Late-in-life inheritance can stoke strange decisions
In order to determine how susceptible you are to making a mistake here, simply examine your relationship with gift cards.
Peter Dunn
Articles
Pete the Planner: Trust is important element in adviser relationship
In a professional setting, a trusted relationship can take an otherwise risky proposition and turn it into an enjoyable experience that helps you achieve your goals more efficiently.
Pete the Planner: Financial instability does not make you a failure in life
Sometimes the realization that certainty doesn’t exist disguises itself as failure.
Pete the Planner: Think about money obligations when launching children
I’ve always likened financially weaning adult children to the moment you taught the same children to ride their bikes without training wheels.
Peter Dunn: Don’t compare your finances. It doesn’t matter.
Unfortunately, comparing ourselves to others doesn’t stop when we matriculate through elementary school. In fact, it gets worse. And at the root of the comparison, you’ll most often find money.
Pete the Planner: Time bigger purchases (if and when you can)
Your goal should be to make sure your major-purchase timelines are flexible enough that the supply-and-demand factors fall in your favor and don’t back you into a suboptimal outcome.
Pete the Planner: For retirement, align your risk tolerance, capacity
Most people don’t spend enough time scrutinizing how much capacity for risk they have.
Peter Dunn: Financial stability allows for risk-taking, dream chasing
Personally, my top three career accomplishments have nothing to do with money.
Pete the Planner: You owe it to your kids to talk about money
If you want to make a giant impact on the life of your young person, talk to them about reality.
Pete the Planner: Remember these good times when the market takes a dive
When the market does decide to get rocky once again, you need to think back to this very moment—the moment in which the S&P 500 has averaged over 10% during the last 15 years.
Pete the Planner: A ‘mock retirement’ is key to knowing when it’s time for real one
Once you’ve had this discussion with your financial planner and she’s able to confirm the viability of your retirement, on paper, it’s time for one last game of trial and error. However, this time around, we’re going to lower the stakes by installing a giant safety net.
Pete the Planner: Getting a year-end bonus? Here’s what not to do (and what you should do)
No matter what you decide, just make sure you don’t come to depend on bonuses. That is far and away one of the biggest unforced errors.
Pete the Planner: Try tricking yourself into responsible spending
The first rule of discretionary spending is to make the category discretionary, not the amount. Living a “no limit” lifestyle is the aspiration for many, but it’s unhealthy and wasteful.
Pete the Planner: Why mid-life can be a rocky time for personal finances
I’ve long thought ages 47 to 53 were the most financially challenging years of a person’s life.
Pete the Planner: If you’re dependable, you’ll be better with money
We all know certain people who, at their deepest core, are dependable. We trust these people, and we typically give them opportunities to help us accomplish what we need to accomplish.
Pete the Planner: Now is not the time to pull money from the stock market out of fear
Knowing when to get back in is significantly harder than knowing when to get out. This is why I choose to do nothing different.
Pete the Planner: Should your home’s equity be included in your net worth?
There are at least four common uses for an annual net worth calculation. And depending on the purpose of your calculation, you might or might not decide you want to include your home equity.
Pete the Planner: Many Americans are overly confident about their retirement—and that’s no joke
For instance, roughly seven of 10 pre-retirees plan to work for pay as a means for retirement, while in retirement. When in reality, the 2021 survey finds just over two in 10 retirees end up working for pay as a source of retirement income.
Pete the Planner: Loosen purse strings for experiences, not stuff
Dear Pete, My husband and I realized we may have a weird little conundrum. We got into a zone in our early and mid-50s in which we lived frugally in order to secure a sustainable retirement. Now we’re retired, and we’re afraid we’re squandering some very active and healthy years due to the frugal habits […]
Pete the Planner: Use the ‘lazy person’s budget’ to see what’s left for hobbies
Most of the guilt people feel about spending money on unnecessary things arises from knowing they aren’t making tomorrow easier.