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MONEY matters

Mark Zaifman's thoughts on money, global economic trends and politics
Is Your Retirement 10-Years Away or Sooner?
Mark Zaifman   |    Fri, Oct 23, 2015 @ 01:51 PM

If your retirement is 10-years away or sooner, you'll want to read, Get What’s Yours - The Secret To Maxing Out Your Social Security by Laurence Kotlikoff, Philip Moeller and Paul Solomon

One of the most overlooked elements of preparing for a successful retirement is deciding when to start drawing your Social Security. If you’re a married couple, the decision becomes even more complex.

Up until recently, the majority of people, usually by default, either started collecting Social Security at their full retirement age, early, at age 62, or waiting if possible until age 70. Simple on the surface right, three relatively easy choices.

Guess what. There are dozens of Social Security strategies that most people are unaware of. And remember, in the game of money, strategy is king.

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Beware of 'IRA Rollover Specialists' Masquerading as Financial Advisors
Mark Zaifman   |    Fri, May 15, 2015 @ 06:33 PM

False Promises, Dashed Dreams

A couple weeks ago, a client in Oakland emailed me an article from Money Magazine titled: 4 Disastrous Retirement Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.

The premise of this must read article for anyone getting close to retirement and wanting to rollover their IRA is to see past the hype being touting by many a financial salesperson masquerading as an advisor, but really only concerned with their commission payout and not your financial wellness and security.

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Think and Grow Rich for Women
Mark Zaifman   |    Thu, Jul 31, 2014 @ 04:44 PM

With so many books about money being published, how does one book set itself apart from another?

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Is the U.S. Stock Market Rigged?
Mark Zaifman   |    Fri, Jun 27, 2014 @ 03:46 PM

I just finished reading Flash Boys, A Wall Street Revolt, written by bestselling author Michael Lewis. The revelations in the book about how the stock market is being manipulated and rigged by high-frequency traders that have the advantage of speed, measured in milliseconds (a millisecond is a thousandth of a second) reads like one of your favorite mystery novels, only in this case, it’s not fiction but reality.

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Yes + Yes = Retirement Planning Success
Mark Zaifman   |    Tue, Mar 11, 2014 @ 03:33 PM
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How to Turbo Charge Your Financial Plan? Be a Fearless Dreamer.
Mark Zaifman   |    Wed, Jan 22, 2014 @ 09:43 AM

I am pro-dream. There, I said it.

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The Seven Habits of Frugal Millionaires
Mark Zaifman   |    Thu, Oct 31, 2013 @ 10:27 AM

Like most financial advisors that have been in practice for over ten years, I have my fair share of clients that are millionaires. So with that said, what makes our millionaire clients different than your “average run of the mill” millionaire client? The answer; the majority are frugal and proud of it.

If you’ve read the best-seller, The Millionaire Next Door, you know many of the people portrayed in the book are, relatively speaking, pretty frugal. Keeping that thought in mind, and based on years of observation, below are the seven most common frugal habits of Spiritus millionaires.

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5 Quick Tips for Setting Realistic Financial Goals
Mark Zaifman   |    Thu, Jul 18, 2013 @ 09:49 AM

If you’re the type of person that’s a planner by nature, then most likely you’re also good at establishing financial goals grounded in reality, goals that are achievable, and that also require a bit of a stretch. After all, if you’re goal oriented, setting goals that are too easy to reach can’t compare to the thrill of reaching or exceeding a personally challenging goal.

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Setting Goals and Living Your Dream - If Not Now, When?
Pat Chiappa   |    Thu, Apr 18, 2013 @ 09:18 AM

I've noticed that there is a sense of urgency as you get older, time speeds up, the questions of a good life lived haunt and nag. For some, that 'as you get older' point is approaching 60, for others it's turning 30, but at whatever the age the questions start, you might want to give them some attention.

Adam Shepard was a 30 year old with more than a mild case of wanderlust - he wanted to fully live every single moment, not to miss a single opportunity presented to him, to really experience life in every way possible. So he sold everything, took off for a year and then wrote a book about his experiences called 'One Year Lived'.  But before he did any of that - he carefully developed a plan on how to accomplish his dream. Adam is not a Spiritus client, but someone who sets goals and achieves them, he’s a follower of his dreams, a thoughtful and careful life-planner, a risk-taker and an incredibly enthusiastic and over all friendly guy. And his book is not just interesting in terms of experiencing other cultures and countries through his eyes, but he’s crazy funny in his descriptions and in the situations he gets himself into.

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My Money, My Mind and My Life - Guest Post by a Spiritus Client
Mark Zaifman   |    Mon, Feb 18, 2013 @ 10:12 AM

This is a guest post from one of my dear clients Stacie, who I wrote about in an earlier blogpost about her budding journey toward living her own dream.

 

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