http://www.aikapa.com/Financial_Bites Topical tidbits from Aikapa Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:34:20 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Kaiser Permanente Physician Retirement Package Edi Alvarez, MSc, CFP  After a long career, retiring physicians employed at Kaiser are faced with a Retirement Package that presents excellent opportunities and multiple planning pitfalls.  Giving yourself and your adviser sufficient time to plan each component will yield the greatest return for your situation.  Make sure ... http://www.aikapa.com/Financial_Bites/?p=53 Edi Alvarez, MSc, CFP Life Happens, so enjoy it! Regularly you should track your finances BUT do enjoy and appreciate the wonders of life in the moment. Do remain centered on your family and personal goals and don't keep up with the Jones’s or act on water-cooler investment advice. Always work ... http://www.aikapa.com/Financial_Bites/?p=50 Edi Alvarez, MSc, CFP   The ultimate test for when it is worthwhile to forget the no-questions-asked standard deduction and do the recordkeeping required to itemize is when the total itemized deductions surpass the standard deduction – an amount that is based on variables, such as filing status and age, and is ... http://www.aikapa.com/Financial_Bites/?p=47 When I am asked what is the secret for a strong happy marriage.  I always answer that for more than 20 years I have found that sharing values, respect and trust are often key ingredients.  Over time a willingness to plan and share our lives has deepen our relationship. Serious relationships should include ... http://www.aikapa.com/Financial_Bites/?p=42 2010 has begun and you should have received our annual financial planning calendar.  You should review the calendar adding your own important dates and family target dates.  Post it somewhere that will be visible daily.  This will help you enjoy the inspirational views from around the world as well as regularly target ... http://www.aikapa.com/Financial_Bites/?p=40 In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders ... http://www.aikapa.com/Financial_Bites/?p=28 *** We do NOT sell insurance or receive commissions from any products discussed in this forum *** As you prepare your emergency document box that will allow you to return to life as usual following a disaster -we'd like for you to include the following: 1. Notify your agent and carrier promptly.  ... http://www.aikapa.com/Financial_Bites/?p=26 *** We do NOT sell insurance or receive commissions from any products discussed in this forum *** We strongly encourage you to insure against catastrophic risks.  Katrina was a recent example of a catastrophic risk as would be a category 7.0 earthquake.  The best way to prepare is to plan for both ... http://www.aikapa.com/Financial_Bites/?p=18 ... the deathly process of doing the same thing in the same way at the same hour day after day, first from carelessness, then from inclination, at last from cowardice or inertia.  Luckily the inconsequent life is not te only alternative; for caprice is as ruinous as routine.  Habit is ... http://www.aikapa.com/Financial_Bites/?p=15 The giving and getting, the sense of belonging and contrbuting to something larger than yourself, to something that began before you were born and will go on after you die, can make it possible for you to accept life in a way that makes you wish the whole world could ... http://www.aikapa.com/Financial_Bites/?p=13