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Thursday, January 12, 2023

New Retirement Contribution Limits for 2023 (3 minute read). The IRS has released new limits for certain retirement accounts for the coming year. Traditional IRA contribution limits are up to...

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Effective Planning - At McKell Partners, we believe the fundamental three steps to an effective planning process are Goals, Risks and Strategies.  We follow this pattern with our clients each day.  Our approach is simple, yet comprehensive.

Saturday, October 15, 2022

An important rule I teach my clients is, “Don’t do anything you don’t understand!” This seems obvious, doesn’t it? Of course, it does! But you would be surprised how many pre and post-retirees don’t...

Monday, October 3, 2022

Having engaged in the financial arena for over 30 years, I have developed 10 economic principles that can bring financial peace at most any age. While some of these may be familiar, others may be new to you. Notwithstanding, power lies...

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Whenever you read or talk about important topics like long-term care, health costs or retirement, you have to wade through facts, statistics and other numbers. The average cost of medical care today, the likelihood that you’ll be...

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Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Do you have a junk drawer in the kitchen? Over the years, I have asked hundreds of people this question. All admit to having a junk drawer. One day a person answered me with a straight-faced “No.” I was surprised because...

Sunday, July 1, 2018

So much of reaching our true potential centers on how we think and our ability to cast our minds into the future, to envision and see our lives unfold potentially many years before our reality is upon us. This is true in our financial...

Friday, June 1, 2018

Can you remember a time when you were truly fearful? I remember one night as a child of about 11 years old, getting a phone call from a neighbor late one night with some terrifying news. At the time, my Dad was the youth church leader...

Sunday, April 1, 2018

My Dad sat on an old three-legged stool in his workshop while examining the brakes on several old Fords we restored and enjoyed working in the 60’s and 70’s. As a child, I spent many years being his “tool runner...

Thursday, March 1, 2018

I have seen the looks on their faces. With thousands of hours of client meetings, workshops, and public educational events, I have seen the troubled countenances and guarded expressions of wonderful hard working Americans who are...

Thursday, March 1, 2018

When you entered your 50’s you likely began to pay more and more attention to your long-term retirement savings, like your 401k. 401k’s are emblematic of a range of retirement saving accounts across American for private...

Thursday, February 1, 2018

If you are like most American’s, you may feel a bit behind in your retirement savings or just sense a general lack of preparedness for this next stage of life. This might feel more urgent if you are less than 10 years away from...

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Investors often fall into the trap of deciding to BUY when they are confident and SELL when they are frightened. This unfortunately can translate to an unsuccessful pattern of buying high and selling low – the exact opposite of...

Saturday, April 16, 2016

For nearly 10 years I worked as a District Manager for a national multi-line insurance company recruiting, training and educating agents how to best protect their client’s assets and income. At any given time I had 40-50 agents...

Friday, August 7, 2015

What ever happened to happily ever after? With over 11,000 baby boomers a day entering retirement, new retirees are concerned about our current economic environment; many are down right scared at what the future holds. Gone are the...

Friday, July 10, 2015

I got one of those terrible phone calls this past week that I had hoped I would never receive. Skip called to say that his dear wife Vivian had passed away suddenly. I met Skip and Vivian three years ago (I have changed their names to...

Saturday, June 20, 2015

We have all experienced the feeling of putting something off that we know is of utmost importance. Maybe it’s that project or task we need to finish, an important phone call to make, a letter we need to write or an email to send....

Friday, June 5, 2015

When was the last time you hired someone to do a job? We might not think of it this way, but we do it every day when we purchase goods and services in the market place. Consider your cell phone service? You scan the available cell...

Friday, May 22, 2015

I finished reading Clayton M. Christensen’s New York Times best selling book, “How Will You Measure Your Life?” Clayton M. Christensen is a Harvard Business School professor and author of seven books. In 2011 he was...

Monday, May 18, 2015

One of the first rules I teach my clients is, “Don’t do anything you don’t understand!” I introduce this principle early on in my educational seminars and interactions with clients. As a professional, I must...

Friday, February 20, 2015

Have you ever heard someone exclaim, “I don’t want an annuity because I don’t want to be locked in!” Certainly being locked in does not conjure up happy thoughts, so is this true or not? Let’s talk about a...

Friday, February 6, 2015

Over a year ago I was in Utah visiting my parents. They are both doing well, but not getting any younger. I can’t say enough about them and the wonderful example they have been to me. Their example of unselfish love, enduring...

Friday, December 19, 2014

I have long been a football fan. I enjoy many parts of the game, but none more than watching a quarterback call an audible at the line of scrimmage. For those that might not know what “calling an audible” means in American...

Friday, October 10, 2014

Shaver Lake is just a few miles north east of Fresno, California. Some 45 years ago my grandparents purchased a lot just off the lake’s shore and the collective family built a beautiful cabin. I remember traveling there as a...

Friday, July 11, 2014

A client called me recently with the horrible news that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Over a year ago, we worked diligently on her estate plan. The plan included a sizable life insurance policy to protect her daughter at her...

Friday, June 20, 2014

In the 1300’s at Cambridge University in England, a chapel was constructed for one of the colleges. Huge beams fashioned from old-growth oak supported the vaulted roof of the chapel. Seven hundred years later, the beams had so...

Friday, June 6, 2014

A mentor of mine once asked me, “If you were doing something wrong, when would you want to know?” My response was an immediate, “I would want to know now!” I have asked this question to countless others and...

Friday, May 23, 2014

The clock is ticking. Baby Boomers are getting within a 9 iron of their golden years. Most have finally come to grips with the fact that despite the ideal retirement pictured in glossy brochures and commercials—that retirement...

Friday, April 18, 2014

Toward the end of my two-year missionary experience in the Philippines some 30+ years ago, I became acquainted with several people at Philippine Airlines. I can’t recall exactly how it happened, but I got a chance to board a...

Friday, October 11, 2013

When I was a child, my Dad got me started with tennis and golf. I played team sports during my youth, but individual sports seemed to dominate my interest. I was quite a tennis player as a teenager and made the varsity tennis team as a...

Friday, August 23, 2013

It takes a period of time to understand someone’s financial life. Even more focus is required to identify the risks they face and then develop effective risk-mitigating strategies putting them on the path to reaching their goals....

Friday, February 22, 2013

The late Stephen R. Covey authored a wonderful book titled, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” I read the book many years ago and gleaned much from its pages. Not too long ago, I attended a 6-month course titled,...