Your Turn What are your goals for 2018? When setting your goals for the new year, it’s important to focus on a few things. Make sure your goals are yours. Whether it is decluttering your workspace, reducing debt or losing weight, your goals must be yours, not what someone else thinks you should do. That leads to a few questions …
It’s Time to Look at Year-end Planning
As the year draws to a close, we begin to think about taxes and planning for the upcoming year. There’s no telling what the tax rules will be for 2018, but we might as well take control of what we can — our own spending and planning. Stay disciplined over the holidays with your budget and remember the extra $10 …
Getting Your Affairs in Order
Recently someone was complementing these articles and said how valuable the information in them was to them. One of her family members died recently and she wanted to make sure that her own affairs were in order. Unfortunately, we see unexpected, untimely deaths at surprisingly young ages more than we would like. And with the devastating massacre in Las Vegas, these …
Planning in advance for a disaster
With all the disasters that have happened recently, it never hurts to make sure that we are prepared for the worst. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the American Red Cross and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all provide checklists to help you get started. Those lists are the essentials of tangible items for personal survival, but there are …
How to shut down creative thievery
Financial scams seem be running rampant. A friend recently fell victim. Someone purporting to be her emailed her assistant asking for a wire from her personal account. The email looked just like my friend’s email. It wasn’t “spoofing” but really was from her email address. (Spoofing, I have learned, is when the email looks like it is from someone you know, …
3 Planning Points for Loved Ones
Originally published in the Knoxville News Sentinel Since I have been writing about my journey with my parents, I thought I would continue on the path of things we all need to do for ourselves, as well as our loved ones. There are three points that I would like to make in this article: advanced health care planning, your legacy …
Families working for the benefit of parents
Originally published in the Knoxville News Sentinel As you know from my last column, mom moved to a retirement community recently. My dad is still living at home in Atlanta. (My parents divorced when I was 15 years old.) We now have caregivers for dad 24/7. My brothers also live in Atlanta and are coordinating dad’s care. This is a …
Enjoying spring’s diversity
By Sharon Pryse, Chairman and CEO. Spring has arrived, bringing with it budding flowers and trees, as well as, pollen and sneezing. As I walk through my garden, I realize how important it is to have the larger trees and shrubs which can be complimented by the flowers, both perennials as well as annuals. The diversification in my garden is …
Financial Tips for New Parents (and Grandparents)
Originally published in the Knoxville News Sentinel After our mild winter and now sudden burst of winter, hopefully we soon will welcome spring. Spring also brings cleaning, budding flowers and trees, and last year, our first granddaughter. While there are numerous opinions on all things parenting and grandparenting, at The Trust Company, our perspective is focused on the future and finances. Here …
4 financial tips for 30-somethings
Originally published in the Knoxville News Sentinel The Trust Company is celebrating its 30th year in 2017. It is hard to believe I started this company while in my 30s and, suddenly, it is 30 years later. The milestone makes me realize how quickly even larger chunks of time can pass. My financial philosophy served me well in my 30s. I think …