Rick Kahler's Financial Awakenings

What can a week at a financial integration workshop do for you?  Leading financial journalist Bob Veres, editor of Inside Information, writes in Financial Planning magazine about his recent experience attending the Healing Money Issues workshop.  The entire article is a great executive summary of the experience, but let me quote a few lines that I thought were especially important. Continue Reading »

According to IRA guru Ed Slott, IRA Owners and Plan Participants can now put back unwanted RMDs for 2009.

RMDs were waived for 2009, but the relief came late in 2008 causing some people to take withdrawals that were not required. This Notice provides retroactive relief for IRA owners and spouse beneficiaries by allowing them to rollover (put back) 2009 RMDs received earlier this year. IRS is waiving the 60-day rollover deadline to permit any IRA owner, plan participant, or their spouse beneficiary to undo the 2009 RMD, regardless of when in 2009 they took the unwanted RMD.

If you think you qualify, the deadline has been extended to November 30, 2009 or 60 days from the date the funds were received, whichever is later. This means if you received an RMD (which was not required) in January or March, for example, you now has the option of rolling those funds back into  a tax-deferred account.

It’s a good idea to be cautious about anything that promises a quick fix, whether it’s an “instant” weight loss product, an “effortless” exercise gimmick, or a “simple” solution to all your money woes. Continue Reading »

Could I possibly do a financial therapy money makeover for a one-page magazine feature article?  That’s the challenge Sushma Subramanian, a reporter for SELF magazine, gave me last May.  She wanted a financial therapist and me to visit with three women and do a financial therapy makeover on each of them.

I had never done, seen done, or considered doing anything like this before. Certainly, I have experience designing week-long financial therapy workshops, but how could I possibly boil this type of experience down to something that would be effective in a two-hour time frame using just the Internet and a phone?

You can read the results of the experience in the October issue of SELF magazine, on newstands now, or by clicking here.  Find out how you can experience your own financial therapy makeover by going to our website.

A story by the Washington Post lists South Dakota as one of the better states for retirement.  This is largely due to us not having an income tax or inheritance tax.  Kiplinger’s also lists South Dakota as one of the better states for retirees. 

Of course, the fact that South Dakota is a wealth friendly state isn’t exactly breaking news to those of us who live here.  However, we locals don’t need to worry about being overrun with retirees moving here. 

Most people who have never been to South Dakota only see images of flat prairie and snowdrifts.  While that may be somewhat true for East River, those of us who live in the Black Hills know better!

With banks and credit card companies tightening their lending practices, some would-be borrowers are looking for loans from another source—that long-established institution, the First Financial Family Bank.

Loaning money to friends or family members has so many pitfalls that it’s not even possible to list them all in one column. A financial advisor is almost never going to tell you it’s a good idea. Yet it’s something that many of us have done and will probably do again. Continue Reading »

Last week, Rick wrote an article that defined some of the tech terms that we use here.  I am concerned that it was still a little too techie for some of us.  For those people, including myself, I am going to attempt to clarify a few of the words. Continue Reading »

I guess it’s time to come clean. I am a closet educationaholic. I’ve tried to quit, but I can’t stop myself from learning, and learning, and learning. Just this year I’ve already attended over 80 hours of educational sessions,  quintiple the 14-hour annual minimum for CFP’s and almost triple the annual requirement of 30 hours for NAPFA (the National Association of Financial Advisors, a fee-only organization of financial planners).  Continue Reading »

Our teleclass tomorrow isn’t the most day brightening subject, as we will be speaking about death, and more specifically your death.  That is precisely why most folks put off planning for their deaths, thinking we will have plenty of time.  Actually, we are hoping we will have plenty of time.  Since death is inevitable, why not be proactive and do your loved ones a big favor?  You will have the opportunity tomorrow, Thursday, September 17th at 2pm MDT (4pm EDT) to listen to Robb Schmidt and Kirk Dennis from Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home discuss what you need to know.  Click here to go to our website and register. Continue Reading »

It means, “I don’t understand.”  And that is exactly how I felt after reading an article that appeared on the Jabboom.com website, based in Quebec, Canada. 

Using the rusty French I learned in high school, I think the story is on the rise of financial therapy in the United States.  The article quotes me as saying that about ten years ago I noticed about one third of my clients didn’t actually implement the solutions that I crafted for them.  I discovered the issue wasn’t a lack of money skills or following directions, but it was a deeper, psychological problem.

Those of you who read French can read the entire article here.