Read Doug’s articles originally printed in The Jerusalem Post.
Profile Perspectives
Proper financial planning can change your relationship with money.
Marrying Off Your Children
Congratulations on the big news: your child has announced his or her engagement. Perhaps you’d like to use the following letter to express some thoughts on money and financial security to the blissful young couple:
Dear ______ and fiancé/e,
We are thrilled that you have found someone to live with happily ever after…. Read more
It’s Never Too Early
As the medical adage goes, “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” This expression rings true when it comes to personal finances, too. As any financial professional might tell you, people who are deep in debt due to bad spending habits find their bad fiscal habits extremely difficult to change…. Read more
Don’t Gamble Unless You Can Afford to Lose
How much risk can you comfortably afford to take with your investment portfolio?
The answer depends on three things:
The size of your safety zone.
Zvi Bodie, a finance professor at Boston University, says the assets that cover your needs (as opposed to your wants) should be a “safety zone” and invested more conservatively than the rest of your portfolio…. Read more
Living Too Long is a Financial Disaster
I frequently joke with financial planning clients that dying young increases the success of a plan, since it means life-savings need to last for fewer years. However, since there isn’t a way to accurately predict lifespans, it’s prudent to take a longer lifespan into consideration when planning. Better be safe than to run out of money!… Read more
The #1 Wrong Reason to Make Investment Decisions
Have you ever stopped to think what motivates your investment decisions? For example, do you hold onto a particular stock because you received it as an inheritance and don’t want to sell it? When the market drops, do you find yourself automatically selling all your stocks to protect you from a potential market crash?… Read more
Is There a Better Way to Monitor Financial Success than Measuring Your Net Worth?
Hopefully, as time goes on, your net worth will increase. However, monitoring your liquid net worth may not be the best way to track your financial progress. This is because savings for a real-estate purchase or other large ticket items can skew the picture. Is it really fair to include savings in your net worth when it may already be “spoken for?” If you buy a $30,000 car,… Read more
Switching Social Security Deposits from One Brokerage to Another
Many Americans in Israel received a surprise letter from their U.S.brokerage firm letting them know that their brokerage accounts couldn’t be serviced because they had an Israeli address on file. The lawyers for the U.S. brokerage firm felt that their firm couldn’t conduct business inIsraeland, as such, clients were left in the lurch…. Read more
Don’t Let Retirement Creep Up on You
Sometimes we are so busy living our lives that we don’t notice the years going by. Suddenly, the “baby” starts high school and the soldiers look younger every day. Before you know it, it will be time to consider retirement.
The main problem with not noticing the years going by is that retirement can creep up on you and catch you off guard. … Read more
You Are Your Family’s CEO
Running your household and raising your family are possibly the greatest investments that you will ever make. The more that you invest, the greater the returns, and even though the risks may be higher than anything on the stock market, the dividends that you will receive are more than priceless.
Indeed,… Read more
Want to Do Business in South Africa?
In order for any economy to grow, the country needs a stable government. Recently the South African government identified six items that they will focus on in order to jump start their economy by 2030. Learn more about this initiative from South African businessman, Liron Mazor, founder of Greengrass Wealth Management in South Aftrica…. Read more