Anyone who has gone through a divorce knows how emotionally challenging and financially complex it can be. While attorneys handle the legal aspects, a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® focuses specifically on the financial implications of divorce. This specialized designation equips professionals with the expertise to guide clients through the intricate financial aspects of divorce proceedings, ensuring better outcomes for their financial future.
Anna Marie Mock, a fee-only certified financial planner at Highland Financial Advisors, discusses the dynamic interplay between art and science in financial planning. Drawing inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci's philosophy that "everything connects to everything else," she emphasizes that financial planning is an art involving subjective goal-setting and a science-driven by objective analysis tools. In this video, Anna explains how the scientific method can be applied to financial planning, using equity compensation as a concrete example.
What are your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about money? What about your partner, and do they differ from your own? Sometimes, the conflict we experience around money in our personal lives can be attributed to incongruent money scripts with those with whom we share finances. Let’s dive into the term money script and how understanding it can help us achieve our financial goals.
In talking with clients about the benefits their employer provides during the open enrollment season, one often overlooked benefit if clients have dependents is the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are not only a savvy investment option but also offer numerous benefits, especially for high-net-worth families. An HSA is a tax-advantaged savings account designed for individuals with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) to help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses. While the utility of HSAs is universal, they hold advantages for high-net-worth families and have steadily grown in popularity since their inception.
Inflation is all everyone has been talking about for two years. Inflation reaching 40-year highs has wreaked havoc on consumers' wallets and caused market uncertainty.
The inflation story in 2021 was propelled forward by supply chain disruptions following the shutdown of the economy due to the COVID stay-at-home orders. This broad statement of supply chain disruptions expands to the physical transportation of products and a shortage of workers and materials
Would you believe it if someone told you that you could improve sleep, reduce stress and anxiety, and boost your mental well-being by reducing social media and news intake? About four months ago, I decided to conduct a self-experiment where I reduced the time spent on social media apps and watching news channels.
“Optimism sounds like a sales pitch. Pessimism sounds like someone trying to help you.” -The Psychology of Money, Morgan House.
I was having dinner with friends in December of 2018, and at the time, the markets were in the middle of a 20% drawdown. While we were out, one of my friends met an acquaintance of his who happened to be a Sales Representative for one of the large Wall Street brokers. I was happy to listen to his perspectives on the markets.
Shakespeare wrote ten dramas, each with a different story and cast of characters. However, his tragedies follow the same five-act formula: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution. Every play, movie, and television shows from Shakespeare's time to today follows the same five-act sequence. Our culture's art and entertainment reflect our innate expectations of the hero's rise, fall, and resolution. Likewise, our expectations for the economy and financial markets are no different.
U.S. college tuition costs have skyrocketed over the last few decades, leading to an unprecedented number of students needing to finance the burden through student loans. As of August 2022, student loan borrowers owed a collective nearly $1,750,000,000,000 in federal and private student loan debt, with the average borrower owing $28,950.
Leonardo DaVinci wisely said, "Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Realize that everything connects to everything else." Financial planning integrates art and science through a dynamic process. The art is subjective and experienced while exploring goals and aspirations and making decisions. The science is objective and visible in the tools to develop projections analysis.
Our brain constantly monitors for signs of threats and triggers emotional responses to avoid them. The most primitive part of our brain controls the instinct to prevent hazards. This basic survival instinct attaches a high probability to any piece of data forecasting anything. Like the weather forecast, human beings expect predictability regarding the economy and the stock market. However, forecasting should not be considered a prediction.
On September 8th, HIGHLAND dedicated a Day of Service to Habitat for Humanity, contributing to constructing five new homes in the heart of Paterson, NJ. The whole team showed up at 7:45 AM, ready to make a difference in a small spot on the planet. Habitat for Humanity helps people to become homeowners by providing affordable, adequate housing. The concept of "partnership housing" was started in central Georgia in the early 1970s by farmer Clarence Jordan and Milliard and Linda Fuller and gained global recognition when President Jimmy Carter got involved in 1984. Today Habitat for Humanity operates in all 50 states and 70 countries.
As the well-known saying goes, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes. The idea of taxation can be traced back to 3000-2800 BC when the first known taxation system took place in Ancient Egypt. Since then, there have been many changes and additions to the tax laws, with one point remaining certain; no one wants to receive a large tax bill that they weren't expecting.
The first half of 2022 has been a disappointing year for every investor. At the close of Q2 2022, a 60/40 hypothetical portfolio comprised of the S&P 500 Index and Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index was down over 12%. What's been the driving force behind these investment returns, and what can we expect moving forward?
Walter Mischel, psychologist and professor at Stanford University conducted an experiment in the 1960s about delayed gratification and published his findings in 1972. In the study, a researcher explained to a child they could either have one marshmallow immediately or two marshmallows if they waited 15 minutes.
As of Friday, the 29th of July, except for the NASDAQ market, the US equity markets recovered somewhat from the bear market correction. A bear market is a loss of 20% from the previous high. In the first six months of 2022, the equity market had lost over 80% of what it gained in 2021 and entered a bear market correction.
Two weeks ago, the latest Consumer Price Index data (the index that measures inflation) had risen 1.3% in June, bringing headline inflation up to 9.1% and core inflation (excludes energy and food) up to 5.9% over the last 12 months. With increases this large, it’s not surprising to know this has been the most significant 12-month increase since November of 1981. With inflation on the rise, the war in Ukraine, and the stock market in bear territory (when stocks fall at least 20% off their highs), are we doomed for a recession?
Following a significant life event, such as divorce or the loss of a spouse, people face a common question: How will being newly independent affect my family's lifestyle? During this financially delicate period, a decrease in household income, the ability to remain in the family home, and the long-term impact on a person's retirement plan are all top of mind.
There seems to be a list of five things for anything you can think of to improve your odds of success. Pareto’s Principle (the 80/20 rule) states that 80% of the results will typically come from 20% of the cause. If a list of five things can truly make a difference in your life, that is an excellent return on your behavior.
