by Douglas Goldstein | Apr 4, 2017 | Financial Plan, Podcasts |
As America is a world leader in energy production and technology, the U.S. economy is one of the most powerful economies on this planet. America is also one of the world’s largest consumer markets. If you are tempted to benefit from the growth in the U.S. economy by investing in American companies, consider following this chess strategy. Also download a free tool to find out what your risk tolerance level is.... Click for more
by Doug Goldstein CFP® | Mar 28, 2017 | Chess |
Today, more and more schools around the world are teaching children how to play chess. But you don’t have to confine your child’s chess lessons to the classroom. If you want your child to learn to play chess, sign up for a free copy of a Chess Teaching Guide for Teachers and Parents by Grandmaster Susan Polgar. What are the benefits of playing chess? Playing chess can help you improve your analytical thinking skills, confidence, and overall health. Murray Thompson, of Flinders University in Australia, carried out a study on whether playing chess improves scholastic achievements, measured by an increase in IQ levels. He concluded that IQ increased as a result of playing chess due to the concentration and logical thinking that players use when planning and making their moves. Several studies conducted among schoolchildren found that children who learn chess in school develop strong verbal, intellectual, and numerical abilities. For this reason, countries such as Armenia, Norway, and Spain teach chess as a compulsory school subject. Chess in the Schools teaches inner city public school students how to play chess as a means to improve their academic performance and aspire to better lives. (To watch a video of an interview with the chair emeritus of Chess in the Schools, Lewis Cullman, click here.) Another study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that when people 75+ played chess and other intellectually stimulating games, they were less likely to develop dementia than their non-game-playing peers. Chess can also teach financial skills Apart from all of the intellectual benefits that chess provides, you can also apply chess logic... Click for more
by Douglas Goldstein | Mar 21, 2017 | Chess Strategies, Podcasts, Strategic Thinking |
Higher education is a great investment for your future, but is it worth taking on student debt? How much debt is your degree worth, and how will you repay it? This financial podcast warns you about two major pitfalls of student loans. If you already have student debt, download a free tool to help you accelerate paying it back.... Click for more
by Doug Goldstein CFP® | Mar 14, 2017 | Chess Strategies, Strategic Thinking |
What happens if you make a mistake when filing your tax return? Regardless of whether it was an innocent error or a purposeful act of omission, your signature on a completed form attests to its accuracy. While sometimes the tax code has broad interpretations, filings need to be accurate. (Disclosure: I am a Certified Financial Planner and not a tax advisor. See a qualified accountant/tax lawyer for your tax questions.) What should you do if the IRS finds a mistake? The penalties for owing tax to the IRS can be quite severe, ranging from fines to jail time, depending on the problem. If the IRS catches you in a deliberate lie, you are in a very sticky situation. What should you do if you’ve made a mistake on your tax return? Go for the stalemate with the IRS This scenario can be compared to being backed into a corner during a game of chess. Your king is threatened all around and you know that it is impossible to win. What do you do? The answer is to go for a stalemate, as a stalemate is always better than a loss. Rather than hiding a problem or ignoring it, deal with it as best you can. You may still have to pay tax or interest, but this is better going to jail. A stalemate is not always a negative thing. You may not win the game of chess – or chase away the IRS, but at least you didn’t lose. Watch Grandmaster Susan Polgar demonstrate how to use a stalemate in a game of chess in this two-minute video. Page... Click for more
by Douglas Goldstein | Mar 7, 2017 | Chess Strategies, Financial Strategies, Podcasts |
Baby boomers are approaching retirement. Find out about a strategy baby boomers can use to help them have a successful retirement. Click here to use the “lunch savings calculator” to help you prepare your finances for the future – no matter how old you are. This link is good for baby boomers as well as anyone else planning to retire one... Click for more
by Doug Goldstein CFP® | Feb 28, 2017 | Chess, Decision Making |
The way you play chess can shed light on how you manage your money. If you are a careful chess player and keep track of your moves, you might find a budgeting tracker a useful tool. In chess, you have a set number of pieces. In order to win, you need to use each piece in the most efficient way that you can. Rather than randomly moving around the board, you need to plan your moves based on the pieces you have available and where they are in relation to your opponent’s pieces. Similarly, when it comes to your monthly budget, you need to look at each dollar you have and use it most efficiently. If you don’t use what you have wisely, you may be left short before you get your next paycheck. If you don’t follow a budget, you won’t know where your money goes. This is why a budget tracker is extremely helpful. It allows you to become organized and methodical with your spending. The best budget trackers help you monitor your expenses, categorize them, and break them down so that you can plan better where to spend your money. Don’t let budgeting intimidate you Sometimes people feel overwhelmed when they first start tracking their expenses. Watching the list of categories where you spend money grow as you go through the month can be quite intimidating. Don’t let this scare you. Once you know exactly where your money is going, you will have a better idea of what you could cut. Budgeting is one of the most efficient ways to make the best use of your... Click for more
by Douglas Goldstein | Feb 21, 2017 | Chess, Decision Making, Podcasts, Strategic Thinking |
Can you afford to be financially optimistic in today’s volatile market? Susan Polgar’s stories about how she became a chess grandmaster are an inspiring illustration of how optimism can can pave the path to success. Find out why a positive outlook is one of the most useful tools for success, in chess, investing, and in life in... Click for more
by Doug Goldstein CFP® | Feb 14, 2017 | Chess Strategies, Financial Plan |
How can you improve your investment account management? The answer is to consolidate your investments. If your investments are scattered among different companies, it’s difficult to keep track of what you own, and you may even have duplicate investments. Additionally, you may end up paying more in fees to maintain multiple accounts. To manage your investments more efficiently, follow this chess strategy: Consolidate your assets After a chess team participates in a competition, they review their games and perform a “post mortem” together. The coach and the players analyze the games so that everyone will play better in the future. This purpose of this is to learn from both the good and bad moves, to make the next game even better. The players consolidate their brain power (their assets), to become more effective. This same teamwork applies to managing your money. Your coach (your financial advisor) and your team (your lawyers, accountants, and other professionals) should all look at your portfolio from different perspectives. Each angle brings a unique view to the overall picture. Consolidate your brokerage accounts If your assets are spread out among different firms, your financial advisor won’t know about all of your investments and therefore won’t be able to keep track of them. Without the entire financial picture, he won’t be able to advise you properly. Instead, use one firm – and one advisor – to oversee all your investment or brokerage accounts. Choose one main financial advisor to ACAT (automatic account transfer) accounts from the other brokerage firms into his firm. For example, you could consolidate your IRA accounts, 401(k) accounts, CDs, and bank deposits all into the same firm. This way, all of your assets will... Click for more
