Heidi Wilkey
Advisor Assistant
Did Someone Say Party?
If you know me, you know that I love a good party. I am always looking for an excuse to gather people together. It’s something I have always loved, and I’ve gotten pretty good at it. Whether it’s a surprise birthday party or an event for a church function, count me in! Currently, I am planning an Easter activity for about 350 young children in my area. I love combing through the details and figuring out all the working parts that need to happen to make it run smoothly. It’s just how my brain works, but there’s more to it than just logistics. I love to bring joy to others by making the event or party special and meaningful. It’s the little things, the details, the extra touches that make all the difference.
I come from a large family (I am 1 of 9 children), and our mother recently turned 80. I definitely got my love for gathering people from my mother. Together with my siblings, we planned a big birthday bash for her 80th birthday.
She loves to play games, dress up, and party with the best of them. So, we knew this had to be a big deal. We decided to do a “Celebrating Sally Through the Decades” theme and we wanted to honor her love for parties, dressing up, and all things creative. Each of the nine siblings took a decade of her life, starting in the 1940s, and dressed up like that decade and decorated a table to fit that decade, complete with pictures of her and facts about her life and the world during that decade. And to top it off, for each table we made a Rock Person to mimic a picture of her from that decade. What is a Rock Person, you ask? Among so many fun things about our mother Sally is her creative mind that loves to make little figurines out of rocks. Some rock people represent historical or biblical characters, others spotlight pop-culture or nursery rhyme characters. She even has made a Rock Person to mimic each of her nine children. So naturally, it was our turn to make a Rock Person of her from each decade of her life to match the theme of the party.
Pictured below is the Rock Person figurine to match a costume our mother is best known for wearing: the fairy godmother in Disney’s “Cinderella.”
Whether it’s planning a small game night or a big wedding reception, a special birthday party or an awesome work event, whatever it takes to get people together, I’m your girl. Did someone say party?
Market Outlook 2026
Our advisory team did a wonderful job presenting at the Market Outlook 2026 seminar. This is an event the experts at Carson take very seriously, investing significant time and energy into developing thoughtful, research-based insights for advisors across the country. We were pleased to share that content with our clients in a way that felt clear, relevant, and actionable.
We also had a strong turnout, both in person and on Zoom, which made the conversation even more meaningful. Thank you to everyone who joined us and continues to engage so thoughtfully in planning for the year ahead.
If you missed this event, watch for the recording of this presentation coming to our location page soon—we will shout out when that happens!
Albert Einstein: “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”
Did you know that there is a rise in identity theft during tax season? During tax season, millions of people are gathering and submitting sensitive personal and financial data, including Social Security numbers, income details, and employer information, all in a short period of time. This concentrated “data flow” offers more opportunities for criminals to intercept or misuse that information. Reduce your likelihood by filing early and check out the story and details below:
Larz Macfarlane
Wealth Advisor
A Quick Reminder from Maggie’s Experience: Stay Sharp Out There
I’ve worked with a lot of great people over the years who have built solid retirements through discipline and smart choices, and I hate seeing any of that hard work get threatened by something as preventable as a scam.
Take Margaret (name changed, of course), one of our clients who’s 76 and sharp as they come. She’s always been careful with her money, checks statements regularly, the whole nine yards. A few months back she got an email that looked exactly like it was from her bank: “Unusual activity detected-click here to verify.” She clicked, entered her info thinking she was protecting her account—and just like that, things went sideways.
Within a couple days, she started seeing weird charges, password reset alerts she didn’t request, and money moving out faster than she could react. It was a classic phishing scam, and it stung, with thousands gone before she could stop it.
But here’s what I admire about Margaret: She didn’t freeze. She called her banks and credit card companies right away (using the numbers on the back of the cards, not the email), froze what she could, reported the fraud, and started the recovery process. She also reached out to us so we could help monitor things on the investment side and make sure nothing else was compromised.
Since then, she’s doubled down on the basics that work:
- Never click links in unexpected emails or texts—always type the name to check a website or call the main number.
- Use strong, unique passwords (and a manager to keep track of them).
- Check accounts frequently, especially after getting any odd notification.
- If something feels off, pick up the phone and talk to a real person.
Simple habits, but they’ve given her back control and peace of mind.
The truth is, scams like this don’t just hit “careless” people—they target smart, responsible ones like Margaret, like many of you. These crooks are getting better at making things look legitimate, especially when people are busy or worried.
We talk about this stuff in client meetings because protecting what you’ve spent decades building is part of what we do. If you ever get a suspicious email, text, or call that claims to be from us, your bank, or anyone else, pause, don’t click, and reach out directly. We’re always happy to verify.
For more practical steps on spotting and avoiding identity theft, fraud, and scams, check out this resource Carson put together:
Protect Your Accounts – Tips & Resources
Stay vigilant, friends. You’ve worked too hard to let a clever email undo it.
As always, if you have questions or just want to chat about your plan, give us a call or forward your suspicious emails or texts. We’re here.
