2021 – 08/26 by Rob Ziliak, CFP®, Chief Experience Officer Imagine that, in the foreseeable future, you’ll have turned in all your company property, collected your final paycheck, and will be drinking a hurricane at half past noon while chair-dancing to “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.” You’ve planned on reaching that celebratory beach vacation over the…
2021 – 07/29 by Rob Ziliak, CFP®, Chief Experience Officer Despite a lengthy global pandemic, supply chain delays, inflationary spikes in segments of the economy, and a very tight labor market, your business is highly successful. Yet maybe these challenges, or even other circumstances, have placed financial pressure on your business that you still need…
2021 – 07/26 by Daniel Campbell, Investment Analysis Manager When it comes to meeting your most important financial goals, time in the market can be a significant factor. And that means sticking with your financial life plan for the long haul, through the market’s ups and downs and across inevitable – sometimes lengthy – periods…
2021 – 05/06 by Kurt Wunderlich Making big, hairy, audacious goals is easy. Achieving those goals by yourself is much harder. Nearly everyone has had some experience with just how difficult successful personal or financial change can be, and especially sticking with it over time. For evidence, look no further than the infamous New Year’s…
2021 – 04/08 by Rob Ziliak, CFP®, Chief Experience Officer You know what the cost will be for nearly everything you spend money on, correct? Furnishing a room or two will cost $5,000. A family getaway this summer will add up to $7,500. Total expenses for your college-bound child’s education will run about $30,000 this…
2021 – 03/05 by Kurt Wunderlich Averages often don’t illustrate the whole story, perhaps smoothing over many of the bumps that occur in life. Consider, for instance, your income: Some years you make more and some years less. You leave a high-paying job to start your own company, receive a major promotion, or see your…
February 5, 2021 by Tim Maurer, CFP “For the simplicity that lies this side of complexity, I would not give a fig, but for the simplicity that lies on the other side of complexity, I would give my life.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes The most basic forms of financial planning are nearly worthless. This is because they are…
February 5, 2021 by Patrick Kuster, AIF A great deal of attention often goes into deciding what a portfolio should own, especially when tailoring its allocation to specific retirement goals, risk tolerance, time horizon, and other individual factors. But which types of accounts own which investments also deserves careful consideration, as an account’s tax treatment…
2021 – 01/08 by Connie Brezik Last year certainly had its challenges. For instance, your job or career may have been affected, perhaps requiring you to work from home, stop all your usual travel, and forcing you to learn new online technologies to keep in touch with your clients and customers. These changes may have…
Angela Muckler, Relationship Manager, 8/27/2020 Medicare is an area that practically every American will encounter when planning for retirement. It sits at the intersection of health and wealth in your financial life plan, and so often surfaces across a range of long-term planning conversations. Plus, Medicare and its associated costs can be a confusing topic,…
The BAM ALLIANCE, 8/4/2020 On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. Since then, the U.S. Treasury Department has issued guidance to clarify and, in some cases, expand the provisions of the CARES Act dealing with retirement accounts and the relief offered to retirement account owners…
Jeffrey Levine, CPA/PFS, CFP®, AIF®, CWS®, 8/4/2020 For many, correctly answering the question, “When should I begin to take my Social Security benefits?” is a critical step toward making sure their retirement income and savings last at least as long as they do. For others, who perhaps are lucky enough to have accumulated a more…
Tim Maurer, Director of Advisor Development, 5/4/2020 The coronavirus is dominating our attention so pervasively in the present moment that the notion of retirement seems even more distant for savers. That’s understandable—natural, even. But it’s precisely our fixation on the present that causes us to struggle to follow through on our intentions to secure our…
The BAM ALLIANCE, 5/4/2020 What programs in the government’s enormous coronavirus and economic relief package – the CARES Act, which went into effect at the end of March – apply to you, your financial goals this year, and your longer-term plan? How do you even begin to get a handle on everything in the law,…
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. Notably, several provisions of the CARES Act deal with retirement accounts and offer relief to retirement account owners and/or beneficiaries in a variety of ways. Bland Garvey is providing a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that summarizes some…