Several years ago, when my grandmother was clearly near the end of her life, I asked her if she could have a “do-over” was there anything in life that she would change.  She looked at me with her chin pointed out and simply said, “no.”  

It’s here, it’s finally here!  As you all enjoyed a wonderful Friday looking forward to the weekend, I quietly celebrated the fact that all advisors must now act as a fiduciary when dealing with your retirement accounts!  Notice, I mentioned retirement accounts only?  That’s right, there are now two sets of rules for some advisors.

In Part four of the College Education series, we explore loan repayment options, how does one apply for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and is loan forgiveness taxable?

In Part three of College Education month, we explore what we call the pre-qualifying process, similar to pre-qualifying for a house; let’s make sure your child (or maybe even you) will not graduate with so much debt that they can’t afford to build their adult life. When that award letter arrives and you see anything with the word loan in it, understand, not all loans are equal!  

In Part two of College Education month, we will explore questions that you might want to ask when you visit a college, talk with a college recruiter, or meet with a college admissions counselor.

If you Google “college interview,” you will find tons of websites on how to prepare for your college visit, but it’s from the angle of the college, not the student “hiring” the college.  Here’s the thing, you are hiring the college, they are NOT hiring you or your child.  So I propose a different approach on selecting a college to attend.  We think we are privileged when accepted at the college of our choice, but in reality, the college is the one benefiting from attendance and payment of such!

What questions do you ask when you are interviewing a person that you want to add to staff?  Why wouldn’t the questions be the same?  I suggest that you approach it that way by asking a series of interview questions that include, but are not limited to:

“OMG, I have finally discovered what’s wrong with my Brain: on the left side, there is nothing right, and on the right side, there is nothing left…” ― Minion Quote

Speaking of food...And so the backyard barbeques will soon begin.  The celebrations of summer and both College and High School graduations will soon be in full swing.  Perhaps you have one of these events to attend, or simply attending makes you think of your own family situation with regards to college costs?  Even if your kids are grown, are they still paying down their own college debt, which prohibits them from saving for other goals? A few big questions might be, how much do I need to save, how much will college cost, what can be done to reduce those costs?  My goal this month is to educate you on these options. Throughout the month of May my theme will be focused on college planning.  

“#1-Make Money. #2-Use that money to make more money. #3-Repeat.”  ―Anonymous

I always look forward to the end of April, not for the reasons most people look forward to it, but I love this week because it's Money Smart Week.  The week where education about money takes a front row seat in the news.  Even better, towards the end of the week, on April 28th, it's “Teach Your Child to Save” Day.  Money is the leading cause of stress for Americans with nearly three out of four adults reporting that they feel stressed about money at least some of the time.  There is so much interest in this week that the Money Week Facebook page has over 38,000 followers!

Do you suppose when Roman philosopher St. Augustine (354 - 430) spoke those words that he could have ever imaged the world of travel today?  Where songs like, “On the Road Again,” are used to describe a way of life?  As Brent and I begin to plan for our Spring voyage back to New York, we talk about the travel hazards that might happen and what “the plan” will be if they do.  How many of you have a “travel plan.”  I’m not just talking about reservations, but alternative options should something go wrong prior or during your trip?

For example, what would you do if…

To many of my New York clients, happy Spring Break!  I love Spring, for me personally, it is the start of my “new year.”   This year is an exceptional new year too!  We are excited to be approaching the first birthday of Irvine Wealth Planning Strategies on May 9th.  This past year has been transformational and we are so very thankful for your support, business and feedback!  I want to give a special shout out to the Corning Gaffer District for their continued efforts to support the growth and visualization of the business; each quarter they continue to amaze me with their amazing designs in the Corning office windows - this quarter is an amazing tribute to Ernie Davis put together by a local student.   We hope you stop by and admire the display!

As we say goodbye to the month of March and the end of the first quarter of 2017, we want to say thank you for your business!  Irvine Wealth Planning Strategies is approaching its first anniversary in May - we have some fun planned around the anniversary, so stay tuned.