financial planning

Example 671 of Why to Think Long Term

It isn't often I get a chance to impress a bunch of 20 year-olds, otherwise known as my kids, but it happened yesterday. We are down in Florida on vacation, and over breakfast--well brunch; they don't get up early--I said with absolutely confidence that I could predict how the stock market would do for the day.I promised it would drop. How did I know? I didn't of course. But I did read a story in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal about how stocks were up 20% from their November lows. The story went on to hint that maybe the carnage on Wall Street was over. Any time a media person says "A," think "Z" and so I predicted the down day and I was correct. The Dow fell 2.7% The point: Ignore day to day gyrations in the market. More…

3 End of the Year Moves

In “The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio,” a movie that more people should have seen, the lead character (played by Julianne Moore) has a wonderful line. At the end of a particularly awful 24-hours, she says, “I am going to bed. I am tired of this day, I want a new one.” Well, we are all tired of this year. But before we say good riddance to 2008, there are three things you should consider doing. 1.Write an extra mortgage check. If you make your January 2009 mortgage payment this month, you will be able to claim the January interest on your 2008 tax return. (The only down side? You will need to pay January 2010’s mortgage next December as well in order to deduct 12 months of interest during 2009.) More…