Montgomery Community Media

It’s tough not getting a paycheck. We have several clients who work for the government. Some of them have been furloughed as a result of the government shutdown. While some have ample emergency funds that they can use to tide them over, others don’t. About 29% of American households have less than $1,000 in savings. Their […]

In a matter of four weeks, the global stock market has dropped by about 10%. Should you be worried? Sam, one of our clients, called me the other day. He is typically calm, rational and not afraid of opportunities. But he sounded tense. He just saw his accounts drop in value in the thousands. He […]

You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t possibly live long enough to make them all yourself. – Samuel Levenson I will confess. I’ve had my own share of financial mistakes. When I was new to the investing world, I decided to buy call options. It had the potential to generate immense returns, […]

Did you just start a new job? Congratulations! I hope you’ll get along with your new boss. With your higher salary and new benefits, here are four questions you might be thinking about, and tips on how to approach them. 1) What should I do with my higher salary? This is a great time to examine […]

Here are two cool recent personal finance developments that make my heart leap! 1) Credit Freeze Now Free Starting September 21, we can now freeze our credit for free! We can request a free credit freeze through Equifax, Experian and Transunion by going to their respective websites. Previously, these credit bureaus charged $5 or more […]

Samantha just got a new job. She’s excited! It’ll be a breath of fresh air she needs, after a recent breakup. Samantha will have to make decisions on her new 401(k), Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), and insurance coverage. She also needs to figure out what to do with her old […]

Many people wonder if the government will honor their word of eliminating their federal student loan debt under the loan forgiveness program. This year, we witnessed one of the first who successfully completed this program. Michael Mitchell is a 47-year old professional musician turned social worker and counseling pyschotherapist. He earned his master’s degree from […]

Bankruptcy is an unattractive way to get out of debt. But one of our clients chose this path, and she’s never been happier. Meet Sue Sue (not her real name) is a single mom who works in Bethesda and lives in Prince George’s County. Half of her monthly take home pay goes to rent, and […]

Two weeks ago, my client Carl (not his real name) asked me to put all of his $330,000 IRA retirement savings in Amazon. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I could not, in good conscience, implement this request. It is extremely imprudent to put all of our savings in a handful of stocks, let […]

We’ve heard many investment success stories. The Winklevoss twins are reportedly now billionaires through their early bitcoin investments. Our uncle who invested $10,000 in Berkshire Hathaway stock in 1965 would now have $88 million. What is the latest wealth generator out there today? We’ll give you four. They’re not the get-rich-quick schemes you may be […]