Dec 12

Dec 12 When should I use a Donor Advised Fund?

Investing, Charitable Giving, Common Questions

Donor Advised funds are ‘a waiting room’ for charitable donations. The donor gets a current tax deduction, pays fees to a custodian (for instance, .60% for first $500,000 by Schwab), and then later suggests when and to whom the money should go.

Dec 6

Dec 6 Green stocks don't perform as well as investors hope

David Creekmore

Values, Investing

One could reasonably take the position that a company better poised to manage the changing environmental future would deserve to be priced higher. But is that the case?

Nov 29

Nov 29 The biggest financial risk for boomers (and why DC and VA are behind)

David Creekmore

Aging, Retirement, Common Questions

You might think the frothy stock market is a risk for current retirees, and you aren’t wrong. What about historically low bond rates? That’s much less of an issue than people think. Long term care insurance, yeah but at least there is Medicaid as a (terrible) last resort. So what is it?

Nov 23

Nov 23 The dark side of financial literacy

David Creekmore

Investing

More than 50% of Americans are financially anxious, according to a 2018 study. Is better financial literacy the answer?

Nov 17

Nov 17 What I learned about the promise of ESG from the nonprofit double bottom line

David Creekmore

Investing, Values

ESG are environmental, social and governance standards used to evaluate a company’s operations and help investors screen potential investments. It attempts to quantify the relationship between adherence to ESG criteria and financial performance. Can we rely on ESG?

Nov 8

Nov 8 Financial planning support for Americans working abroad is crucial

David Creekmore

Nonprofit Employment, Retirement

Does your nonprofit have foreign workers or US citizens abroad? Have you thought about providing them financial planning support?

Nov 1

Nov 1 Investment culture wars?

David Creekmore

Investing, Values

Conventional conservativism was traditionally pro-corporation, profit-first, and generally liked business to stay out of politics. But the more current version of conservativism is more explicitly anti-progressive, and is interested in more than profits.

Oct 26

Oct 26 Some press for Lifetime Financial

David Creekmore

My dad (an accomplished writer) said something like, “Writing is easy if you have something to say.” I’d like to believe something similar is true for getting quoted in the financial press because it’s happened twice recently.

Oct 19

Oct 19 Do you have a SARSA?

David Creekmore

Aging, Retirement, Common Questions

Have you heard of the SARSA? The ‘Super Awesome Retirement Savings Account?’ No, you haven’t because it doesn’t exist. Instead, it’s stupidly called a ‘Healthcare Savings Account’. Do you have one? Are you maxing it out ($3,600 single, $7,200 family) and not spending it? You should.

Oct 7

Oct 7 The big six

David Creekmore

Estate Planning, Aging, Common Questions

Six documents you and your loved ones need to help navigate life as you age. Do you have them all? If you said ‘no,’ you are not alone. The number of Americans with a will continues to decrease and is now well below half, 31% according to one survey, and presumably some of those are outdated. The reasons so few Americans have wills are obvious: it feels complex and expensive (it isn't) and it causes an existential crisis (doesn't have to.)

Oct 4

Oct 4 Eating your own dog food

David Creekmore

Life Goals, Values

I want to travel more with my girls and one of the things we love is to scuba dive. So, I made the decision to go with both on a trip last summer. It felt financially scary because my risk-averse brain was telling me not to take a not-cheap vacation right then.

But I treasure the time spent traveling with them more than anything on the planet. Travel is what we do, it’s our identity. As my coach said: “What possibly could get in the way of something that important?”

Sep 30

Sep 30 Job satisfaction > salary?

David Creekmore

Life Goals, Values

How much of a pay cut would you take to be more job satisfied?

A 2016 study of nonprofit professionals in the UK from 2016 estimated that individuals would need around 22,000 GBP or about $30,000, to make them equally ‘happy’ were they to take a job outside the nonprofit industry. Aside from the crass economics of equating a degree of happiness with a dollar of income – it’s a provocative thought experiment.

Lifetime Financial Blog

Thank you!