It’s always fun to do a shout out to friends and family who have great services and/or online resources. I’m sometimes reluctant because this blog has my own quirky views which may not line up with their prospective clients, but I think everybody here is sharp enough to know that a “shout out” and endorsement at a personal blog does not tell you anything about the politics of anybody.
Today I wanted to note my cousin Ginita Wall in Southern California. She’s a CPA who has been writing books and specializing for many years in helping her clients manage their resources effectively. Although I’ve got a good grip on the basics of personal finance it is always impressive to talk with real experts like Ginita who understand many of the specialized tax and legal nuances you encounter when managing the portfolios of clients.
Her website is: Plan for Wealth She also co-manages a project that focuses on helping women learn about financial planning called WIFE for Women’s Institute for Financial Education. Even today, many women find after a divorce or death of a spouse that they’d left much of the financial management and planning to their husband. This can have serious negative impact.
Another reason to pay more attention to your personal finances today is that there seem to me to be more scams around than ever – I think it’s one of the down sides of the rise of online activity. Even trusted family and friends may lead you astray if they fall into the trap of the many online “get rich quick” schemes which are in my experience *always* a waste of time and money. Ginita’s books offer common sense approaches that help people protect and build wealth over the long haul and manage their finances into post-retirement.
Even when scam solicitation was more direct and personal rather than via the internet many of those multi-level marketing schemes caused unending family friction.
Its similar with life-insurance salesmen: the insurance companies hire and train a salesman, get him to sell policies to his friends and family and then fire him after the easy-sales have been made.
It may be biodegradable and “green” but that doesn’t mean its not high priced junk.
Many people can be more vigilant with the starch level in their shirts than with their finances. And con men know that!
Many people can be more vigilant with the starch level in their shirts than with their finances
This has always intrigued me greatly, and I think it’s one of the reasons folks like Madoff could survive so long and to some extent how we could allow the financial system to almost collapse, though that’s a pretty complicated web of events and perceptions. I do think that John Q Public is currently out to lunch wrt the looming debt crisis. Everybody seems obsessed with “fixing” the financial system when that ship sailed and sunk. It’s the *future problems* we should be addressing now, not trying to fix past ones that are unlikely to happen again.