After a bumpy road for the new retirement bill in Congress, the SECURE Act came into effect on Jan. 1. Also known as the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, the law is one of the most comprehensive pieces of legislation to reform retirement savings. Read more…
Considerations When Planning for Retirement: Unexpected Healthcare Expenses
I often tell people that I lived a Norman Rockwell childhood. My parents provided a home full of love and encouragement. Our grandparents lived nearby and most of our extended family lived within a 30-minute drive. We celebrated holidays, birthdays, and often gathered for no reason at all. As a Read more…
5 Costly Roth Conversion Mistakes to Avoid
A partial Roth conversion is one of my favorite tools to help clients manage their retirement income taxes, so I get frustrated when I see that tool used in the wrong way. Read more…
A Common Mistake Many Investors Make: Mental Rigidity
New ideas are always difficult to accept at first. This is never more true than when those new concepts conflict with our existing beliefs. Read more…
Employee Benefits: What Are They and Why Should You Care?
When I accepted my first full time job which I would start after graduating from college, I was excited about having a job I knew I could build into a career. I was looking forward to moving to a city and being an “adult”, but I also had to think of the practical side of living on my own and being Read more…
Planning for Long-Term Care
My Grandma Eloise was one of the most spirited and energetic people I’ve ever known. She was fully herself all throughout her 9th decade – still helping my own mother and her other children regularly, in church every Sunday, cleaning her own home, driving. Unfortunately, in her early 90s she Read more…
It's Not Free: Why You Need to Take a Closer Look at Commission-Free Trading
On October 7th, Charles Schwab started offering commission-free trading. TD Ameritrade nearly fell over themselves to follow suit and match their competitor, but neither brokerage was the first to make this offer to their customers. Vanguard, J.P. Morgan, and Interactive Brokers all beat them to Read more…
Small Business Retirement Plan Options
One of the more difficult challenges for small businesses, especially those with less than 5 employees, is finding a cost-effective and manageable retirement plan option. Time spent focusing on a retirement plan is time spent not growing your business. But like healthcare and vacation programs, a Read more…
Getting More from Giving Back
From a young age, I’ve enjoyed giving back. Almost every year of high school and college I participated in a mission trip. Since college I’ve had the amazing opportunity to travel to Uganda to help those in need. (See some of the life lessons I learned on this amazing trip). Each trip was unique, Read more…
4 Money Lessons for College Students
As a current student, I can tell you with certainty that college is a weird time. Eighteen-year-olds are thrown into a tiny room in a miniature city with electric scooters instead of cars and party mansions instead of houses. Combine the already jarring lifestyle change with the ever-looming fear Read more…