The Life Planning 101 Podcast

3 Ways to Escape a Student Debt Trend

Let’s paint a picture of the first day of your future retirement: What an exciting time! It’s a time where we can enjoy the spoils of our labor. It is a time we have budgeted for – for living expenses,maybe even a little vacation and outstanding student loans...

Tax Season

Tax season is in full swing and for once, there is some good news. The good news is that, due to the Washington D.C.Emancipation Day paid holiday, you have until April 18th this year to file unless you file an extension. The bad news is you still have to file. So in keeping with that...

Municipal Bond Math

Municipal bonds have been a wonderful investment for over 30 years. They have been perceived as a safe haven for investors since they are used to lend money to local governments and municipalities, and offer an excellent tax advantage: tax free income. This means that an investor... 

Leap Year

It is Leap Year: the year we add February 29th to our calendar —a full extra 24 hours this year. How are you going to spend it?If you have ever watched the movie City Slickers, you may recall... 

Are You Planning for a Financial Drought?

Imagine spending your entire life building a business only to wake up at 63 and find it isn’t worth anything. Most of us think, “how sad, but that won't happen to my business…I have worked too hard or my industry is too strong or there will always be a need for what I do or...

Who Is Kennedy Financial Services?

Helping people live LIFE on purpose! Navigating both the expected and unexpected financial demands, requires more than financial planning...

The Most Important Question About Your Retirement

Are you confident you have enough money for retirement?
 Rate your confidence – and remember…progress only starts when you tell yourself the truth. On a 1 to 10 scale with 10 being“without a doubt confident,” how confident are you that...

Are You Giving Your Money Away?

Taxes!  Uncle Sam comes knocking every year. And for some of us, Uncle Sam will even come knocking on our grave. I have met people in my life that don’t mind Uncle Sam. They feel it is their American duty to pay their full share of taxes. I don’t disagree that it is my duty to pay my share of taxes as an American, but the tax code was written with much intricacy to promote education, domestic business, non-profit support and retirement funding. Believe it or not, Uncle Sam would rather you spend your dollars in one of these areas than pay him...

Will Recent Social Security Changes Affect You? - Revisited

By now you are probably aware that if you are taking your Social Security benefits, you won’t be getting a raise in 2016. You may even be aware that in addition to not having a Cost of Living Adjustment next year, the maximum benefit amount you can receive was actually reduced. Yet there is an even bigger concern when it comes to future benefits...

Is Your Life Insurance Like a Bad Mattress?

Can you remember the last time you bought a new mattress?The difference between shopping for most things and shopping for a mattress is that we’re not sure how to price one - for most of us; it has been ages since we bought our last one and we have no reference point. Most folks just head out to a mattress store, lie down on the mattresses in a good price range and then rely on the salesperson’s honesty...

Getting to the Basics of Trust Planning

Over the years we’ve written several articles about estate planning. This week I would like to address a specific aspect: trusts. A trust is simply an agreement under which property and/or assets are held and managed by one party for the benefit of. Once again, begin by narrowing down what you want. Is it…

81 Reasons Why Not to Invest in the Stock Market

1934 Great Depression1935 Spanish Civil War1936 Economy Still Struggling1937 Recession1938 War Clouds Gather1939 War in Europe...