Category: Financial Planning

  • 6 ways to get more from virtual appointments

    With offices closed for visits, we offer tips for making the most of remote reviews with investment advisors. […]

  • Mortgage debt in retirement: Worth a talk

    By Joel Dresang In our 30 years as homeowners, my wife and I have had occasional conversations about the urgency of retiring our mortgage. Math always settles it: At a fixed rate below 4%, our home loan is costing us less than the average 6%-7% a year that balanced investments have returned historically. […]

  • Staying ready for uncertainty

    By Joel Dresang Like news editors, investors can plan and prepare with the best information available at the time, but they cannot foresee every possible cataclysm. […]

  • Checklist for circumstances beyond control

    By Joel Dresang It’s only human to want to do something, so here are actions I have taken, specifically on investments. […]

  • When should I …check my accounts?

    You should keep track of the progress of your investments and also watch for unexpected changes. (As our financial lives evolve, we often wonder at what point or how frequently to take certain actions toward our long-term goals. In an ongoing feature, investment professionals from Landaas & Company provide answers.) […]

  • Investing for the long run can vary

    By Joel Dresang The point of talking about the long term is to prompt us to plan, allocate and adjust so that we don’t outlive our resources. Whether we want to consume as much as we can while we’re able or to leave a legacy to our heirs, we don’t want to run out of…

  • No more Money in my mailbox

    By Joel Dresang The death of Money is another reminder of the tougher time individuals have at discerning how best to conduct their financial lives. […]

  • Plan affordable vacations or avoid Facebook

    By Joel Dresang Vacations seem a bigger deal now, with bigger bills. They can upset the spending plans of retirees. They can divert workers’ earnings from retirement savings. They can contribute to family debts. […]

  • Social Security and my future

    By Joel Dresang Only about 1 in 15 Americans has an online Social Security account and checks their benefits estimates once a year. I happen to be one of those few. Not only do I plan on Social Security being there for my wife and me when we retire, but I’m getting an idea of…

  • Measured steps toward education, retirement

    By Joel Dresang My wife and I have provided our daughters with limited financial assistance in college. That’s because a) We want our children to have some skin in the game, and b) We’ve needed to save for our retirement. College has presented a serious lesson in what we have hoped to instill in our…