By Kevin Spotts I t’s still summer, but we’re getting close to a new school year. One day, though, “back-to-school” will mean “off to college” for your children. Will you be financially prepared to help your kids cope with the costs of higher education? Your first step, of course, is to know what yo...

I f you’re a single woman, most of your financial challenges and aspirations may resemble those of single men. Men and women face the same economic stress factors of modern life, and both groups have similar financial goals, such as the ability to retire comfortably. But women still face specific ob...

By Kevin M. Spotts U pon retiring, many people relocate to enjoy a more favorable climate, or to be closer to grown children, or to live in an area they’ve visited and enjoyed. If you, too, are thinking of moving someday, you’ll want to study possible locations, but you also need to be aware that wh...

Every month, you pay your mortgage. And, depending on your circumstances, you may be able to afford to put in additional payments – perhaps sizable ones. But should you? Or, if you really have the extra money, should you invest it? Initially, you might think it would be quite nice to rid yourself of...

s the year draws to a close, it’s a good time to review your progress toward your financial goals. But on what areas should you focus your attention? Of course, you may immediately think about whether your investments have done well. When evaluating the performance of their investments for a given y...

ith the holiday season upon us, you may be getting pretty busy. But once the holidays are over, you’ll enter into a new season – tax season. The filing deadline for the 2017 tax year is April 17, 2018, but until that date – and especially before the end of the calendar year – you may want to explore...

f you want to enjoy a comfortable retirement lifestyle, you don’t need to have been born rich or even to have earned scads of money during your working years. But you do need to make the right moves at the right time – which means you might want to start a “retirement countdown” well before you draw...

ext week, we observe Labor Day, a celebration of the American worker. You work hard your whole life with the hope that your efforts will ultimately allow you to achieve your financial goals, such as a comfortable retirement. But for that to happen, you may need to apply some of the lessons of the wo...

ou have probably heard that diversification is a key to investment success. So, you might think that if diversifying your investments is a good idea, it might also be wise to diversify your investment providers – after all, aren’t two (or more) heads better than one? Before we look at that issue, le...

uring the Fourth of July, we celebrate the freedoms we enjoy in this country. The U.S. constitution grants us many of these liberties, but we have to earn others – such as our financial freedom. What steps can you take to achieve the financial independence you need to reach your long-term goals? For...