An old proverb (some would call it a curse) states “May you live in interesting times.” Lately, I’d settle for anything other than interesting. I hear from clients and advisors all the time, and many are anxious about what they should be doing.  » Read More

At 11:30 p.m., I turned on my computer and received a message from Lord Voldemort: “Who’s better looking…me or Harry?” Later, I got one about a job opening at a top consulting firm in Chicago. In the morning, I had a message from Barack Obama. This isn’t a dream. It’s the reality for millions of users on one of the world’s largest social networks. Welcome to Twitter! » Read More

Wow, it’s hard to believe January is almost over! Many of us began the year with grand plans for change. Actually, a majority of my friends and family had their resolutions finalized long before the clock struck midnight. Speaking of resolutions, how are everyone’s goals going? » Read More

Are you preparing for your retirement?  No matter how old you are, you’re answer should be yes.  This is National Save for Retirement Week, and even if you’ve just entered the workforce, it’s important to start planning and saving now.

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Did you know one in five relationships now start online?  Unfortunately, the social migration to the web isn’t without problems.  A survey by MTV of 600 teens and 647 adults (September 2009) found: » Read More

We’re in the final stretch. This week, my husband and I finalized plans for our upcoming two-week trip to Colorado. By now, the itinerary is formalized, must-see landmarks sticky-tabbed, hotel accommodations booked and the legendary local eateries researched. As I double-check it now, I don’t think about those long weeks of planning and research, just the fun times awaiting me! » Read More

One of the first things you need to know about me is that I love baseball (White Sox, in particular!).  Since my family welcomed the arrival of our second child recently, and since the pennant race is about to heat up, I figured I’d talk about both in this post.

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One minute, I’m barreling down ATV trails in a nearby pasture.  A few hazy memories later, I’m sitting in the emergency room.

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Imagine this.  You open your front door and see a gigantic squid wearing a sombrero and a coin changer belt.  Imagine the look you’d have on your face.  That’s what my face looked like when she started asking me questions about money.

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(With apologies to Abe Lincoln and his Gettysburg Address)

“Four credit scores and many years ago, the banks and credit card companies brought forth onto this continent a new notion, conceived by an appetite to spend more than we earn, and dedicated to the proposition that all men and women are entitled to giant flat screen TVs and Vegas vacations.

Now we are engaged in a great battle, testing whether we as American consumers, so conceived and dedicated, shall continue to live beyond our means. Confronting us are the excess spending and inflated credit ratings of the fondly-remembered past and the tumbling incomes and rising interest rates of the harsh present.

So today, we have come to the final resting place of our consumer dreams, the day of reckoning upon us, haunted by the seductive spirits of easy credit that brought us to this place.

But in a larger sense, we cannot, should not, reminisce for that past affluence bought on the cheap.  The world will little note, nor long remember our Utopian credit-funded days.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great tasks remaining, that we must re-learn to pay with cash, live within our means and save for the future.

Upon these old virtues, this nation shall have a new birth of economic freedom—and that economic freedom of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Tom Atkinson May 7^th, 2010

Aurora, IL