IBJ

In my much younger days, I never planned to get married and certainly didn't plan to have children. The last thing I thought I would do was to stay home with them. Yet in my 30s, I found myself married, with children and no outside employment. It wasn't what I had planned, but it was the life I was living.

My brother was visiting from China, and we got into a discussion of the stock market and the impact of high-frequency trading, or HFT.

Oh, the things we discuss after a good dinner and copious amounts of wine. Does HFT help or hurt individual investors? Is the market "rigged" against small investors?

Electronic-trading systems were introduced in the 1990s.

I remember picking my oldest son up from school, when out of the blue he asked, “Mom, what’s the difference between a Roth and an IRA?” Pretty astute for a High School Freshman. One article I read described the difference as “paying taxes on the acorn or the oak tree”.

I am in this great financial-planning book club. We read and discuss one book a year. The downside is that we have a video conference to discuss the book, instead of getting together in person, and there is no wine involved.

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be able to save money effortlessly?

I am not one of those people. I struggle to keep my spending impulses under control.

A recent Kiplinger article, “5 Big Problems to Solve Before You Retire,” lumped financial advisers into two camps.

“There are those who promise everything is going to be fine; you don’t have to fret about retirement, they say, because they’ll help you make more than enough money to get you through.

“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.”

—Winston Churchill, former British prime minister

Everyone needs a financial plan, but not everyone needs a financial adviser. There are times when it is OK to go it alone and other times when you could benefit from sound advice from a fiduciary adviser.

Couples fight about money. Money fights can put a strain on any relationship and are a frequent cause for divorce. Divorce is one life event that will almost always derail a financial plan.

So how can you manage those money disagreements and keep your relationship on track? Communication and self-reflection go a long way toward generating happy relationships, no matter the topic.

People often dream of getting a big financial windfall. The most common sources of sudden money are lawsuit judgments, divorces, business sales, inheritances, retirement packages and stock options.

To read more, go to: Indianapolis Business Journal

We all deal with death differently, including coping with a parent's death. Adult children might have some unique considerations, especially with the last parent's death.

My mom died Dec. 21, 1998. My mother-in-law just died Dec. 26. My husband and I had very different experiences. My mom was only 66, and her death was unexpected .