Family
Feng Shui and Money
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAA friend of mine had a Feng Shui expert look over her house this weekend. She invited me to come over and watch. Tons can be done to attract wealth into your life, she told me. While I found the in-depth Feng Shui so complex and complicated...
How Much Shopping Is Too Much?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAFlipping through the latest In Style last night, I realized how easy it is to feel that the price tags for the things magazine editors like to tell us we absolutely must have are out of line with our earnings. The consensus among those in...
Achieve financial independence
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAMy brother and I had a long talk about financial independence last night, over the most delicious Crème Brûlée. I realized how much the two have in common! Both the dessert and the concept are things everybody craves – yet very few have a...
The right time to retire
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWhen should I retire? a woman called me up to ask today. I found it charming; quaint, even, to make such a complex question sound so simple. If only it were so simple that I could just have spouted out age 65 or 55. Would not it be...
Renting vs. owning your home
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAMy cousin had his house appraised today, and he was not happy. Of course, he’s far from the only one feeling this way. With the US real estate markets free falling like rocks dumped from skyscrapers, an increasing number of people are...
Leave a legacy for loved ones
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWhen should I start saving for my children? a thirty-something mother of two asked me today. Right now, I suggested. She looked puzzled. Wasn’t it a little early? They are, after all, only two and four. I told her that if she is serious...
Live a More Joyful and Prosperous Life
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI read in the paper today that only about 20% of Americans enjoy their jobs, and even fewer feel they are getting paid what they deserve. As though this weren’t bad enough, a large portion of our precious free time tends to get eaten up by...
Ease money record-keeping burdens
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAMy assistant burst into my office this morning, wild-eyed. Had I seen the $200 she had in the pocket of her trench coat three days ago? Nope. She decided to dig through her purse – oversize albeit exploding with receipts – yet another time....
Generate a steady stream of retirement income
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI feel like we all need to have extra strong antacids to deal with the chaotic behavior of the market. With the US stock markets as steady as, say, a blind man on stilts, stability and safety are the topics on everyone’s minds. How do I put...
Monitoring your spending
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI heard on the radio today that the average Starbucks customer spends close to $6 per visit, 18 times per month. That adds up to a whopping $1,296 per year, which he or she otherwise could have invested. Now, this is not a Starbucks rant...
Handle your money with confidence
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFALast night, the man in front of me in line at the grocery store spent a good five minutes taking things out of his cart, only to add them back a moment later, and then remove them again. Turns out he was running low on cash, and was only...
Protect against financial risks
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWith the stock market behaving like a roller coaster carnival ride more people are looking for the riskless way to invest. A prospective client came in today to see if I had any ideas for risk-free investments and it got me thinking. I very...
