Monthly Newsletters Archive

Monthly Newsletters

How to Give More than Stuff for the Holidays

Think about the best holiday gift you ever received. For some of us, that memory is pretty murky, but chances are you’ll come up with a toy you played with until it fell apart, or the bike you rode until the wheels fell off. Think about the “frame” that memory is in: was the gift exactly what you told your parents you wanted?

Monthly Newsletters

How to Maximize Your Giving with a Donor-Advised Fund

Many of us have memories of family giving practices. For some, it was that dime from your allowance that your parents said goes to the church. For others, it was the yearly (or more often) volunteering trip to help out at the local mission/soup kitchen. Or it might have been a policy of giving one toy to Goodwill for every new one you received as a gift.

Monthly Newsletters

Putting Your Health Savings Account to Work

Seven dollars. That was the per-day cost of a maternity room in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1942. Sure, adjusting for inflation brings us to $110, but that’s still unheard of. Try to find a hospital room for around a hundred dollars today! The bloated cost of healthcare isn’t a new discussion on the American airwaves.

Monthly Newsletters

Leave Them a Legacy, Not Taxes, with a Roth IRA Conversion

The SECURE Act is getting more press attention than retirement accounting has received in… well, probably ever, and was in the news all summer. It’s still being slowly digested by Congress but could change the landscape of retirement finance once it’s enacted.

Monthly Newsletters

3 Money-Smart Strategies for 529 College Savings Plans

Between squeaky new shoes, fresh pencils, packs of index cards, trendy new backpacks and other learning supplies, back-to-school shopping in the U.S. is expected to exceed $27 billion this year – about $510 per household. That’s a lot of Trapper Keepers.

Monthly Newsletters

Celebrating True Financial Freedom

Fourth of July! We stand in the haze of firework smoke and barbecue grills enjoying our family, sweating in the heat. On this most nostalgic of holidays, we celebrate the independent spirit of what it means to be an American. More than a one-time political event in distant history, this is the freedom to stand on our own two feet and pursue our unique destiny.

Monthly Newsletters

Teaching Kids about Money in the Summer Months

Summer arrives – bees, picnics, nostalgia and the chaotic sound of kids everywhere. It’s enough to bring back memories of sweating behind a lawnmower or scrubbing grandpa’s car to get a few precious dollars to spend at the mall or the movies.

Monthly Newsletters

4 Ways to Make the Most of Your Tax Refund (and What Yours Says About You)

If you’ve worked in business, healthcare, ministry or almost any corporate entity in the last generation, chances are good you’ve taken a personality test – perhaps even a few. You found out you’re an ENFP or an INTJ or an Otter/Lion, or a Steady Wing 2 who needs to focus on your Bright Side. These tests tell you how you digest information, how you play with others and often things you didn’t know about yourself.

Monthly Newsletters

Spring Cleaning for Your Estate Plan: Is Everything in its Place?

Many of us are “celebrating” the warmer weather this time of year by sweeping away dust bunnies and vacuuming behind the couch. Spring cleaning has been part of our annual rhythm for centuries, from ancient religious traditions to scrubbing coal soot off the walls in Victorian times.

Monthly Newsletters

Retirement Fund Catch-Up Contributions: An Ace Up Your Sleeve for the Long Game

For many of us, retirement planning is a persistent boogie man in the back of our minds. The statistics on people’s lack of retirement preparation are staggering, and the official retirement age seems to increase by the minute. Life expectancy is getting longer, and resources seem to be getting scarcer. Any hand that savers and wage-earners play at this point in life seems like a bet against the house, sure to lose.