As a father of two boys, who are 6 and 3, I (Nolan) am always dealing with allergies, earaches, colds, shots and the normal issues of parenting.

My wife and I have the traditional roles in our family. I try to do my best to be the provider and she does a wonderful job protecting us.

So, it is natural for her to want to take our children to the doctors when they get sick.

I, on the other hand, tend to act like most men and believe the boys can tough it out for a bit. I think the human body, for the most part, can take care of itself, only opting for doctors when the problem gets worse or it is a crisis situation.

But both of us do like to turn to natural alternatives first.

For example, if our son starts to get sick, we give him lots of fluids and maybe some chicken noodle soup as opposed to putting him on an over-the-counter cold medicine at the first sign of a sniffle — this way his body can build his immune system.

At first, we were somewhat unsure as to whether we should give our sons the H1N1 flu shot or not.

Sure, it was all over the news, and the media talked about how sick our country has become and how many people were dying.

In reality, we knew that the flu sweeps the nation and there are, unfortunately, people who die from the flu each year.

Was this H1N1 really something we needed to be concerned with, plus what about the potential side effects?

Then, we received a letter from the school, letting us know it was providing the shots in a few days. We had to make a decision; the clock was ticking.

We talked with a couple of parents who had already gotten the shot, and we knew of others who had gotten sick. In the end, we decided it was a good idea to protect our children.

I wish when it comes to protecting our families for excess taxes, getting a shot was a simple solution.

I could see it now, a line of local residents outside our office walking in and getting a quick shot for their year-end tax planning.

The reality is year-end tax planning often takes time. It takes time to complete a review, work up a plan and implement strategies to save on taxes. The process often involves hours, not minutes. Yet, the results can be a savings of thousands of dollars. So, the investment of time can be well worth the long-term results.

In a few weeks, we will be ringing in another new year, and when the clock strikes midnight, there isn’t a whole lot anyone can do to change their taxes for 2009. You are pretty much stuck with the decisions. You did nothing and might end up overpaying or you have taken time to review your situation and made changes to help lower your tax bill.

Our advice is simple: Take time during the next week to set up an appointment with your financial team, attorney, accountant and investment professional and review options on how to lower your tax bill by making moves now. Consider this your notice from the “Retirement Guys School.” Don’t wait and put this off, doing so may only make you and your family come down with the tax flu in a few months.

For more information about The Retirement Guys, tune in every Saturday at 1 p.m. on 1370 WSPD or visit http://www.retirementguysradio.com/. Securities are offered through NEXT Financial Group Inc., Member FINRA / SIPC. The Retirement Guys are not an affiliate of NEXT Financial Group. The office is at 1700 Woodlands Drive, Suite 100, Maumee, OH 43537.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Retirement Guys, Toledo Business Link.
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