Looking Ahead As We Emerge From the Great Recession
We all witnessed the painful drop in the economy in September, 2008. To add insult to injury, in December, 2008 Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was exposed that left hundreds of investors including many well known institutions and charities broke. The Great Recession of 2008, is rivaled only by the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Great Recession of 2008 hurt everyone. No one was spared. Compare 2008 with 2000 and the tech bubble burst. Those of us over weighted with technology stocks suffered dearly. A large handful of us were affected, but...
read moreTesting
I am trained and experienced in differential diagnostic testing with children, adolescents and adults. Diagnostic testing is a way of clarifying what a person’s problems are and can be useful in developing a treatment plan. ADHA/ADD & LD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Inattention Disorder and Learning Differences are diagnoses made primarily on the basis of a person’s cognitive and emotional past. That is, you don’t get ADHD/ADD, you either have it or you don’t. The evaluation focuses on finding evidence of problems...
read moreRough Beginnings : Tips for Parenting a Job-Seeking Adult Child
Last week I got a heartbreaking call from my 20s something son. He’d applied for a job that fit him perfectly. The job offered benefits and work that he has spent the last 5 years training for. He didn’t get the job. I listened to his deflated voice fighting back tears while he told me that despite upbeat and encouraging interviews (including a friendly invitation to have lunch with the entire staff after the last interview) he had just received a two line email citing his lack of experience as the reason he didn’t make the cut. Granted...
read moreFinancial Therapy in the Wall Street Journal
I was delighted to be interviewed by personal finance writer Veronica Dagher in this article about the rapidly-growing field of financial therapy. As Ms. Dagher writes in the Wall Street Journal, financial therapists can be “invaluable.” We work with couples to decrease the stress that money issues add to a relationship. We also partner with financial advisors to work with their clients. For example, for an overly anxious client, a financial therapist could create a step-by-step action plan so the client could implement the...
read moreCrazy About Money in the New York Times
Check out Crazy About Money in this New York Times article about the recession and the toll it’s taking on relationships. The most important thing that couples can do when money is tight: communicate, communicate, communicate.
read moreImpact of Job Loss on Marital Relationships
Last week I spoke with radio host Laura Ingraham about recession depression and the way that married relationships suffer in severe, economic downturns. The folks who called into the show were in situations we’ve all experienced at one time or another. One caller had just lost his job and he and his wife found themselves fighting more. Another caller owned a business that had dried up over the last two years. His wife’s company was laying off employees, so they both were living with gut wrenching loss and uncertainty. Economic pressure can...
read moreTax season got you down? Try these six simple steps that will help keep you sane while doing taxes.
Right now, less than a month before the April 15th tax deadline, is the time you or your accountant are buried under paperwork. Perhaps you’re drinking cups of strong coffee, getting little sleep and not stirring from that needed (and dreaded) pile of receipts, forms, bits of paper, and even torn napkins with blurred names and numbers on them. According to a 2011 American Psychological Association national survey, money stress was at the top of the list for causing stress that leads to unhealthy coping behavior, like excessive smoking,...
read moreIt’s Detroit, It’s the Superbowl, It’s Clint Eastwood
The Superbowl’s half-time commercial shows Detroit’s streets—dark and shadowy. Clint Eastwood strides down them and talks tough about America’s rough economic times. In his compelling directness Clint then shifts to talking about Americans as a community and how we all have to pull together —getting up again and again after we are hit with assaults and disappointments. America’s brand , our core fabric, is resilience. Resilience means not only facing down troubles. It also means learning how to take care of ourselves as...
read moreIs It Logical To Have A Mortgage
When someone secures a mortgage on their residence at a reasonable interest rate, what do they think about? Most people would say that they are glad they got a decent interest rate and long for the day when it will be paid in full and they will own their house free and clear and fulfill a core element of the American Dream. Some people may have the means to pay their mortgage off in 15 years or even 10 years. This, of course, means larger monthly payments. But should they pay it off as soon as possible? What if they had lower monthly payments...
read moreA Lucky Surprise
“Congratulations, you have just won $285,000 in the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes,” an unfamiliar voice announces, as I pick up the phone the other morning. “Oh, really, I say, somewhat skeptical because I don’t remember entering a raffle, but curious. “Who wouldn’t want a $285,000 surprise, particularly in this economy and right after some hefty Christmas spending,” I mutter to myself as the disembodied voice continues, “We want to deliver the check to you today. All the taxes are paid. It will be coming from the...
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