Live A Life By Design Blog

As a millennial, buying a home is already hard enough. Trying to save up enough money for an average 6% down payment, trying to determine how much home we can afford, trying to find the time to house hunt, and battling debt to income ratio. Now we are dealing with a seller’s market with some […]

Whenever someone tells you something that seems too good to be true, often your presumption is correct. However, since 1974, individuals have enjoyed the opportunity to “keep their money and report a tax deduction” which seems too good to be true. Sure, there are some rules and caveats that must be observed to take the […]

You can always count on change occurring in life. First, a pandemic that intrudes in all aspects of our world and, second, the federal government creating responses to the environmental changes. Many Americans will receive, or may have already received, additional economic stimulus payments in the amount of $1,400. Congress has an interesting approach to […]

Educators are challenged every day. Why would you want to make your retirement transition challenging? You have worked for 30 years educating individuals that have changed the world through your guidance. Mrs. Smith, my first-grade teacher, was the first motivational speaker I heard in my life. At six years of age, Mrs. Smith instilled in […]

Do you ever feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? Do you wonder how much of that weight may be lifted without the stress of growing debt? Me too! I’ve always said, “We live in America so we will always carry debt. That’s just the way it is.” But should it […]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a branch of the U.S. Treasury Department in which we are all familiar, issued a news bulletin today that described the tax relief provided Oklahomans whose lives were significantly disrupted by recent snow and winter storms. President Biden declared the State of Oklahoma a disaster area availing the leaders of […]

When the economy takes a downward trend and the retirement you planned did not quite work out in the manner you thought, what can you do? Most of us look at this scenario as an opportunity to engage in the workforce. Much confusion exists about working while claiming your Social Security Benefits.  “Can I work […]

Many of you will read the title of this article and wonder what it means. President Abraham Lincoln once said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” One of the roles I relish, when working with our clients, is the ability to help people reach their goals in life. Often clients […]

Millennials have been through the ringer in their short time on this Earth. Many of these events have had big effects on the financial system and institutions in our country. There also happens to be an extremely large gap in financial literacy in U.S. schools. As a result, we find that a good portion of […]

What is the driver of our economy in the United States? Is it labor? Not entirely because our nation is suffering one of its highest unemployment rates in recent history based on a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics dated January 8, 2021, and the world keeps spinning. The current United Stated unemployment […]