Blog

By Paul Morrone CFP®, CPA, MSA

After months of setting off the fire alarm or making a mess of the kitchen trying to cook on the stovetop, its finally time to make use of the grill again. I wouldn’t say it’s entirely a reflection on my skill as a chef, but cooking inside with the windows closed can certainly create some unwanted smoke, smells or mess that could be easily avoided by cooking outside. Now, at least for the next couple of months, I don’t have to worry about the house smelling like blackened chicken, or worse, pan seared salmon. Those smells seem to linger for days, even with the help of candles, air fresheners and a thorough cleaning.

By Paul Morrone CFP®, CPA/PFS, MSA

For many Americans taxes are a necessary evil. Something to ‘get done’ and forget about for 12 months. However, the savvy taxpayer knows that filing your tax return is equally as important as understanding what it is telling you. With the 2017 filing season now in the rear-view mirror, it’s best to digest this information while it’s still fresh and while there are still 7 months left in 2018 to make any necessary changes.  Spending some time to review your tax return will provide you with insight into the financial health of your household that is unavailable through any other means. There is a reason that almost all lenders ask for copies of your tax returns as one of the first items in consideration of your creditworthiness and it is because of the treasure trove of information it beholds. While it would take volumes to go through every line of the 1040 and its sub-schedules, right now we’ll keep it simple and focus on one number everyone should understand.

By Thomas Morrone CFP®, CPA

Having a grandson on the way, we realize how many items need to be purchased to make sure the baby is safe, mobile, clean, happy, entertained, has a place to sleep, has a place to easily change his diapers, etc., etc., etc. Of course, Paul and Jill will have the brunt of the items at their house but rest assured Cathy and I will have our own inventory of things at our house as well. We already have some items that Cathy received from her sister because her grandsons have already gone through the stages for certain items. That is one of the things that amazes me is that many items are only used for a very short time. Once they are walking and then “toilet trained” some of the items go back in the closet or down in the basement in hopes of seeing the light of day for another baby.

By Paul Morrone CFP®, CPA/PFS, MSA

Contrary to many of the advertisements on TV, the quality of your home, auto and liability insurance is not determined by paying the lowest premium. Saving X% or more doesn’t guarantee that you’re getting any better coverage. Buying insurance directly from a lizard, general or celebrity may validate that a company’s marketing campaign works, but nothing more. The bigger question is, how does it affect you as the policyholder? I can speak personally to this one as I’m sure many people reading this have done exactly what I did when I was fresh out of college and bought my first car. Looking back, I was foolish (maybe naive is a better word) and am fortunate that I didn’t have any issues during the time when I purchased auto and liability insurance with inadequate limits.

By Paul Morrone CFP®, CPA, MSA

Most people are happy quickly washing their car with soap and water, or maybe even driving through the car wash at their local Mobil station after a topping off their gas tank. I am not most people. You won’t find water bottles rolling around my passenger footwell, empty coffee cups in the cupholder or even a straw wrapper that has slipped down between the seats in my car. For me, keeping a clean car is as therapeutic as it is gratifying. That’s not to say I enjoy the washing process, which often involves wet feet and cold hands in the winter and a lot of sweat and sunburn in the summer. I do find it allows me to shut my mind down, listen to music and just get in the zone doing mindless work for a while. At the end, there is the instant gratification of having a nice clean car that looks too nice to even drive (even though it’s more fun to drive a clean car than to look at it).

By Paul Morrone CFP®, CPA/PFS, MSA

Soaring equity prices make people as giddy as winning the lottery as they see their retirement plan balances rise during the year; and with this euphoria there are always people wanting to share how much money they’ve made. The office water cooler conversation turns to rates of return, hot stock tips and advice from a co-worker whose brother-in-law who is ‘good with money.’ Most of the time, people walk away from these conversations frustrated, conflicted or feeling like they are missing out on something. The first thing to remember is that many times people exaggerate (and sometimes flat-out lie) in these conversations, as ego trumps logic and numbers are generously rounded up. If they say they made 20%, I’d be willing to bet it is probably less. 

By Thomas Morrone CFP®, CPA

I have written about my father’s gas station business and how I got started in accounting as a result. Before I was involved with the books, the accountant my father used was very involved with the business and seemed to be a fixture in the office. He would occasionally come to the house to review things with my parents and the entire family knew the accountant, let’s call him Doyle. He was a jolly guy with a big belly and bald head. We all liked him, especially my father, and he was trusted explicitly. Maybe you can see where this is headed, and I may have shared this story with some you. It gets juicy.

By Paul Morrone CFP®, CPA/PFS, MSA

You’ve done the unthinkable and made that one big financial mistake that you will remember for the rest of your life. The question is, how to recover from it? Maybe you bought a house that you couldn’t afford and now it’s underwater. Maybe you racked up credit card debt that is now uncontrollable. Maybe you made a bad investment and lost all of your capital, started a business that failed or loaned money to someone who you now know will never pay you back. What are the next steps, what can you do, and how can you right the ship?

By Paul Morrone CFP®, CPA, MSA

From buzzer beaters to blowouts, including the biggest upset in NCAA history, this year’s March Madness certainly didn’t disappoint. Growing up watching, playing and coaching basketball, this is naturally an exciting time of year for me. The deluge of games in the first weekend is enough to make any sports fan giddy with excitement, and I’m no exception to that. With no vested interest in any one team this year (as my Huskies didn’t make the cut), I was able to focus on the best matchups and watch the most exciting games as they unfolded. Even though the UCONN men weren’t playing, I would be foolish not to mention the women Huskies as their loss to Notre Dame caught everyone off-guard. I’ve written about their incredible achievements in the past, but this year proves that stringing together a series of consecutive championship wins is more difficult than it appears on paper. That’s what I love about sports, on any given day you can’t possibly predict what is going to happen.

By Paul Morrone CFP®, CPA/PFS, MSA

It seems like every week there is a new story about an athlete that was burned by their financial advisor. A quick google search on this topic will yield more results than you care to read, but there is one common thread throughout all of these stories. Seduced by the potential of massive double and triple digit returns, many athletes dumped millions into speculative investments in casinos, real estate, private equity and other businesses that were moonshot ventures at best. They also implicitly trusted their advisor when in fact they should have been doing more due diligence as to how their life savings was to be invested. While putting capital at risk is an inherent part of investing, putting a significant portion (if not all) of one’s net worth into illiquid, risky and unproven programs can spell disaster as evidenced by the stories of Clinton Portis, Mike Tyson, Darren McFadden and Tim Duncan, to name a few.