2021 – 03/05 by Aaron Vickar and Dan Sullivan It’s easy to think of life insurance planning as transactional in nature, and many times simply a commodity of necessity. You need to cover a financial risk, so you purchase life insurance to eliminate or mitigate that risk. That’s the end of the story, right? Not…
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…
2021 – 03/05 by Tim Maurer, CFP Are you measuring yourself in the gap or the gain?” No, this isn’t a question pitting retail clothing against laundry detergent. It’s a question posed by Greg McKeown, the author of the essential book Essentialism, in his recent 1-Minute Wednesday newsletter. Your answer matters, both in the way…
February 5, 2021 by David Ressner Knowledge is power. That fact applies to so many parts of life, especially college planning. Until recently, college admissions and financial aid were black boxes. But lately, light has been shone into that box. You can take advantage of that knowledge, rather than being taken advantage of, when searching…
February 5, 2021 by Tim Mauer, CFP I’ve got some good news. You’re not crazy. That’s the message of one of my favorite books of 2020, “The Psychology of Money,” written by Morgan Housel and inspired by a popular blog post he wrote in 2018. It’s a compelling read and the book offers many great lessons, but…
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 Jeffrey Levine When it comes to retirement planning and building up the proverbial nest-egg, there are few pieces of advice more universally accepted than “save as much as possible as early as possible.” Certainly, taking such action is often one of the best ways to grow your retirement savings, but like…
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…
2021 – 01/08 by Tom Haug To look back on 2020 and say it was a challenging year would be an understatement. Uncertainty was a theme, stimulus debates took center stage, and millions of Americans scrambled to revisit their budgets. But there is a sense of optimism that often comes with turning the page into…
December 4, 2020 by Rob Ziliak When it comes to the weather, our attentiveness is usually short term and myopic; we often fixate on this week’s forecast wherever we are located. Periodically, we may look at a slightly longer trend, such as how the hot, dry summer may impact the availability and price of fresh…
December 4, 2020 by Kurt Wunderlich As the great Biggie Smalls once said, “Mo money mo problems.” But is that true? Or do people just not use the money they earn and save correctly? How can we use money as a tool to increase the level of overall joy and contentment in our lives? What…
December 4, 2020 by Zach Novak Can you think back to your formative years and bring to mind a gift or two that you still recall fondly to this day? Now fast-forward back to your adulthood. I’m sure we’ve all noticed how difficult it can be to replicate those types of gifts for children and…
2020 – 11/03 by Kurt Wunderlich We’ve all seen the pictures: Kids in their pajamas sitting amongst dozens of presents stacked high around them, massive grins on their faces as they get ready to rip through the wrapping paper like the Tasmanian Devil. As parents, we think, “Wow, that is one happy kid. He’s the…
2020 – 11/03 by Connie Brezik For many years, we have experienced historically low interest rates, and expectations are that the Federal Reserve will maintain is near-zero rate policy through the end of 2022 or until it sees inflation rise. This means that your investments in fixed income securities, such as cash, certificates of deposit…