Estate planning is a very important aspect of an individual's finances, but it is estimated that less than one half of Americans have a will. As you build your portfolio and have a family, you should be thinking about your assets today and also making a plan for them in the event of your death. Advisor, Stuart Vick Smith joined KVUE to share 5 easy steps to plan for your estate.

KVUE: Estate Planning Tips

ML&R Wealth Management knows that filing for Medicare can be complicated and we want to help navigate and simplify the process for you.

> Click HERE to Register

What's the difference between a job and a profession?  What, then, is a calling?  Taking it even further, what does it mean, really mean, when someone is called an artisan?  

For Tim Maurer, artisanal work is:

Maurer, the director of personal finance for the BAM ALLIANCE, asks:

"What would it look like if you did the work in your job, profession or calling as an artisan?"

> Read the article

A workplace that generates a good vibe can be good for employees, employers and the bottom  line. Harvard Business Review says companies that are dogged by negativity are often faced with issues such as greater health care expenditures, long-term disengagement and a lack of loyalty.

How can a company create and maintain a healthy c ulture? HBR research points to the following key characteristics being in place:

• Caring for and being interested in your colleagues
• Providing support for one another, and offering compassion when others are struggling
• Avoiding blame and forgiving mistakes
• Inspiring one another
• Emphasizing the meaningfulness of the work
• Treating one another with respect, gratitude, trust and integrity 

>  Read more, including the steps bosses can take to foster the above principles

52, 17

An article in The Atlantic cites a study that suggests the most productive workers are those that work for 52 consecutive minutes, then break for 17.  

39

Percent of human resource managers who responded in a survey that they believe Tuesday is the most productive day of the work week.

90, 7

A human geneticist at the University of California-San Francisco says her research shows 90 percent of people need at least seven hours of sleep a night to operate optimally. 

When Seth Godin writes, people read.

When he speaks, people listen.

When he shares new insights, people think.

Godin is a best-selling author, a sought-after speaker. He has been called the "godfather of modern marketing." Godin is who he is because he offers fresh takes on stale concepts, and can make you rethink whether you are taking the best path to wherever you are trying to go. In his post "Effort" from his quick-hitting, much-read blog, Godin shares his thoughts on "trying your best."

EFFORT

What does it mean to "try your best"?

Or to put more effort into something than other organizations do?

We often talk about trying, about effort and 110%, but it's mostly glib. The fact is, very few of us try our best, at the maximum, ever.

Usually, what we do is, "try our best under the circumstances."

So, you're getting good service, but if the CEO's daughter was here, you can bet she'd be getting better service.

So, you're running hard as you train, but you can bet that if you were approaching the finish line at the Olympics, you'd be running harder.

The trick: don't redefine trying. Redefine the circumstances.

It's almost impossible to reliably increase your effort, to put more try into the system.

On the other hand, "the circumstances" are merely our narrative, the way we're choosing to see the world. We can redefine the narrative about our circumstances with a wave of the hand.

This moment, this interaction, this customer ... these are the perfect circumstances, the most urgent, the highest leverage. The one we have right now.

Work with that.