We all know the familiar saying that money can’t buy happiness. But is that entirely true? Can’t the way we handle our money, the priorities and values we have around spending money, and ultimately the things, experiences, or people we spend money on… effect our happiness?

Let’s talk about a few ways that money can play into our happiness, including a study done on the matter which had interesting results.

What are tail risks? What does it have to do with financial planning? A lot. Tail risk is the risk that's associated with an extreme event that has a small probability of occurring.

Let’s look at a few examples of possible tail risks and some ideas of how we can prepare for them. Of course we never want them to happen, nor think they’ll happen to us. But IF/WHEN they do, we should have things in place so that the tail risk doesn't ruin us.

Are you in search of ways to make yourself a better investor? Do you feel like you don’t know what to do when and how? Do you get overwhelmed and confused by all the advice out there about investing?

Well, let me be one more person giving you advice. No frills, selling points, or fancy terminology, just 6 quick and easy ideas of how to become a better investor.

In Part 1 of this quick two-part series on bonuses, we looked at how to deal with the uneven cash flow aspects of receiving large bonuses.

In this installment, we’re going to go into more detail about different ideas of what to do with the money.

Bonuses. They’re the best, no?

A nice infusion of cash that comes in and opens up so many opportunities.

A common issue people run into is how to deal with the “cash flow” aspects of receiving a large bonus. In this post, we’ll look at a couple of different ways to deal with the issue of having uneven cash flow, illustrated with specific examples.

Not that Bond. Those Bonds.

I Bonds have been very popular investments during the past few years. But as inflation has cooled down, so has the interest rate on I Bonds.

Where do things stand? Should you sell? Or stay put?

Let’s take a quick look.

What can we learn from the recent bank failures?

Here are three major takeaways:

1) Transfer cash over FDIC limits
2) Match investments with your time horizon
3) Importance of diversification

How should you be invested during retirement? Where will your spending money come from? What happens if the stock markets go down? Are your investments safe enough? Let’s take a look at the concept of Investment Buckets.

Several of my clients are in the process of either buying or selling a home. The top two questions for those who are buying are:

1. Should I buy a house now or should I wait?

2. How much house can I afford?

Here are some high-level thoughts.