Communications

Identifying your goals is an important first step in the planning process. Our team supports a process of understanding by answering important questions such as:

By Vinton Fountain
September 2010

You are 69. Your spouse is 73. Your last day at work was three years ago. These days, you’re teaching a graduate-level university course and studying Italian at a community college. You’re relatively healthy, and your doctor says you’re set for the long haul.

by Vinton Fountain

August 15, 2010

You’re 55, 62 or somewhere around there. You just wrote a check for your daughter’s wedding gown. Next year, you’ll write another check for the last payment on your mortgage.

By Vinton Fountain
July 2010

You’re age 36. Or perhaps you just turned 43.

Whatever the case, this part of your economic life, which we call the Middle Years, isn’t completely defined by how old you are.

It’s more about the complexity of the financial issues you’re facing today, as well as those that are bearing down on you so rapidly that you feel deer-in-the-headlights anxiety.

You’ll know you’ve reached the period we’re discussing when you look around your desk one evening and see the monthly 401(k) statements from three past employers, a pamphlet your daughter asked you to read about college applications, and your book of mortgage-payment coupons.

That moment, or one similar to it, comes earlier for some than for others. If you’re there, we have four recommendations for you.

By Vinton Fountain
April 2012

First, I want you to know that it is a privilege to write for Wilma Magazine. This is the first article of a six month series that I plan to publish for the readers of Wilma. I feel as though I am qualified in that I am the father of three daughters, ages (23, 20, 15), brother of four sisters and I have two sisters in law. For the record, I do have a male Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, although he does not act like a male. It's an honor to provide insight to the financial challenges of our lives and share perspective.

Yesterday, I received my annual shareholder letter from Warren Buffett, detailing the results of his flagship investment company Berkshire Hathaway. This year’s letter to shareholders was even more intriguing, because of the recent economic turmoil, and the fact that I am reading Buffett’s new bestseller biography, The Snowball (Warren Buffett and the Business of Life).

During a recent visit to Charleston, SC, I had a chance to visit the World War II aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. “The Fighting Lady,” as she is called, is still a monument to patriotism and sacrifice. While walking through the belly of this massive ship, I came upon the shop where mechanics fixed its broken equipment. I noticed a sign that said, “Difficult will be fixed immediately; impossible might take a little longer.”

Our firm was founded in 1998 with the mission of supporting individuals with independent financial advice and coaching. Our promise was, and still is, to provide support that will allow clients to experience a better life. During our first ten years, we have built relationships with over 300 families and we continue to be honored with the opportunity to serve you.

A friend called me this week to inform me that he could no longer tolerate the volatility in the stock market. He, like many of us, had convinced himself that the world faces too many challenges today that are “different” from prior periods of economic crisis.

Every holiday season, my family has a custom of watching the 1946 epic movie treasure, It’s A Wonderful Life. The movie stars Jimmy Stewart, who plays the role of George Bailey, a banker for the local savings and loan in Bedford Falls. The story is about George Bailey’s journey through life and his ultimate realization that life is precious and fragile.