Just a reminder, folks, that my one day CFP Continuing Education Extravaganza in Philadelphia is next week, September 29th.  And, I have been asked this a lot recently, yes, Pope-Ageddon will be over by then and all of the road closures and restrictions in and around the city will be reopened.

We have a full day of speakers and classes planned and with that you will earn:

Read this article in The Wall Street Journal yesterday (Sept. 15, 2015) and I agree with its overall assessment – what’s going to happen IF the Fed raises rates this week?  Probably not much.

Investors Look Beyond Fed Meeting, See Low Rates

No matter what happens this week, slow global growth is expected to be key factor for long term

We all are well aware that over the past several weeks the market has taken a wild ride – and it is not over yet.  As an advisor, what are you telling your clients when they look to you to explain the recent market volatility and how it will effect their portfolio?

I wanted to announce that I will be holding two, full-day CFP Continuing Education Extravaganzas soon.  The first is September 29th in Philadelphia, PA; the second is October 21st in Boston (Norwood), MA.

Both are worth 10 CFP CE credit hours and 2 hours of CFP® Ethics CE credits, as well as 10 Insurance CE credit hours for MA, PA, NJ, DE, MD, VA, and DC at the Philadelphia event, and CT, RI, VT, and NH in Boston (Insurance licensees only).

As we begin another school year, many of your clients (and maybe you as parents) are either dealing with student aid or getting ready to decide where your children will go to college.  Plus, several Presidential candidates have also been vocal about their plans to help students pay for higher education, so I want to discuss college aid and how to navigate the maze of paying for it.

Is 62 too young to claim for women to claim Social Security?

That is the age at which both women and men are allowed to claim, and sure enough, 40.8 percent of the women who were newly awarded Social Security retirement benefits in 2014 were aged 62. Some 65 percent were below their full retirement age, typically 66. And just 2.8 percent of the women were 70 or older, the age at which they receive their maximum Social Security retirement benefits, according to Social Security Administration data.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the situation in Greece (Keep the Greece Situation in Perspective).  I am getting questions now about China and my thoughts on that market.  My opinion, again, is to keep it in perspective.

By Bill Bischoff
Published: July 28, 2015 on MarketWatch

Costs to attend some colleges are approaching astronomical levels.

A number of people have asked me what my take is on what is happening in Greece and China.  They have read articles and heard the media “experts” but don’t fully understand what is going on and how it will affect them and their clients and have asked me for a simplified version.  I’m not sure I can do that, but I’m going to try.  If you subscribe to my Audio Insights, you should have gotten a recording on this.

There are plenty of tips and tricks to maximizing your retirement benefits, and more than a few are considered “loopholes” that taxpayers have been able to use to circumvent the letter of the law in order to pay less to the government.

But as often happens when too many people make use of such shortcuts, the government may move to close three retirement loopholes that have become increasingly popular as financial advisers have learned how to exploit kinks in the law.

1. Back-door Roth IRA Conversions

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