Now more than ever people's financial futures are in their own hands.

Stock options can overshadow the value of a retirement plan in a heartbeat. I've had clients who made millions by waiting a few weeks.

Bad debt is debt that is used to enhance consumption.

This is something I approach delicately with my clients.

War gets people thinking about mortality even if they aren't going to be doing any fighting themselves. Now's a good time to look at whether you have the right life insurance coverage and to make sure your estate plan is in order.

Basically, the concern of NAPFA is the extraordinary expense often associated with these insurance policies, ... The problem with a lot of these high cost products is that they attempt to push hot buttons with consumers. They ask, 'do you want to pay taxes?' Obviously, you don't. But the NAPFA approach is to look at your overall financial picture and do it on an unbiased, non-partial basis.