Peace of Mind

Building wealth is a goal for many – and one that you may be considering as the New Year dawns. In the vast majority of cases, it doesn’t happen overnight. You might think that you need an above-average income or a significant inheritance to build wealth, but in reality, the process starts with small but meaningful wealth-building habits. It takes discipline and patience to build your wealth, but the sooner you start, the sooner you can reap the benefits. With the wealth-building habits discussed below, you can find yourself on the way to greater possible financial freedom.

Four Financial Strategies for Empty Nesters

Written by Jeff Diamond on November 27, 2023.

Your financial situation changes when the kids leave home, so discover helpful empty nester financial strategies you can use.

Plan for the Next Chapter with Practical Money Moves

You’ve successfully launched your adult kids out into the world – congratulations! This can be a time of mixed emotions – pride and excitement on one hand, and feelings of sadness on the other – but it’s also important to consider your financial plan for this new phase. What should your priorities be? What are your financial goals for this phase of life and how will you reach them? In the article below, we share practical empty-nester financial strategies that can help you navigate this transition and continue moving forward to clarify and accomplish your financial aspirations.

Year-End Charitable Giving: 5 Strategies to Know

Written by Jeff Diamond on November 6, 2023.

Year-end charitable giving could be a great way to reduce your tax liability while making a difference in others’ lives.

Support Your Favorite Charities While Potentially Reaping Tax Benefits

Taxes are an unfortunate fact of life. However, if you develop a strategy to reduce your total taxable income, you may see a marked decrease in the amount you owe each year – which can be a welcome outcome as we approach the holiday season and begin spending more on gifts, travel, and entertaining. If you’re hoping to reduce your taxable income this year, you might be happy to hear that you can enjoy possible tax benefits while also making a positive difference in other people’s lives. To do so, you need to select the right year-end charitable giving strategy. Read on for five such strategies that may fit your needs, both from a philanthropic standpoint and as smart tax planning.

Investor Tips: 9 Strategies that May Strengthen Your Investment Portfolio

Written by Jeff Diamond on October 9, 2023.

These nine investor tips may help you find greater success, and you can start adopting them right now.

These Methods May Help You Find Greater Investing Success

From a distance, the stock market can appear a bit unruly, intimidating beginner and veteran investors alike at times. However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to navigate more successfully. When you make thoughtful investment decisions and rely on sound investor tips, you may find long-term success. In this article, we’ll discuss nine tactics you may consider taking advantage of right now. These strategies were developed with a long-term view in mind. They have been helpful to many past investors, and we believe they may be relevant for the current investing landscape, too.