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I love it when we’re about to experience a weather “event” – and when did a snowstorm become a snow “event”? What does that even mean? But, I digress. It’s fun to watch the competing weather forecasters on local TV: which one takes his jacket off first, which one rolls up his sleeves first, when does she announce she’ll be in the studio all night just for us? And, don’t forget, run to Kroger and get all the bread and milk your arms can carry!

Enjoy this month’s edition that features a SUMMARY OF MATERIAL CHANGES for Moneywatch Advisors’ ADV, Brochure Part 2, a reminder about tax return reviews and a chart of the S&P 500 from 1955 to present.

I often tell my kids the best way to make yourself feel better when you’re down is to do something nice for someone else. It may be counter-intuitive, but it really works. Feeling sorry for yourself when you’ve had a bad day – or bad week – only makes you feel sorrier for yourself. Doing something nice for someone else, however, even as small as holding a door or complimenting someone on their appearance, can help you snap out of your funk.

As you might expect, it is quite common for people to visit us at Moneywatch as they are in their 50’s and 60’s and can, maybe for the first time, actually envision a time when they will be retired. Although they, correctly, have a myriad of financial questions that I will describe later, the question WE ask THEM is – What’s your grand plan? Meaning, you have plenty of life left, how do you plan on living it?

Simply put, fee-only financial planners – like Moneywatch Advisors – are compensated by the clients they serve, no one else. As a result, their loyalty is to their clients and only their clients. Fee-based financial planners charge you and then are often paid a commission from a 3rd party company to sell you their products, too. So, where is their loyalty?

This week’s post will not contain any advice on financial planning or investments or how much to save to achieve financial freedom. Today, I take a break from that to discuss what may be the most important issue in America today: keeping our children safe while in school. I was recently appointed to the District Safety Advisory Council organized by Fayette County Superintendent Manny Caulk. This Council is charged with “developing specific and actionable recommendations” on ways to make our schools safer. We had our first meeting on March 1 and will submit our recommendations no later than the first week of April, so this is designed to be a crisp process.

I get asked all the time by both clients and prospective clients – how am I doing? Personally, I like Chris Rock’s line on relative wealth: “If Bill Gates woke up with Oprah’s money, he’d jump out the window.” Perspective is an amazing thing.

It isn’t at all unusual for someone in their 50’s or even early 60’s to ask us for advice as they approach retirement with too little savings. As you might guess, there are as many reasons for being behind as there are people: a late start saving, frequent job changes, personal student loan debt, college expenses for their children, or just plain bad luck. Our first advice? Forgive yourself, your predicament is not about the past, it’s about the future. Let’s consider Joey’s story:

I have a fond memory of my maternal Grandfather sitting me down soon before I graduated from college and telling me, “Steve, whatever you do, don’t borrow money.” While Grandpa John lived far from an easy life as a dairy farmer in Nebraska, he and his mother did inherit the farm when his father died so he didn’t have to incur debt to get started. Circumstances are just different now. Buying a home or even a car is almost impossible without a mortgage or car loan. According to AARP, larger mortgages, higher student loans and a greater overall comfort with debt than displayed by earlier generations has increased the average debt for households approaching retirement by nearly 160% from 1989 to 2010.