Blog

Recently Laid Off? Financial Tips to Consider

Facing a sudden job loss can cause a sense of panic or anxiety. Without a steady paycheck, it can be tempting to make short term, rash decisions, especially when it comes to personal finances. Below are a few steps to consider to help...

2025 Changes for Retirement Savers and Beneficiaries

We are already a month into 2025. As the holiday season hangover is put in the rearview mirror, let’s take a closer look at some changes to retirement accounts for 2025 and how they may impact you and your savings goals. Additional...

Why Should You Consider an Annuity?

In a recent survey done by Allianz Life, nearly two-thirds of the respondents feared outliving their money more than they feared dying. With inflation and rising costs in the news, it’s understandable that the fear of running out of...

My Favorite 529 Account Features

In honor of College Savings Day on May 29th, I figured it would be a good time to visit 5 of my favorite features of 529 savings plans. It’s never too early to get started saving for a child or grandchild’s education costs and 529...

Small Business Owner Financial Check Up

May is National Small Business Month. If you are a small business owner, you know how much hard work it takes to simply run the business and keep the lights on. It’s easy to get so caught up in the day to day that you lose sight of the...

Is Your Family Prepared if Something Were to Happen to You?

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. Talking about one’s mortality is never easy and its often why important conversations about life insurance often end up at the bottom of our “to-do” lists. Also, there is a...

Preparing for the Student Loan Payment Restart

January 1st, 2023. That’s when student loan payments, interest, and collections on most federal student loans are set to begin after forbearance is officially scheduled to end on December 31st, 2022. Federal student loan payments...

Worried About a Looming Recession?

The first half of 2022 has been a volatile and turbulent time for the stock market. Many economists have been sounding the “R” word (recession). Several warning signs have started to appear this year: a yield curve that has...

Spruce Up Your Finances

Spring is coming to a close. Now that the days are warmer and longer, you might be working on projects around the house that you had been putting off. Now is also a good time to spruce up some of your financial habits as well....

Financial Guidance for Recent Widows

Double Check Beneficiary Designations

In past posts, we always make it a point to emphasize the importance of double checking beneficiary designations regularly to make sure they are up to date and reflect your current wishes. Can you remember the last time you’ve...

Ways to Save for Retirement Without a 401(k) Part II

In our last post, we discussed a report produced by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics that showed that in March of 2020 (when they conducted the survey), 33% of those surveyed did not have access to any workplace retirement plan. This...

Ways to Save Without a 401(k) Part I

According to a report produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic, 67% of private sector workers had access to some type of retirement plan in March 2020. Of the 67%, fully 52% only had access to a defined contribution plan (i.e....

Spring Cleaning for Finances

Spring is coming to a close which means it’s a good time for the annual spring cleaning ritual of getting rid of clutter and tidying up the house. However, now may be an opportune time to tidy up and declutter your finances as...

Financial Planning Tips for New Parents

Becoming parents is an exciting time but also comes with many changes. In between selecting a pediatrician and decorating the nursery, consider some of these tips to help be better financially prepared for your new arrival. Before Your...

To Merge Finances or Not to Merge Finances?

It’s February, which means love is in the air. We thought this would be a good time to discuss a very unromantic topic, personal finances as a couple. Whether you are in a long term, committed relationship, engaged, or newly...

End of Year Planning Checklist

It’s that time of year again for our annual blog post on end of year financial tasks to complete. To say that 2020 has been an unprecedented year would be an understatement. As we look toward 2021, below are a few end of year...

Protect Your Financial Data

We’re all guilty of it. We are prompted to create yet another password for an online account and we get sloppy and reuse an old password (or worse yet, we use the same password for everything). Or, we throw away a bank or...

Are We There Yet? The Importance of Financial Planning

Did you notice that the last time you got on a scheduled airline that the flight had a planned destination? Of course! Sounds simple, right? Airline flights almost always get to where they are going because they know where they are...

Understanding Your Credit Score

Most people probably have a sense of what their credit score is and if their score is considered a “poor” score all the way to “exceptional.” Banks and credit cards will show you your credit score often updated...

Tackling Debt

We always stress the importance of having an emergency fund and planning for a rainy day. Why we stress this as a foundation for any financial plan is to allow you the option to pay for unexpected expenses that may come up without...