Have you ever thought about what financial freedom looks like? Or, has it never even crossed your mind simply because you’re just trying to make it to the next day.
Regardless of whether you’ve actually thought about it or not, it’s something most people can’t even fathom but would love to achieve. However, the main issue lies in how to actually get there.
Once we graduate college and get our first job, it seems like our next unwritten goal in life is to buy a new home. Right or wrong, that seems to be how life goes. I’m by no means saying it’s the wrong choice to make – heck I did it and still own a home – but should it really still be called the “American Dream?”
In my humble and probably subjective opinion, the answer is no. While home ownership can be an incredible feeling and certainly a feeling of “growing up,” it’s definitely not for everyone. There are plenty of pros and cons to owning a home just as there are plenty of pros and cons to renting. It’s up to each individual to determine what’s right for them.
This has to be one of the most common questions I get asked on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter who I’m talking to, inevitably the question comes up. However, if you know me as a financial planner, I am by no means a market prognosticator nor do I profess to be some kind of stock market guru.
Nonetheless, managing my client’s investments is part of my job, so I expect to have these types of questions. Now, whether I answer it in a black and white way is yet to be determined. On the one hand, the stock market has always gone up looking at it long-term, however, over the short-term, the market experiences all kinds of ups and downs.
Ever thought somebody owed you something, but you just can’t remember what? Well, guess what, maybe someone does, and it might just be waiting for you in a state where you once lived. And, it’s actually not out of the ordinary to find your name on a state's unclaimed property list.
Believe it or not, states are holding onto BILLIONS of dollars in unclaimed property. And, because of unclaimed property laws, this money has to be returned to you if you ever come looking for it. In 2015 alone, over $3 billion was returned! Crazier than that, though, almost $8 billion was collected leaving another $5 billion uncollected. Trust me, there is a lot of it out there.
