Top 4 Must Reads for December

Chad Smith

Our Top 4 Must Reads Last Month

As we enter a new year, this month’s edition features a few excellent stories about how to better execute the goals you may be setting for 2015. We also included a list entitled “The Charts of the Year” from Quartz that includes some very intriguing economic charts that cover everything from the growth of the middle class around the world to the continual shift from cable to TV to some other option. We finish up with a new study that has some surprising numbers about the length of long-term care facility stays and how that may influence your thinking about long-term care insurance.
 

It’s Not About the Goal: How Financial Planning Has It All Wrong – What do you truly value? This article does a nice job of discussing what really motivates us. The author describes the process of what gets us moving. He gives some great examples of prioritizing around what we feel “must happen” in the New Year.
 

 
What’s Your “Why?” ” – How often do you spend time on the reason you are setting a goal? Around this time of year, we are behaviorally wired to set goals for the New Year. But many of us are really good at setting goals but struggle at implementing . The author of this piece describes how asking “Why” will help you follow-through on your goals this year.
 

 

The Quartz Chart of the Year Short-List –  Charts are a great way to comprehend a subject quickly. This link is not one story, but a list of top economic or investing charts for 2014. The topics vary from US Healthcare costs to Russia’s ruble (currency) vs. oil prices. A quick read, but some interesting charts.

 

 
  Maybe You Don’t Need Long-Term Care Insurance After All – One of the most asked questions we hear is “Do I Need Long-Term Care Insurance?” The answer is specific to each circumstance. But new research in this article shows the need could be less than originally thought. A new study cited in the article gives a more accurate estimate of the length of nursing home stays – an important factor in determining LTC premiums.  
 

 

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Posted

January 8, 2015

Chad Smith is a Certified Financial Planner™. He is an active member of NAPFA, the Financial Planning Association, and FPA’s NexGen. He has been quoted and appeared on WSJ.com, Bloomberg.com, Businessweek.com, Msn.com, Financial Planning Magazine, Triangle Business Journal, and Investment News.

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