Category: Epic Insights

How to Live a Beautiful Life

Feb 29, 2016

This is the first time that I’ve ever posted an article from someone else, but this particular article struck me. Maybe it’s because I still consider myself a fairly new father with a 19-month old and an “almost” 3-year old at home. Simply enough, I thought this was worth sharing. In fact I believe anything that helps to keep “life” in perspective should be worth sharing, especially for those of us who recognize how important a balanced life is but struggle to actually create that balance. This article was written by a man whom I greatly admire and have learned a tremendous amount from since being introduced to his work years ago … that man, is Jim Rohn. (more…)

A Lesson from Uganda

Feb 12, 2016

Exactly one month ago today, I returned from a 12-day trip to Uganda. While there, myself and a group of 15 others did water projects such as building a rainwater harvest tank and making and distributing bio-sand filters. The organization that hosted the trip was a non-profit based out of Boone, NC called Wine to Water. Their founder, Doc Hendley, received a CNN Hero award back in 2009 for the incredible work that he himself had done both in Darfur and Uganda. Doc has inspired thousands, myself included. The work they do at Wine to Water changes lives. In fact, it changes entire communities. They do real boots on the ground stuff, bringing clean water to those in need. They make an impact with what they do. And I’ve seen it first hand. (more…)

Tags: Current Events, Education Planning, Estate Planning, Income Planning, Investment Planning, Long-Term Care Planning, Philanthropic Planning, Retirement Planning

The Zuckerberg Impact

Dec 3, 2015

If #GivingTuesday wasn’t great enough on it’s own, Facebook ‘s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stole the show with an absolutely extraordinary pledge to give away 99% of his Facebook fortune over his and his wife Priscilla Chan’s lifetime. That amount, as it stands today would total over 45 billion dollars. This will be done through their ongoing platform entitled the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Basically, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative allocates money to organizations around the country — and eventually, the world — in order to make it a better place for everyone. (more…)

Tags: Current Events, Estate Planning, Philanthropic Planning

#GivingTuesday

Dec 1, 2015

There is something extraordinarily special about this day, Giving Tuesday, that simply compelled me to write about it. Unfortunately not everyone will share my overly rose-colored view of #GivingTuesday. Some may see this simply as a day of slight annoyance due to the abundance of e-mails asking for monetary donations. But here at Epic Capital, we see things differently. Given the number of non-profit organizations where our employees have served as board members, we recognize the potential impact of a global campaign like this. (more…)

Tags: Current Events, Estate Planning, Philanthropic Planning, Tax Planning

We’re Off to See the Wizard!

May 30, 2014

“We’re off to see the wizard!” a simple phrase that is universally known. To think, a movie that was released in 1939 still to this day brings great imagination and memories into the hearts of children and adults alike: the legendary film The Wizard of Oz. It was voted a “top 10 movie” of all time and, more importantly, it was my mother’s favorite. She was a big Judy Garland fan and was head-over-heels for musicals. One of the most memorable scenes was when Dorothy exited the door of her house after it had been swept up by the tornado and landed in Munchkin Land. She exited the door, Toto in arm, and immediately the movie turned from black and white to color. It’s a beautifully put together scene and an incredible use of Technicolor, a fairly new film-coloring technology at the time. (more…)

Are You Fi-Organized?

May 5, 2014

Is your financial house in good order? Do you know where everything is?  How long would it take you to pull together all of your important financial documents? Minutes… or hours? Some of you may be thinking it could take days because you aren’t the one who handles the finances for the household or even if you do, you may have forgotten how to access certain financial documents online, or maybe worse, things are just scattered everywhere. The answer should be “minutes.” And if it’s not, it’s truly time to get financially organized, or as I like to call it, Fi-Organized or Fi-Org’d for short. (more…)

Stress Test Your Portfolio

Mar 27, 2014

I believe it was Peter Lynch, the legendary mutual fund manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund that once said, “Prior to retirement have as much in stocks as you can possibly stomach, and then after retirement, have as much in stocks as you can possibly stomach.” In other words, the amount of risk you should take in the stock market, completely and without question, depends on your own personal tolerance for risk. How much risk can you stomach?  That’s the million dollar question. (more…)

Take Control of the One Thing You Can Control … YOU

Mar 4, 2014

Why do we plan a vacation? Many, if not most of us, lay out meticulous plans to ensure that our trip goes smoothly. Doing so enables us to do all the things we want to do and see all the things we want to see. But what would happen if we didn’t create a plan in advance? Might a relaxing vacation turn out not so relaxing? Might a potentially great experience turn into a frustratingly negative one? Don’t get me wrong, I know some folks live for spontaneous adventure, but I can’t imagine too many of us like to travel without some sort of plan. By setting an itinerary or planning ahead many of the main aspects of your trip, you can have your expectations become a reality and help to minimize most travel snafus. We plan because there are rewards for doing it. (more…)

Tags: Estate Planning, Income Planning, Investment Planning, Retirement Planning, Risk Management

Estate Planning for the Soul

Mar 4, 2014

Let’s Have Dinner and Talk About Death. No, this is not a review of Theater Charlotte’s dinner mystery entitled Wine, Chocolate & Murder (doors open at 6:30 on Saturday, February 15th), although I do hear that makes for a fun night out with your Valentine. This is going to be much more personal, and it’s my hope, that you will find it much more valuable. There is a social movement currently taking place which I think it is simply outstanding, and well worth discussing.

Are you familiar with TED Talks? If you are not, go to www.TED.com. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It is a global set of live conferences (mini presentations) that promote “Ideas Worth Sharing”. You can find extremely interesting presentations, no longer than 10-15 mins. in duration, given by thought provoking individuals on a very wide array of topics. Its popularity has spawned other TED Channels, one of which is TED MED (www.TEDMED.com) solely focused on health and medicine. It is on this particular site that I came across “Let’s Have Dinner and Talk about Death”, presented by Michael Hebb back in April of 2013. (more…)

Tags: Current Events, Estate Planning, Long-Term Care Planning, Retirement Planning

Taking Out and Putting Back

Mar 4, 2014

“It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.” That’s a quote from a pretty intelligent guy by the name of Albert Einstein. It is tough to challenge just about anything that came out of his mind, but it’s probably even tougher to measure what one actually takes out of this world. We spend a lifetime of taking out. But can one spend a lifetime of putting back (or giving back)? (more…)

Tags: Current Events, Estate Planning, Investment Planning, Retirement Planning, Tax Planning