TheLiveBigWay® Digest – Authentic Conversations

Expert Spotlight: Dr. Jim McCabe on Authentic Conversations

Eldercare expert, Dr. Jim McCabe, recently took some time to reflect on many of the families he has worked with over the years and the challenges they have faced together. One of those challenges, is the ability of adult children to have productive and satisfying conversations with their parents about what they need as they age. This is typically the case for several reasons even in the healthiest family systems, Jim says. In this post, Jim shares his expertise on this topic and identifies the critical steps that need to be addressed to have truly authentic conversations.

Portfolio Update:Toward a Better Bond Balance

As you  may recall, at the end of 2013 we decided to reel in the average maturity of the bonds in our portfolios because we were concerned about the prospect of rising interest rates (Investment Update: Going Short (Really Short!)). A little over a year later, the outlook for rising rates is pretty modest. As a result of several triggers, we were inclined to go back to the drawing board to analyze the upside yield potential of slightly extended maturities against the downside price risk of rising rates. Read on to learn more about the triggers that inspired us to re-evaluate the bond balance and the decision we concluded from the analysis.

Tax day is next week on Wednesday, April 15th, which marks the deadline for making a contribution to a Traditional or Rollover IRA, Roth IRA, Health Savings Account (HSA), SEP-IRA or Solo 401(k). If you file an extension then the latter two can receive contributions until October 15th. We will be sending emails to request 2014 Federal and State Returns from Clients shortly after April 15th to help us better serve our Clients throughout the year. If you already have a copy of your tax return, you may send the document to us using any of the methods described here.