Not at all, @starkemmy - thanks for the reply! I don't know about you, but I'm a proponent of people taking a lifelong journey of self-discovery, because I find that even just believing that you were put

Can you give an example of a real-life situation someone was facing and how you coached them to reframe their thinking on the situation into something positive? (No need for real names or anything that

Hi @whitesj40. I thought you might find the following article of interest:

Right. The point I'm making is that since a company's ability to profit doesn't depend on the performance of its stock price (although, sooner or later, the stock price will be affected by the company's

Something else to take into consideration: When you buy shares of a company on a stock exchange, your money doesn't actually go to that company; it goes to whoever sold you those shares. The company got

Yes, every IUL I've seen offers at minimum a fixed account and an S&P 500-indexed account, and most people I know who invest in the latter type of account have been happy with it. Some IULs offer a

Thank you for these photos! They convey a charming town.

What a great quote! "Wish others well, and their success won't limit yours."

A great mentor of mine said that life doesn't give you what you want until it's convinced that you're serious. When you're pursuing a goal and it feels like life is conspiring against you, it's really

Yes, the level premiums of whole life make those policies more expensive in the early years, while the fact that universal life gets more expensive later on means you'll want to max out your contributions

Smart moves, @whitesj40! Making just Roth contributions, contributing just enough to max out the company match, and utilizing other tax-free strategies. By the way, what type of universal life do you have?

An addendum: If you're working with a fee-based advisor, they may be able to get you a special class of variable annuity that's recognizable by the presence of terms like "advisor" or

True, but you come across as someone who has the knowledge and discipline to impose rules on yourself that give you more flexibility while still keeping you from royally screwing yourself. (Of course,

Northrop Grumman is one prominent example of a company that uses Fidelity as the recordkeeper for its 401(k) and allows plan participants to open a BrokerageLink account.

Sheesh! This is yet another example of why I say that if you're a disciplined trader/investor working with a reliable trading/investing system, most workplace retirement plans will make you feel like an

Thank you for this, @surfermarly!

Since your 401(k) is with Fidelity, does it allow you to open a BrokerageLink account? That's Fidelity's brand name for optional self-directed brokerage accounts within workplace plans that they run, but

I've actually never followed Howard's fund selections for my portfolio. By the time I learned of the 401(k) Optimizer, I no longer had a 401(k), but I did have a variable universal life insurance policy.

Hi @futuremoneytrend! I'm sorry I didn't see this post sooner - I would've upvoted it. But I agree with so much of what you've written here: living your life with passion means breaking out of expectations

Hi @whitesj40. I appreciate the follow (and, having read and commented on your piece on junk bonds, I've now returned the favor). I also appreciate the advise. Your suggestion to spend more time curating