The Blog

I truly hope you enjoyed your Independence Day festivities. Perhaps you’re still enjoying them? Interestingly, did you know that the Declaration of Independence was actually approved on July 2nd, and most of the delegates didn’t sign it until August 2nd? While John Adams expected Americans would celebrate July 2, the date on the published copies of the document was July 4th … … Read More

With summer in full swing, for some of my Southwest Louisiana clients it means that the children are more “present” than they might otherwise be. The wallet might feel a little more leaky than normal, with summer camp expenses (and there *are* certain tax deductions for those, if you do it right), various activities for the family, and more. But … Read More

Last week I wrote about worry, and this week … well, the summer is fully upon us, and as things get hotter, some days I come into the office and without the intensity of tax return filing season to keep me distracted, I occasionally find myself a little stuck. Can you relate? You see, I’m a creature of habit, and … Read More

There are so many things in our modern world that are true causes for concern. Whatever your politics, the atmosphere in Washington is tense. There is unrest across the culture, and a sense that many of the things that we have grown to rely upon aren’t nearly as stable as they once were. And to top it all off, Batman … Read More

There comes a point when you hear news such as we all saw unfold over the weekend in London (and earlier in the week in Manchester, UK), and it’s tempting to just go numb. It feels like survival, during these crazy times. But I’m fighting to care, and not just tune EVERYTHING out. There is great wisdom in keeping our … Read More

Memorial Day is behind us, and our lives move forward. Mere words, even a full day of memorializing cannot measure the worth and honor due to our fallen service men and women. For many of us, a 3-day weekend ushers in the summer … and maybe that’s because the task of memorializing itself seems not to be enough. I’m reminded … Read More

The other day, the New York Times ran a story that spoke to one of my favorite topics: keeping our minds clear. The subject was the seemingly-endless barrage of news stories about the current administration, and the challenges of navigating your mind to be free of it all. Whomever you voted for, whatever your political persuasion (and I’m making a … Read More

You’d probably be surprised if you sat in on some of the meetings I have with some of my tax planning and preparation clients. This is by no means the majority of my clients, but there is certainly a good subset of people who have piled away a ton of financial resources … but who are bored, tired and a … Read More

Not a huge amount of “tax news” these days … we’re watching Congressional movement on tax reform, Obamacare, etc. but right now, it’s all mostly just talk. But that’s politics, I suppose. Which is a good argument for not diving too deeply into it. Now … moving to things far more immediately relevant: I’ve written before about the surprising disconnect … Read More

First off, now that May is upon us, we’re moving into a different mode. We have a few clients on extension (and with whom we will continue to correspond), but our attention is now more turned to other matters: tax planning (more about that soon), working with Southwest Louisiana businesses and other individuals with year-round concerns, and other such things. … Read More