Finerate

In this follow up to last year's episode, "Forming an Annual Budget," Bill and Anastasia cover more tools that are available for budgeting. What is an income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement, and why are these important in creating a budget? Bill and Anastasia also discuss what software programs they prefer to use and tips for those who have gotten a year or more of budgeting unde...

When can you retire? What savings rate is needed to achieve a secure retirement? What impact will Social Security have on your retirement? What are the different retirement accounts that may be available to you? How do you balance other life expenses with saving for retirement, and how should you prioritize them? Bill relates his answers to his decades of providing advice to individuals nearing or...

In practice of having an abundance mindset, Bill and Anastasia return to their end of year tradition in taking stock of what they and others are grateful for in the past year. A special thanks to those who shared their messages of gratitude with Creating Wealth, and to healthcare workers who continue to save lives. For questions and comments, you can email us at  askcreatingwealth@ taberasset.com...

What is an interest rate and why do investors pay close attention to them? In this episode, Bill and Anastasia discuss how interest rates affect stocks, bonds, and how the Federal Reserve's actions impact the broader economy. They cover what is going on with today's interest rates, how that compares to the historical average, and what investors should keep in mind with the Fed's announced interest...

This is a continuation of the conversation on investing styles from the previous episode (How Do You Invest?). In this second part, Bill and Anastasia cover several other concepts - sector funds, dollar cost averaging, margin of safety. And investing styles including momentum and contrarian investing. They discuss the importance of where you get your information - Bill shares a few sources he uses...

When it comes to investing, what are your guiding principles? Bill and Anastasia discuss several different investing strategies including value vs. growth investing, active vs. passive investing, and using fundamental vs. technical analysis to determine the value of a stock. Bill provides perspective on the current strong bull market and whether value investing is possible right now. He explains w...

What are the common obstacles that small business owners face? This is the second of a two-part series on starting and running your own business with special guest speaker, Bob Clements--Cofounder, Partner, and General Counsel of Benchmark Business Group. Part Two covers the obstacles that owners typically face as their business grows: For example, a lack of funds, lack of time, trouble managing e...

This is a two-part series on starting and running your own business with a special guest speaker, Bob Clements--Cofounder, Partner, and General Counsel of Benchmark Business Group. Part One covers what people should consider if they want to start their own business. Why would an individual prefer to be self-employed vs. work for someone else? In what situations does being self-employed make sense,...

What is going on in the stock market? Before diving into the topic, Anastasia provides news updates relating to topics discussed in previous episodes: The Rise of GameStop (GME) Stock, Investing in Common Stock Part Two, and How to Pay for College. Bill and Anastasia then discuss inflation concerns, what the autumnal dip is and why it happens, the effects of crypto trading on the markets and how m...

How can you fund attending college in the U.S.? Bill and Anastasia first discuss reasons why an individual should attend college and when they shouldn't, before launching into a discussion of the various ways you can save or pay for college if you are a U.S. citizen. How does FAFSA work? What type of student loans are available? How and when should you begin saving for a child's or grandchild's co...

Is investing the same as gambling? Bill and Anastasia dive into a topic that has come up in separate conversations with millennials about cryptocurrency trading. They start by defining investing, gambling, and speculating, then launch into a discussion of casino gambling, sports betting, why people may conflate investing with gambling, and why the rise of Bitcoin seems to be affecting how millenni...

What are the common financial concerns of those in their 60s and 70s? Bill and Anastasia tackle the third and final life stage to discuss common questions that individuals ask before, during, or after retirement. How should you balance your portfolio in this life stage? How do you receive Social Security benefits - do you have to register for it? As your health expenses typically increase in this...

What are the common financial concerns of those in their 40s and 50s? Bill and Anastasia tackle the second of three life stages to discuss common questions that individuals ask in the middle of adulthood, sometimes called "The Sandwich Generation." How do you balance a family budget of food, utilities, travel, child care costs, assisting any aging family members, etc? How might you manage moving t...

What are the common financial concerns of those in their 20s and 30s? Bill and Anastasia tackle the first of three life stages to discuss common questions that individuals ask at the beginning of adulthood. When should you start saving for retirement? When you get married, how do you merge financial assets? If you have kids, how should you start funding their education? When should you write a wil...

How do you buy a home and how do you know when you are ready to do so? What matters more - your credit score or the amount of money you have saved up? Should you base any decisions on macroeconomic trends--for example, wait to buy in an overheated market? Anastasia and Bill discuss housing ratios to determine what you can afford, what contingencies are and what you might use them for, and how much...

In the last few years, cryptocurrency has become a full blown phenomenon. In Part Two, Bill and Anastasia discuss listeners' questions on the tax ramifications and liquidity of cryptocurrencies, and where they see cryptocurrency going from here. Stay tuned: Anastasia makes an important announcement near the end of their discussion. Since this is a two-part episode, be sure to check out Part One fi...

In the last few years, cryptocurrency has become a full-blown phenomenon. Bill and Anastasia discuss Bitcoin and what makes people so excited, and concerned, about cryptocurrencies. Bill answers what makes cryptocurrency valuable and why it's different from any financial product he's ever seen before in his 42 year career. There was so much to cover that we had to split the episode. Part Two will...

What is the difference between income and wealth, and why is it fundamental to understanding wealth creation? What do people get wrong by focusing on income instead of wealth? Bill talks about the importance of building wealth for retirement and reiterates a formula introduced in the Season One episode "Spending Control" for determining how much your net worth should be by age, how to find out wha...

What happens in the aftermath of a parent's death? What is an executor and what are they responsible for? How different is it to work with a non-family executor versus a family member who acts as one? How different is the process when a parent dies with a living spouse than when a widow/widower dies? Bill and Anastasia discuss the myriad of questions that may come up in the aftermath of a parent's...

On TV, a lack of money is often used as an obstacle to challenge characters. Anastasia describes the money problems of characters in TV shows Breaking Bad, The Office, Gilmore Girls, etc and Bill suggests possibilities that the characters could have considered to avoid or resolve their financial difficulties, providing a few takeaways for real, non-fictional listeners. If you have any questions fo...

What is a tax and its purpose? What are the benefits of taxes? Bill and Anastasia discuss the major forms of taxes in the U.S. and what you should know about each one. Why do some states have income tax and others don't? Bill discusses from a financial advisor's perspective when you should file your own taxes and when to hire a tax expert. For questions and comments, you can email us at  askcreati...

Bill and Anastasia discuss when they first heard of bonds, which bonds are the riskiest, which bonds are short-term, medium-term, and long-term, and what is important to know about those bonds. For questions and comments, you can email us at  askcreatingwealth@taberasset.com .

What are four simple actions you can take to increase your savings rate? Why is focusing on your savings rate so important? Do younger people struggle more with saving or is it a challenge for all ages? Bill provides an example from his career of someone who was frugal and diligent with budgeting. As the world exits the pandemic era, what should you keep in mind as our spending habits change again...

What is the purpose of a national stimulus and why should individuals care about it? When has the U.S. done a national stimulus before? Bill mentions when a stimulus is helpful and what investors need to keep in mind about economic cycles. Anastasia discusses an update to the conclusion of Creating Wealth's National Debt episode. For questions and comments, you can email us at  askcreatingwealth@t...

What are bonds and why do people invest in them? What should you keep in mind when investing in bonds and can you have a successful investment strategy without them? Bill discusses periods of rising interest rates, Puerto Rico municipal bonds after Hurricane Maria in 2017, and mortgage bonds during the Great Recession of 2008/2009 as examples when bonds can involve risk. For questions and comments...