Managing Midlife
Life after 50: it’s no longer what our grandparents touted it to be. Join me as I share the highs and lows, the failures and successes, and the reality of life after 50. It's an amazing adventure and you'll wonder why you had to wait 50 years to get here!
A Budget Friendly Gifting Guide for Procrastinators—plus Bonus Gift Ideas
You may be asking yourself, “Kristen—why are you publishing this list when Christmas is THIS week?” The answer: I know there are many people (in my own family) who are still in need of shopping at this late date. Plus, my local news radio announcers admitted this morning they were late too! There are many…
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Will Education Be Part of Your Second Act?
The year was 1978. I was almost 14. During dinner on that memorable night, my mother announced she was returning to school for her MBA. She had been a nurse for 10 years yet wanted something more: to be a nursing home administrator, or as she called it, “a business tycoon”. She was 39 years…
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How Multigenerational Households Achieve Financial Independence Together
Special thanks go to Good Nelly for her guest post! –Kristen The American Dream has changed slightly in the last few years. Rather than home ownership and a college education, the new dream is to be financially independent. The result: a significant percentage of millennials are moving back home with their parents or grandparents. As…
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Assignment: Retirement—What Will YOUR Retirement Look Like?
Earlier this week, with my laptop in the loving care of an IT specialist, I had the rare opportunity to clean my office. Among the sort-of fun task, I reread all the motivational sticky notes on my walls. Of interest was this one: The year: 2009. Many life transitions occurred that year: Divorce A cross-country…
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How to Build an Estate Team When Managing a Parent’s Death
Sometimes death is sudden and unexpected. Other times, there is time to prepare. With my mother’s recent death, I was at an odd juncture between the both. She had serious health issues but the doctors gave her a two year prognosis. Upon the startling news, we initiated the process to clean up her affairs. Upon…
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Your Emergency Fund after 50: Be Prepared and Be Aware
I was attending the FinCon2019 conference when my brother called to tell me our mother had died. Since that time, I had been in a mind-numbing blizzard of power of attorney (POA) activities, funeral planning, family dynamics, client overload, and a broken refrigerator. Even though, her death was 5 weeks ago, my mental and emotional…
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