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A Special Announcement:

If you’re like me and like to give books as gifts or just want a list of book recommendations for yourself, below are the books I read this year along with a brief review. While I enjoyed every book on this list, those I highly recommend are highlighted in bold. And, you’ll note, not a single one on finance or investing – these books are for my down time. Merry Christmas!

Have you ever lay in bed dreaming what you would do with a sudden financial windfall? Would you buy a new house or travel around the world or buy a ridiculously expensive car? Would you quit your job? Or would you create a plan to segment your newfound wealth into buckets in a reasoned, thoughtful way? Maybe 1/3 to your future, 1/3 to charity and 1/3 to the blow it out, crazy, can’t remember where that came from fun bucket?

Recently I came across separate articles of two different athletes who earned a lot of money in a short time but approached their new financial standing in completely different ways. Here are their stories:

Enjoy this month’s edition that features an announcement by TD Ameritrade, a reminder of year-end distributions and 2020 contribution limits.

Charles Schwab to Acquire TD Ameritrade

As I penned this blog on the back of a barf bag while stuck on a Southwest plane waiting to have it’s malfunctioning electro-optical peanut butter sensor repaired, it seemed an appropriate time to remind myself of a few of the many, many things I’m grateful for.

Did you owe tax last year after the federal tax law changes? I did. Last year the IRS changed withholding guidance for employers that may have put more money into our checks but left us with a larger payment at tax time. Now is the time to check whether you’ll owe or get a refund and how to adjust if you need to.

Enjoy this month’s edition that features a best practice on your accounts plus commentary on investments so far this year.

Save the Date for the Moneywatch holiday party and open house on Thursday, December 12 from 4:00-7:00 PM.

The Medicare alphabet soup of options reminds me of that old Abbott & Costello routine, “Who’s on first?” where Abbott’s list of the baseball team’s players – Who, What, etc. – is also a non-responsive answer to Costello’s questions. Don’t remember that? Good for you, Medicare is probably years away. Chuckle, like me, when you think of that bit? Probably need to pay attention to this.

When you go to a car dealership you expect to be sold a car, right? In fact, they’re called salespeople. You both know the relationship of the other so you know what to expect. No problem.

Similarly, if you go see a financial advisor you expect to get advice. But, how do you know if that advisor is truly providing advice for you or really just trying to sell you something, such as life insurance or an annuity?

I love the big pass play in college football. In fact, one of my fondest football memories is the Andre Woodson to Stevie Johnson touchdown pass to beat Louisville in 2007. Even today, watching that play on YouTube gives me goose bumps. One thing I don’t care for, however, is the “expert” in the stands constantly yelling at the offensive coordinator to “throw the deep ball!” As much as I love them, those are low-percentage plays that are prone to incompletions or, worse, interceptions. They add risk to the team’s goals to score and win and should only be employed within the overall game plan.