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Articles from Justin Krane | Selfgrowth.com
- Inflation vs. You – Who Wins? - by Submitted on May 22, 2012 from Justin Krane“Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for a ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair.” -Sam Ewing Remember when it used to cost $5 to go to the movies? How about gas prices at $2 a gallon? A stamp was 20 cents? Every year prices rise and things cost more ...
Views: 11(1 vote) - Correlation and Your Portfolio - by Submitted on May 18, 2012 from Justin KraneWhat Is Correlation and How It Effects Your Portfolio You just got on the freeway and are going 65 miles per hour. All of a sudden you hit some traffic. You’re now driving 10 miles per hour and you decide to change lanes. Whoops – bad move. The lane you change into slows down, and the lane ...
Views: 18 - Our Deficit, Our Financial Future - by Submitted on Apr 18, 2012 from Justin KraneOur deficit — still major, still huge. Over one trillion. To deal with our deficit, Obama is making the case for the Buffett rule to go into effect. It states that any taxpayer making over a million bucks should pay a minimum tax of 30%. Buffet made his case for this in a NY Times op-ed ...
Views: 21 - Business Insurance for Natural Disasters - by Submitted on Mar 09, 2012 from Justin KraneDon't Wait for Disaster to Hit. Business Insurance is a Must for Every Business. You think it will never happen until it happens to you. That's exactly what happened to small businesses in five states this week. More than 150 tornadoes devastated people's homes and personal lives as well as ...
Views: 22 - Getting a Business Loan - by Submitted on Mar 09, 2012 from Justin KraneBefore You Apply For That Business Loan . . . The landscape certainly has changed for small businesses when it comes to getting a business loan. What used to be green terrain has become pretty barren and bleak. In fact, having access to capital is one of the biggest issues for small business ...
Views: 25 - Hiring Employees: 4 Things for Your Must-Do List - by Submitted on Mar 05, 2012 from Justin KraneHiring employees? Do it the right way. You can’t build an empire all by yourself. You know that. You know you can’t wear all the hats because you’d drive yourself crazy trying to grow your business. So chances are, you’re hiring employees. Here are 4 things to put on your must-do list when ...
Views: 25 - Should You Still Invest in Gold? - by Submitted on Feb 03, 2012 from Justin KraneInvest in Gold. Still a Smart Move for Your Portfolio Wow, another reminder to invest in gold! Debka.com is reporting that India will use gold to buy oil from Iran. India spends around $12 billion dollars a year to buy oil from Iran. China is expected to use gold as the unit of currency to ...
Views: 40 - Invest in Your Business or Retirement? - by Submitted on Feb 03, 2012 from Justin KraneWhether To Invest in Your Business or Retirement. It’s Not an Either-Or. I get this question all the time from business owners about where to invest. Should you invest in your business or should you invest in an IRA for retirement? My simple shpiel? You have to do both. Then I hear ...
Views: 30 - Get Out of Credit Card Debt - by Submitted on Feb 03, 2012 from Justin KraneCredit Card Debt Traps Less U.S. Consumers CreditKarma.com has reported that consumers cut their credit card debt by 11%! The average credit card balance for 2011 was $6576, compared to $7404 in 2010. This is good stuff! The way we get into credit card debt in the first place is by ...
Views: 69 - 4 Year CD Goldman Sachs Style - by Submitted on Feb 03, 2012 from Justin KraneNew 4 Year CD Tied To DJ Industrial. Will Wall Street Ever Learn? Check this out. Goldman Sachs is selling a 4 year CD that is linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Another product designed by Wall St. to be sold rather than bought by investors. This 4 year CD is FDIC insured and ...
Views: 33 - Do You Need to Hire an Employee? - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2011 from Justin KraneYou are swamped. You are 2 days behind on your emails at work. You have a presentation in 3 days that you haven’t even started. Client meetings that you haven’t prepared for. Your nanny just called in sick and you are scrambling to find coverage. Things are falling through the cracks. You are ...
Views: 80(1 vote) - Can You Get In On the Facebook IPO? - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2011 from Justin KraneThe Facebook IPO Is Coming Soon But How Public Is It Really? You love Facebook. You believe in it. You want a piece of it. So you want to get in on the Facebook IPO. But to do that, you have to be an “accredited investor,” meaning that your net worth needs to be above $1 million, your annual ...
Views: 194(1 vote) - Tax Planning and Your CPA - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2011 from Justin KraneWant Smooth Sailing for Your Tax Planning? Get Your CPA On Board. Taxes, tax planning, estimated tax payments, your CPA. Feeling nauseous yet? Need a brown paper bag? It doesn’t have to be this way. Like most people, you are not wired to deal with this tax stuff. You are not supposed to be ...
Views: 52 - Selling Your Business for Retirement Funding - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2011 from Justin KraneNot Selling Your Business? You Are Leaving Money on the Table Many of you business owners don’t realize that your business can be a great source for adding money to your retirement nest egg. Because of that, you don’t take the necessary steps and plans for selling your business as you near ...
Views: 54 - Long Term Care Insurance - by Submitted on Nov 04, 2011 from Justin KraneWhat if it was a requirement that you have a long term care conversation with your financial advisor on the same day you get your first colonoscopy? Talk about a double whammy! Did you know that nearly 40% of people over age 65 will spend some time in a nursing home? According to The Money ...
Views: 57 - A Laddered Bond Portfolio Can Reduce Nausea - by Submitted on Nov 01, 2011 from Justin KraneBill Gross is the bond king. He manages the largest actively managed bond fund called Pimco Total Return, with $240 billion in assets. This is one of the first years in a long time that he has underperformed his benchmark. From Jan 1, 2001 through 9/30/2011, his fund is up 1.90%, vs. his ...
Views: 49 - What is Alternative Minimum Tax? - by Submitted on Oct 31, 2011 from Justin KraneYou May Be Subject To Alternative Minimum Tax and Not Even Know The Consequences The Alternative Minimum Tax was introduced by the IRS in 1969 and instituted for wealthy people who were eligible for special tax benefits – and thus owed little or no taxes. Based on a number of factors, more ...
Views: 38 - Mortgage Refinance to the Rescue - by Submitted on Oct 25, 2011 from Justin KraneRefinancers, HARP on This! A few years ago, you bought a house. You came in with your 25% down. And... poof, today, you've got nada, zilch, nothing, no equity in your house. It's gonzo and a mortgage refinance is next to impossible. Some of your peeps are able to do a mortgage refinance ...
Views: 102 - Occupy Wall Street and Your Financial Plan - by Submitted on Oct 27, 2011 from Justin KraneThe Occupy Wall Street movement came out of nowhere. In just 4 weeks we have a movement that has gained some real traction. Here is where I agree with them. • Whatever happened to the executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? The company executives made gazillions of dollars at the expense ...
Views: 75 - Should You Still Short Sell Stocks - by Submitted on Oct 16, 2011 from Justin KraneThe Dow was at 11,000 5 years ago. And as I write this, it’s at 11,000 today! The Dow’s price hasn’t changed but the amount of stock held short (basically people betting that stocks will go down. Read below for an explanation of how short selling works) is higher than 5 years ago (Data ...
Views: 54 - The Art of Working with a Bookkeeper - by Submitted on Oct 16, 2011 from Justin KraneYou have made the decision to hire a bookkeeper. Congratulations because now you will have more time to focus on making more money in your business. So let's make sure you get your money's worth! Here are 7 things you should do when you start working with a bookkeeper. 1. Share Your ...
Views: 79(1 vote) - 4 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make With Retirement Planning - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2011 from Justin KraneHere are four common mistakes entrepreneurs make when it comes to retirement planning. Start now and you can avoid and/or correct these pitfalls. Mistake #1: You plan on selling your business in the year you want to retire. Then you will take that money and live off it. But what happens if ...
Views: 139 - Is a Roth IRA Conversion for You? - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2011 from Justin KraneWhen people ask for suggestions on financial planning opportunities, I tell them two words. Roth IRA. How great would it be if you didn't have to pay taxes when you take distributions from your retirement account when you retire? Maybe you could retire earlier! Or you may be able to save ...
Views: 130 - Your Biggest Financial Risk - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2011 from Justin KraneWhen it comes to investing, many of us are so concerned about losing money that we forget why we are investing in the first place. We are investing to reach some goal, some goal that we set in today’s dollars in our minds. When we plan for a goal that is far away, say 10, 15 years in the future, ...
Views: 61 - Behavioral Finance – Part 2 - by Submitted on Jul 22, 2011 from Justin KraneBehavioral finance is a type of finance that examines the psychological aspects about how we make decisions about money. This is part two where we will examine two more theories of behavioral finance and how it effects our financial decisions. The first one is called “anchoring bias” and to ...
Views: 419(2 votes) - Behavioral Finance – Part 1 - by Submitted on Jul 25, 2011 from Justin KraneBehavioral finance examines the psychological aspects about how we make decisions about money. This is part one where we will examine two theories of behavioral finance and how it effects our financial decisions. Hopefully, you'll have a better understanding of which and how these theories ...
Views: 417(2 votes) - Retirement Planning and Ingredients To Consider When Baking Your Retirement Cake - by Submitted on Jul 22, 2011 from Justin KraneIn the Olympics, you may have had a chance to watch a track and field superstar win a gold medal. Once they cross the finish line, their sheer excitement, happiness, and pride for their country is the engine that makes them take that victory lap. The pressure is gone, the results of the hard ...
Views: 118 - Money Doesn't Always Buy Happiness - by Submitted on Jun 22, 2011 from Justin KraneI rarely share stories I get via email but this one really touched me. It's one we should all remember when it comes to our lives and money. A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door. "Daddy, may I ask you a ...
Views: 190(1 vote) - Protect Your Assets With Disability Insurance - by Submitted on Jun 22, 2011 from Justin KraneMost of us think that our portfolio, home equity or business is our largest asset. But what about our ability to produce income? Assume you and/or your business earns $200,000 per year: The present value of making $200,000 a year for the next 5 years is $890,364. In other words, if you ...
Views: 121 - What is Financial Risk and is it Quantifiable? - by Submitted on Jun 22, 2011 from Justin KraneFor most of us, when we think of the word risk, we think of losing money. We think of the unknown and what could go wrong. Have you ever heard of the term standard deviation? It may be the measure that you are looking for to assess the overall volatility of your portfolio and your financial ...
Views: 99 - Get What You Want With Your Personal Finances - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2011 from Justin KraneLearn from the Weight Watchers program: 6 Ways to Get What You Want With Your Personal Finances 1. The point system keeps you in check and provides flexibility. You can eat some foods that you love just as long as you don't go over the allotted points per day. Develop a saving and spending ...
Views: 80 - The Ins and Outs of Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPPs) - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2011 from Justin KraneIf you work at a public company, chances are that your company offers you a way to buy stock in your company at a discount. It’s a way of saving and investing automatically where your investment gets deducted from your paycheck. There is no tax deduction – you are using after tax money to buy ...
Views: 57 - Tax Loss Harvesting - Making Lemonade Out of Lemons - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2011 from Justin KraneHas the volatility of the stock market got you thinking about what to do? Now may be the right time to make your own lemonade stand. Consider doing some tax loss harvesting. So how does this work? Selling securities at a loss can offset your capital gains tax liability. At the end of the ...
Views: 60 - Financial Planning For Special Needs Children - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2011 from Justin KraneEach time my kids achieve something for the first time that they have been trying to do for a while, they become proud of themselves and gain confidence. Whether it's tying their shoes or writing their names for the very first time, they see that they can overcome an obstacle and succeed at ...
Views: 63 - Charitable Giving and Your Personal Finances - by Submitted on May 24, 2011 from Justin KranePhilanthropy is Full-Anthropy Has anyone ever asked you what you would do if you had all of the money in the world? Most commonly, people respond with, "I'd buy a bigger house or travel." This is often followed by, "I'd donate more money to charity." People who are charitably inclined ...
Views: 101 - Let’s Hug It Out With Bonds - by Submitted on May 24, 2011 from Justin Krane4 Reasons Why Bonds May Fit In Your Portfolio We’re going to take a peek at how bonds could fit into your portfolio and why you would want to buy them. 1. Your portfolio lost over 30% in 2008. You are approaching retirement and you don’t have the earnings power to make up huge losses ...
Views: 91 - How Bonds Work - by Submitted on May 26, 2011 from Justin Krane9 Key Points to Better Understand Bonds Out of all of the investment conversations I have with my clients, it seems that most of them don’t understand what bonds are and how they could fit into their portfolio. Do You “Get” Bonds? 1. A bond is debt. When you buy a bond, you lend your ...
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