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Tag: My Upstate Planner

What is an Annual Review?

by Randy Chalmers on December 26, 2022.

Whether you are brand new to investing and have never had an annual review, or you’ve had many annual reviews, you might be interested to find out a little bit more of what is done during the review process. The first step is obviously to see how your portfolio has performed in the past 12...

Setting SMART Goals

by Randy Chalmers on November 18, 2022.

If you haven’t used the SMART process for setting goals in your life or business, then you probably don’t know what the acronym means. S   – Specific M – Measurable A  – Attainable R  – Relevant T  – Time-bound Specific What exactly will be accomplished and by what means? Measurable How will your goal be...

$100 Left Over?

by Randy Chalmers on November 4, 2022.

We’ve discussed how people think they don’t have enough money to invest, so instead, they spend what they could have saved. But, what about those who are not yet investing, the ones who are on Dave’s Baby Step 2: pay off debt utilizing the debt snowball method? I know a lot of people reading this...

How much is enough?

by Dave Conley on November 4, 2022.

How much money is enough? For John D. Rockefeller the answer was “just a little bit more.” At the pinnacle of his success, Rockefeller had a net worth of about 1% of the entire US economy (about 1/3 of a trillion dollars). He owned 90% of all the oil & gas industry of his time....

Information you Might not Know about Individual Retirement Accounts

by Randy Chalmers on October 28, 2022.

When conversations navigate toward the topic of retirement, one of the most common subjects discussed is IRAs. If you are unaware, IRA stands for individual retirement account, meaning it is not offered through your employer, you made a choice to start saving into a retirement account on your own. Traditional IRAs are invested pre-tax, and...

The “secret” to investing success is spelled TIME

by Dave Conley on October 21, 2022.

The hamster wheel literally describes the concept of lots of activity but making no progress. In times of crisis, either real or imagined we are encouraged to do something. If your house is on fire or if you witness a car accident you must do something and quick. Why is it that doing nothing when it comes to our investments is so difficult. When clients ask "what are you doing..." sometimes the better question is "is there anything that needs to be done" related to our investments? Are you OK with doing nothing when nothing needed to be done?

I “herd” it through the grapevine…

by Dave Conley on October 14, 2022.

Ralph and Betty recently bought a new Ford Explorer SUV for $40,000, after carefully research before the purchase. Surprisingly, over the next few months they began to receive offers to buy the vehicle from them at smaller and smaller amounts of money. As far as they knew the vehicle was still in great shape, it had a few thousand miles on it, a ding or two but apart from that the engine still purred and ran like it did when they bought it. Still, Ralph and Betty considered selling the Ford Explorer for half of what they paid for it because they worried that something might be wrong. Should they have sold the vehicle?

Which Path is Correct?

by Randy Chalmers on October 14, 2022.

I’ve been asked many times “if Dave Ramsey says to fund a Roth IRA, why would I ever choose a traditional IRA”? Well, much like any advice, there is no absolute in reference to what will work best for everyone in every situation.    Let’s examine the main characteristics of both types of IRAs. As...

I Don’t Want to Lose Money! What Does that Mean?

by Dave Conley on September 1, 2022.

$10,000 is still $10,000 = Capital Preservation $10,000 still buys what it did = Purchasing Power Preservation The distinction is vital to your long-term wealth! Not a month goes by that we do not have a call where someone inquires about investing and includes the phrase, “but I don’t want to lose my money“. The...

Enjoying the Fruit of your Labor

by Michelle McEachin on August 30, 2022.

We all work hard. Some of us work four 10-hour days. Some work five 8-hour days. Some choose to work 12-hour days all the time. But whatever you do… you put in labor and expect a fair return for your effort. You use that return to plan, budget, and live life to the fullest.  Back...