Blog
What’s on our mind? You can read about it in our blog. Whether it’s financial ideas or ideas we think can help, you can read about it here. And once in a while, we may throw in a book review, a health tip or some other surprise. So keep checking in. We are grateful to have you reading along.
How SECURE 2.0 Makes Saving for Retirement Easier
Information on the SECURE Act 2.0 and the provisions that may impact your retirement savings.
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The Business Cycle
The Business CycleWhat has upswings and downturns, troughs, peaks, and plateaus? Though such terms could easily describe a roller coaster ride, they are also commonly used to describe the business cycle.The business cycle – also...
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9 Facts About Retirement
Retirement can have many meanings. For some, it will be a time to travel and spend time with family members. For others, it will be a time to start a new business or begin a charitable endeavor. Regardless of what approach you intend...
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Medicare Advantage 101
The Mega Millions jackpot is over a billion dollars. What would you do to manage an unexpected windfall? This article makes a few suggestions.
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9 Facts About Social Security
In the financial world, some weeks are more important than others, and we just lived through a big one. Let's unpack each of the four key stats:The Fed. As expected, the Fed bumped up short-term rates again at its July meeting. But the...
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How To Weather A Market Correction
This article defines and explains the difference between a market pullback, correction, and crash. It helps the reader understand the importance of maintaining their course during these times.
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It's Time To Talk About The Estate Plan
This article discusses the importance of estate planning as well as communicating the plan with loved ones. It offers suggestions regarding how to start the conversation.
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How Women Can Overcome Obstacles to Retirement
Retirement planning is never easy, but it's often more difficult for women for many reasons. This article addresses a few of the challenges typically faced by women and the effects each could have on retirement planning.
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Why Investors Should Avoid Overconcentration
Overconcentration in a stock is more common than we realize. It can happen for a lot of reasons but should be avoided if at all possible. This article discusses the risks associated with overconcentration as well as ways to avoid it.
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Keeping Your Financial Accounts Cyber Secure
This is a short article instructing individuals on ways they can keep financial information out of the wrong hands.
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Lessons From The FIRE Movement
This article references the FIRE movement fundamentals and discusses how they can help individuals think about becoming financially independent.
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Get A Jumpstart On Your 2022 Taxes
This is a short article with tips regarding how to be better prepared for next tax season.
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4 Tips to Help You Avoid Timing The Market
Market volatility can tempt one to try to profit from the ups and downs. Giving in to the temptation can have catastrophic results. This article provides tips on how to avoid the potentially costly mistake of timing the market.
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Negotiating for Workplace Benefits
This article helps job seekers understand that, when seeking a change, they need to consider more than just salary. Some workplace benefits may be negotiable and improve the job seeker's quality of life without costing the employer much.
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Hedging Against Inflation in Your Portfolio
Rising inflation is a concern among investors. This article suggests five alternatives that could help protect your investments.
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The Benefits and Risks of Income Investing
Income investing seeks to provide investors with passive income from the assets they hold. This strategy may be attractive to those hoping for financial independence, but it requires specialized knowledge and can be especially risky.
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ESOPs: The Basics of Employee Stock Ownership Plans
A company may supplement employee salaries with an ESOP. ESOPS are essentially trust funds that offer advantages to both the employee and employer. Setting one up is a multi-step process, but an ESOP can be a powerful, multiuse tool.
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The Unique Advantages of Health Savings Accounts
The Unique Advantages of Health Savings Accounts These tax-advantaged savings accounts can help you cover your health care expenses A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged savings account that allows individuals with...
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The 2021 Child Tax Credit: An Overview
The 2021 Child Tax Credit: An Overview The tax give-back for parents of young children is different in 2021 Every year, the Child Tax Credit reduces the tax liability of American parents. If it lowers their tax burden below zero, it...
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5 Tips for Reviewing an Early Retirement Offer
5 Tips for Reviewing an Early Retirement Offer You’ve spent years planning and saving for your retirement. And then, out of the blue, your employer hands you an early retirement offer that could change everything. An early...
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4 Risks that Can Impact Your Retirement
4 Risks That Can Impact Your Retirement Even with careful planning and diligent saving, some parts of retirement planning are out of your control. Factors like longevity, rising medical costs and the ups and downs of the market can...
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A Beginner's Guide to Alternative Investments
A Beginner’s Guide to Alternative Investments Alternatives are investment options beyond the typical stocks, bonds and cash found in most portfolios. They can be tangible assets like precious metals, or they could be financial...
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What is Inflation?
What Is Inflation—And Why Is Everyone Talking About It? Climbing commodity prices, ambitious government spending packages due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic crash have resurrected a long-dormant fear:...
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Automated Investing vs. Human Guidance
Automated Investing vs. Human Guidance When you’re looking for help managing your investment portfolio, you have a decision to make: Should you work with a financial advisor or a robo-advisor? A financial advisor is a...
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Breaking Down IRAs
Breaking Down IRAs Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are a type of tax-advantaged account that can help you boost your retirement savings. The most common IRAs you’ll choose from are traditional and Roth IRAs. Both are...
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Financial Conversation Tips for Couples
Financial Conversation Tips for Couples Communication about money is often fraught for couples, and bringing the topic up with your partner can be challenging. But discussing financial concerns, goals and habits is key to a strong...
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Breaking Down Socially Responsible Investing
Breaking Down Socially Responsible Investing Many investors want more out of their investments than just a good return. They want to know that the companies they invest in are ethical and responsible — that they build...
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Tips for Making the Most of Your Inheritance
Tips for Making the Most of Your Inheritance Baby boomers in the U.S. are set to bequeath $68 trillion in wealth by 2043, as part of the Great Wealth Transfer. Much of that will be left to Generation X and millennial heirs. If you...
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Preparing Teens for Financial Adulthood
Preparing Teens for Financial Adulthood Learning how to properly manage money is a crucial life skill that can take years to develop. For teens who may be earning an income for the first time, there can be a steep learning curve when...
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Women and Wealth: Taking Charge of Your Finances
When it comes to financial planning, women are likely to face different challenges than men. For one, they earn less than men on average, and they’re more likely to work part-time jobs or take time away from their careers to...
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How Does Dollar-Cost Averaging Work?
When you’re in a traffic jam on the highway, you may find yourself trying to merge into whichever lane is moving fastest at the moment, only to find yourself falling behind drivers that stayed in one lane the whole time. In the...
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Choosing the Right Life Insurance Policy
How to compare plans based on your specific needs The basic premise behind life insurance is simple: You pay premiums to an insurance company, which then pays your beneficiaries a certain amount after you die. But not all life...
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Tax Tips for the 2021 Tax Season
Reducing your tax burden can help you manage your wealth and free up money to meet your financial goals and build your legacy. But tax rules are complicated, and you may need help understanding all the methods you can use to minimize...
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Tax Tips for Charitable Donations
Tax Tips for Charitable Donations Charitable giving is a great way to support the causes you care about while also getting a tax break. In 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which...
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4 Smart Money Moves for 2021
4 Smart Money Moves for 2021 With the new year in full swing, it’s a great time to take stock of your personal finances. From building a budget and saving for retirement to getting a jump on this year’s taxes, here are some...
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Protect Your Loved Ones
Protect Your Loved Ones. Why Beneficiary Planning is so important. Did you know that beneficiary forms trump your will? Even if you have completed a will, if the beneficiary form takes precedence and is followed even if it counters...
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401k vs. Pension: 5 Ways They are Different
Pension vs. 401k: 5 Ways they are Different How can you plan for retirement if you don’t understand your retirement plan at work? As pension plans have been shut down over the last few decades 401ks have taken their place as one...
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Understanding Retirement Income
Understanding Your Retirement Income Plan Manage cash flow in retirement with multiple income streams When you retire, you get to bid farewell to the working world. That’s the good news. The bad news? You’ll no longer have...
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Creating a Succession Plan
Creating a Successful Business Succession Plan An exit strategy helps business owners ensure the long-term success of their company A good succession plan creates a blueprint for ownership transfer as you exit your business. It helps...
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Backdoor Roth IRA
Do you know that there is a way to contribute to a Roth IRA even if you make too much money? What is a Roth IRA? A Roth IRA is an Individual Retirement Account that allows you to contribute after-tax dollars into a savings or...
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Wealth from Company Stock
What do 7 out of the top 10 richest Americans have in common? Their wealth came from ownership of their company’s stock. Great fortunes have been made (and lost) by owning concentrated stock positions your company’s stock....
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Lombardi Leadership
Over 50 years ago, Vince Lombardi coached his last football game. Lombardi is universally recognized as one of the greatest coaches in football history, as well as a pioneering figure who helped break the sport’s color barrier....
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Inflation Trepidation
The one word that all pre-retirees should prepare and consider is Inflation. Ronald Reagan said, “Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.” Inflation is a scary term...
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The Importance of Long Term Care Planning
The Importance of Long-Term Care Planning Long-term care coverage can fill in the gaps other health care insurance leaves behind. Long-term care insurance helps cover the cost of assistance with daily living tasks, including bathing,...
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How to Make a Wealth-Transfer Plan
How to Make a Wealth-Transfer Plan A well-designed plan protects your wishes and helps avoid conflict among your heirs. A wealth transfer plan guides the movement of your assets from your estate to your beneficiaries. Baby boomers are...
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Investing During an Election
What You Need to Know About Investing During an Election Elections can move the market, but that doesn’t mean you should change your approach Like any big news event, U.S. presidential elections can cause ripples and even waves...
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Healthcare in Retirement
Preparing for Healthcare Costs in Retirement For many Americans, navigating the maze of health insurance options—from employer-based plans to individual policies—can be dizzying. Much of that changes at 65. That’s...
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Are You Ready to Retire?
So, here’s the million dollar question… are you ready to retire? Following are six tasks you’ll need to complete in order to confidently answer this question. With so many variables to consider, ensuring you’re...
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The Most Valuable Gifts
The Most Valuable Gifts Cost Next to Nothing I think that I love giving gifts more than getting gifts. Isn’t it great when you see someone open a gift that they really like—the smile that lights up their face and makes your...
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What do you miss most?
What do you miss most from pre-COVID times? For me it is definitely hugs. The way that I was brought up, we didn’t really hug other people. We mostly kept our hands to ourselves, but when I went to college in the Bronx at Fordham...
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Net Worth is no Replacement for Self-Worth but it is Important to Calculate and Track
“Self-worth takes you further than net worth.”—Matshona Dhliwayo In the last email we reviewed your ongoing financial health in conjunction with cash flow. Another way to take stock of your finances is to calculate...
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Five Rules of Long-Term Investing
Five Rules of Long-Term Investing These best practices can help you stay invested during the market’s ups and down The COVID-19 pandemic helped put an end to the longest bull market in history. The stock market plunged, and many...
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How to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
How to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft Online banking and electronic payment options offer consumers unprecedented access to their financial accounts. Yet, this convenience comes at a price—a greater risk of identity theft....
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Positive Cash Flow is King!
How to Budget and Get a Handle on Your Expenses. “We must consult our means rather than our wishes.”—George Washington. Money is a tool that we use to get things that we want and to live a certain way. It is often...
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Financial Procrastination Takes Its Toll
Financial Procrastination Takes its TollBy Margaret O’Meara, CFP®, AIFA® William Shakespeare, as everyone knows, is the most famous playwright in history. His plays have been translated into every major living language,...
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Plan Sponsor Fiduciary Checklist
As per the IRS, the employer is responsible for keeping their plan in compliance. This checklist can help you to that end.
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Financial Planning Starts with Goal Setting
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” ---Tony Robbins We spend so much time caring for others that it is good to take time to focus on what we want and to build the life that we...
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Look Back to See Forward
“We can’t tell where we are going until we understand where we’ve been,” President Franklin Roosevelt reportedly said this to an aide when discussing economic policy during the height of the depression. As our...
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Living a Lost Art—Saving for Emergencies
We’ve seen the headlines. We’ve looked at the statistics. We’ve heard the stories. The coronavirus has not only battered the markets, it’s changed the way we live and work. While it may not be as dramatic as,...
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401(k): 10 Best Practices for Plan Sponsors
10 Best Practices for Retirement Plan Sponsors 1. Determine the Business’s Goals for the plan The Companies and Private Schools that we work with have very generous plans for their staff. We find that reviewing the objectives and...
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Crushing the Odds and Being Your Best
As we face unusual challenges this year, I thought it would be good to focus on someone who achieved his goals despite facing enormous odds. For most people, Stephen Hawking is the only living physicist they can name. He is well-known...
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Through Sickness and Health it is Best to Stick with the Plan
“Every decade or so, dark clouds will fill the economic skies, and they will briefly rain gold. When downpours of that sort occur, reach for a bucket.” —Warren Buffett In the battle with COVID-19 rages on, and the...
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Habits for Helping in Hard Times
What new habits are you developing? During the first week of COVID-19 lockdown, I found myself eating too much, sleeping later than normal and watching too much TV. My...
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Some Thoughts on the New Normal
As our new “normal” has been shaken, at times you may be feeling disoriented, fearful and anxious—I know that I have. The coronavirus has impacted the global economy unlike anything we have seen in the past. The...
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The Optimist Creed
When I re-read The Optimist Creed, it helped me during these uncertain and difficult times, and I hope it does the same for you. The Optimist CreedPromise Yourself—To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.To...
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Pandemic Pandemonium, the New Normal?
“In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.” --Warren BuffettOur everyday lives have changed dramatically over the last few weeks as everyone works together to minimize the impact of...
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Market Volatility
“The stock market takes an escalator up, and an elevator down.” Classic Wall Street Saying The last week has sure felt like taking an express elevator down, as the end of February brought a historic stock market sell-off,...
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February 25, 2020 National Fiduciary Day
Cheers to all of my Accredited Investment Fiduciary® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® colleagues. We celebrate National Fiduciary Day today and every day by putting our client’s interests ahead of our own. What is a...
Read MoreA Bucket Plan to Go With Your Bucket List
The baby boomers have re-defined everything they've touched, from music to marriage to parenting and, more lately, to what "old" means—60 is the new 50! Longer, healthier living, however, can put greater stress on the...
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