Lifetime Financial

02/03/2025

Our hearts break for the households affected by the capricious and unconscionable events at USAID and broadly in the Federal Government. If you need help, please reach out to us. We are prioritizing our ongoing clients and will try to help others affected as best we can. We do not have any inside information, no one does.

The only thing we are sure about is that the next decade will not resemble the last. There is no going back to the modernist world in which we grew up. Civil society, global human equality, and a functioning representative democracy are no longer broadly shared American values.

Arguably they were never fully shared. At least it was once broadly accepted that there are facts and truth and a need to compromise. These cynical, selfish, post-modern politics are a step back in our nation’s history. Nonetheless, this is our new and probably permanent reality. Liberals are now the conservatives, hoping for a return to a safer past when norms were maintained.

Economically, we are very concerned. The Wall Street Journal calls this, “the dumbest trade war in history.” One doesn’t get more by claiming a larger share of a smaller pie. Global growth is stunted by high U.S. Federal Reserve rates. Inflation, just barely tamed, is about to be simulated by tariffs, tax cuts, and government spending.

Please resist the urge to market-time amid the chaos—it never works. Getting your financial plans in shape is a better use of time.

There’s good news on the horizon for Lifetime Financial including the resumption of the blog, a new website, and added services. We’ll hold off as it’s a celebratory note and feels tone-deaf in this sad moment.

Thank you for all your contributions to a better world. You brought hope to others, a gift that is never wasted.
- David & Alishia

11/07/2023

Twilight in the office

09/28/2023

We often help our clients by making deposits for them at Schwab in Bethesda. And Davide is awesome!

09/07/2023

I wrote this blog about few weeks ago and it got a lot of interest. It's something I always advise clients with children to consider. And as a I never receive commissions or referral fees.

As the second post of a two-part series on life insurance, we discuss term life insurance—the amount of coverage you should consider and other pitfalls to avoid. See previous post for more information.

07/06/2023

When I started the firm, the “Lifetime” in Lifetime Financial was a reminder that we have only one lifetime and we don’t know how long it will be. At my young wife’s cancer diagnosis in 2004, I became painfully aware that life can be much shorter than expected. It was then for the first time that I truly understood that money isn’t our scarcest resource, time is. I have had ongoing concerns that my life-can-be-short approach to financial planning would be too challenging for clients. Conventionally, talking about death is not the way to sell financial advice. It’s a lot more reassuring when your Financial Planner says, “We plan for you to lead a healthy life and live to 100,” and much less so when I also ask, “If you died tomorrow, would you feel unfulfilled? Who or what did you not get to be? or do?” Read more at https://lifetimefinancial.com/the-lifetime-blog/lets-talk-about-death-baby

When I started the firm, the “Lifetime” in Lifetime Financial was a reminder that we have only one lifetime and we don’t know how long it will be. At my young wife’s cancer diagnosis in 2004 , I became painfully aware that life can be much shorter than expected. It was then for the first tim...

03/23/2023

Markets and regulators continue to deal with the fallout like Credit Suisse. It continues to unfold with no simple resolution in sight.

Bank failures that raise systemic risks to the financial system are a cause for serious concern. Silicon Valley Bank was poorly diversified and made major strategic mistakes. Regulators and the Federal Government had many opportunities to prevent this.

02/27/2023

Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard Group, gave retail investors a big advantage by offering inexpensive index funds from a company that uses its profits to reduce investor fees. Vanguard helped lower fees for everyone, not just Vanguard investors, by creating quality, low-cost mutual fund products with which other firms had to compete. Vanguards impact continues to be enormous, and it has a very devoted community of followers called “Bogleheads”.

Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard Group, gave retail investors a big advantage by offering inexpensive index funds from a company that uses its profits to reduce investor fees. Vanguard helped lower fees for everyone, not just Vanguard investors, by creating quality, low-cost mutual fund products

02/07/2023

Lifetime Financial is a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and we see a lot of consumer confusion regarding what a “fiduciary” is. The first in this two-part series, this blog hopes to explain its origins and the regulatory missteps that has made the public more vulnerable to bad actors.

Lifetime Financial is a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and we see a lot of consumer confusion regarding what a “fiduciary” is. The first in this two-part series, this blog hopes to explain its origins and the regulatory missteps that has made the public more vulnerable to bad actors.

01/18/2023

The 2019 and its follow-up, SECURE 2.0, are the largest changes to the U.S. since the late 1990s. I reviewed both bills and compiled 57 notable retirement changes in the bills, all ranging from small to moderate in scope. Nothing addresses the inherent flaws in the system that go back to the 1970s when our modern retirement system transitioned dramatically. Social Security and troubled employer managed pensions needed bailouts and reform and seemed unprepared to support America’s retirement.

The 2019 SECURE act and its follow-up, SECURE 2.0 , are the largest changes to the U.S. retirement system since the late 1990s. I reviewed both bills and compiled 57 notable retirement changes in the bills, all ranging from small to moderate in scope. Nothing addresses the inherent flaws in the s

01/04/2023

At Lifetime Financial, we spend a lot of time Life Planning. is a series of exercises that encourage clients to spend their time and money on the things that bring them the most fulfillment and flourishing. is high (often number 1) on our fulfillment lists, including mine. For most of my life I have thought of it as a core value that has moral goodness. When we travel, we get historical perspective, global understanding, and human compassion. Our local belief bubble is challenged and there is some economic benefit to the host country. Was I right about that?

At Lifetime Financial, we spend a lot of time Life Planning. Life Planning is a series of exercises that encourage clients to spend their time and money on the things that bring them the most fulfillment and flourishing. Travel is high (often number 1) on our fulfillment lists, including mine. For m