Showing results by author "Dale C. Maley" in All Categories

In 1869, veteran surveyor Nelson Buck recruited five young Pontiac, Illinois, men between the ages of 16 and 20 to accompany him on a surveying expedition to southern Nebraska. When they reached Nebraska, he recruited about another six younger men to join the survey party. Nelson Buck expected the U.S. Army to issue his men guns, ammunition, and an armed escort. His requests were turned down, and he decided to start the survey anyway. Two days from the Army fort, the party ran into members of the Sioux tribe. Buck sent two of the Pontiac boys back to the fort to get help. When the Army ...

Many new investors are shocked to discover there are over 8,000 different mutual funds to choose from! How do you know which fund to pick? Once you pick a fund, how do you know how well it is performing? Do you have to spend a lot of time learning about investing? This book answers all of these questions and more. It shows how regular people can simplify their investment life and beat the pro's results. Jill is a new investor who knows she must start investing for her daughter's education and her retirement. Jill turns to her nephew, a Business Major, and to William the friendly Finance ...

Illinois has a very interesting geological history. At one time, this area was covered by an ocean. Later it had lush tropical forests. Eventually the Ice Age glaciers leveled the ground to its current relatively flat topography. The Paleo-Indians are believed to have traveled from Asia to North America at the end of the last Ice Age about 14,000 years ago. These people gradually moved south until they occupied most of the United States. These early peoples adapted over time to the changing environment after the Ice Age. By the time the first white man explored Illinois, the Kickapoo ...

This short story explains the theory of behavioral finance and helps to explain how you can use these theories to help achieve your financial goals.

Most retirement books assume you have time to save and accumulate money or you already have a significant net worth. Most of the 67 million Baby Boomers who are approaching retirement age have run out of time to save and accumulate more wealth. This short story explores the options available to people reaching retirement age who are broke. After reading this short story, you will be able to make your own well-informed decision on how to optimize your chances of being able to retire.

Fairbury is a small town located in Central Illinois. It is 100 miles south of Chicago and 60 miles east of Peoria. It was founded in 1857 when the railroad first crossed Central Illinois. In 1861, John Marsh, and son Henry Marsh, dug 180 feet down just west of Fairbury and found coal. Their discovery of coal in the Illinois prairie, prompted the discovery of more coal through-out Central Illinois. Fairbury quickly had three main operating coal mines. These mines created jobs that attracted miners all the way from Europe. The population of Fairbury exploded from 269 in 1860 to 2,324 in 1890...

This short story explains how to become a financial planner or Registered Investment Advisor.

Many Americans work hard and live below their means so they can grow their wealth through saving and investing. Unfortunately, the U.S. has 50% of the world's lawyers. Umbrella insurance is an easy way to protect your hard earned wealth from lawsuits. This short story explains umbrella insurance including how much umbrella insurance you should have.

In August of 1887, the TP&W railroad began advertising for a special passenger excursion train that would take Central Illinois citizens on a short vacation trip to Niagara Falls. On August 10, 1887, the train with its 625 total passengers began it trip east across Illinois.Just past midnight, the passenger train encountered a burned out wooden bridge just east of Chatsworth. The second locomotive and several wood passenger cars derailed killing approximately 85 passengers and injuring 372 more. It was one of the worst train wrecks of that era.In 1970, Helen Louise Plaster Stoutemyer ...

Although Wall Street tries to convince us that financial planning is too complicated for an ordinary Main Street citizen to understand, financial planning is not rocket science. This story provides a process map or flow chart for the entire financial planning process. Each process step in the flow chart then becomes a separate chapter. For each chapter, a list of the best books, best articles, and best short stories are given so you can explore each step in more detail. You can select the process steps that you are most interested in and then read the supporting books, articles, and short ...

Millions of American Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age. Many of them have set up estate plans using either wills or trusts. One additional document that can save their heirs a great deal of time is a Letter of Instruction. This short story explores how writing a Letter of Instruction can greatly ease the burden on your heirs of settling your estate.

This short story explores the pros and cons of investing in variable annuities versus conventional mutual funds.

Millions of Americans are saving and investing in an effort to fulfill their long term goals including college education for their children and retirement. One proven method of increasing the probability of achieving your goals is to put them in writing. This short story explores how writing an Investment Policy Statement can help you meet your financial goals.

This short story explores how to find a good financial planner. After reading this short story, you will know how to find a good financial planner who meets your needs.

Many Americans have long-term financial goals including paying for their children’s college or their own retirement. Studies have shown you are more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. This short story shows how to develop your own comprehensive personal financial plan. It includes a template that you can modify to fit your needs.

Millions of Americans are stuck with poor 401K plans. These 401K plans have low employer matching ratios and very high annual expenses. At some point, it becomes better to simply invest in low cost index funds in a taxable account versus using the poor 401K. This story explores this problem and the trade-offs between a poor 401K and a taxable account.Hopefully, after reading this short story, you will have enough information to make your own well informed decision regarding your specific situation.

This short story explores the pros and cons of utilizing immediate annuities for retirement income.

William Walton and Elizabeth Gehman had a large family of 12 children in Ohio. They both died at relatively young ages, leaving several of their younger children as orphans.Four of these 12 children moved to the Fairbury area. Mary Ann Walton married prominent Belle Prairie Township farmer David Steele Crum. They provided a home for young orphan Isaac Walton after the parents died.Benjamin Walton was a pioneer settler of the Fairbury area. He established a large elevator and grain mill at the southwest corner of First and Locust.Orphan Isaac Walton served in the Civil War, then returned to ...

Contributing the maximum amount to your 401K has become almost the “holy grail” of the financial services industry. I recently came across several studies which suggest that maxing out your 401K may not be the best strategy for everyone. One of these studies suggested that if you are in the lower income levels, you should not max out your 401K due to excessive taxes on Social Security income when you retire. Another article suggested that if you are within 10 years of years of retirement, you should also not max out your 401K. My goal is to further explore the issue of maxing out 401K ...

Circa 1922, the book titled Livingston County, Illinois in the World War was published. It contains the names of all the people from Livingston County who served in World War I. If submitted, it also contains a brief service record for each person. Circa 1947, the book titled Service Record Book of Men and Women of Fairbury, Illinois and Community was published. It contains a photo and short biography of each person that served in World War II. Unfortunately, there is no published book containing the names of the Fairbury area people who served in the Civil War. This book utilizes numerous ...