Blog
Financial Planning is what we do! Our Blogs are designed to inform you on the various aspects of financial planning and wealth management and how they apply to your personal plan.
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Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!
“Aren’t you supposed to know when to get in and when to get out? Aren’t you supposed to protect my accounts before they go down? Aren’t you supposed to help me make money AND help me not lose it?”These are...
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The Underutilized Benefits of a Health Savings Account
A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a great cost-saving financial tool. Learn how to get the most out of yours here.
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WHAT A YEAR! A PERSONAL UPDATE FROM GAUTAM
2022 has been a whirlwind so far and will prove to be one of the most memorable years we’ve had! Here’s a glimpse at what the year has held for us already:In February, we celebrated my wife Rhonda’s 40th birthday...
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Healthcare Costs in Retirement
Have confidence that you can cover the costs of retirement. Be aware of these healthcare costs that can come up in retirement.
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Do you Have Enough Saved for Healthcare in Retirement?
An average 65-year-old couple who start receiving Social Security payments at 65, healthcare expenses will consume 68% of their benefits.
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What a year! A personal update from Gautam
2022 has been a whirlwind so far and will prove to be one of the most memorable years we’ve had! Here's a glimpse at the past year for us.
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Caring for aging parents: where does long-term care insurance fit?
Long-term care insurance can help ensure that you’re never in that position, and it can allow your parents to ultimately pass more of their wealth to their children or to worthy causes, rather than to care providers.
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Caring for aging parents: understanding Medicaid and Medicare
Making sure your parents receive all of the government healthcare insurance they’re entitled to is an important element of caregiving. Learn more about what Medicare and Medicaid offer here.
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Caring for aging parents: What does it cost?
If you have aging parents, it’s almost inevitable that at some point in the not-so-distant future, they’ll need long-term care in one form or another. To help you prepare, it’s best to start anticipating expenses sooner than later.
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Caring for aging parents: How can you start to prepare?
In too many cases, adult children first start caring for their parents as the result of an unexpected medical or financial crisis. This approach—of reacting to crises and not having a game plan in place ahead of time—can be a recipe for unc
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Understanding Your Estate
This free downloadable white paper outlines critical elements worth considering when creating your own estate strategies.
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4 Tips to Protect Your Assets in Divorce
Divorce is challenging, and you’ll most likely be faced with difficult financial decisions that have far-reaching implications. Based on experience helping people through this process, here are four things you can do to ease the process.
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Five Financial Tips for Military Families
Military members and their families face one-of-a-kind challenges. Follow these five tips to take advantage of potential benefits and simplify your military family’s personal finances.
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Unlocking The Treasures of Financial Wellness: Part 4
Part of goal setting is saving. Saving a portion of your income helps you develop financial discipline and allows you to envision your future more clearly. Saving also applies to—but is not exclusive to— preparing for your retirement.
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Unlocking The Treasures of Financial Wellness: Part 3
While budgeting establishes the foundation of your financial health, setting goals sets the direction. Here are a few ways to set lasting goals.
Read MoreWhen bears are loud, consider this
In recent days, I’ve read things like “Brace yourself for economic hurricanes” and “Wall Street investor survey paints a dire outlook.” It makes you wonder where the bullish thinkers have gone.
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Unlocking The Treasures of Financial Wellness: Part 2
The first step in creating financial wellness is to gain knowledge. Knowledge is power—the power to build robust financial health.
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Unlocking The Treasures of Financial Wellness
While finances and health may seem unrelated, the two are often closely intertwined, especially in America’s bustling, free-flowing marketplace. Learn more about the intersection of financial wellbeing and health.
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Pay Off Student Loans The Smart Way
Start on your way to building a financially stable future after graduation with these six tips for paying off your college debt.
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Thank you for being IN THE ROOM with Ben Stein
Thank you for joining us IN THE ROOM with Ben Stein. If you’d like to watch the discussion again, or if you were unable to join us, the replay is available for you to view until June 19, 2022. To access the replay:If you...
Read MoreYour Education Funding Options
To help you prepare for the cost of college, there are options to help you save. Planning ahead for college savings can keep you from resorting to using your retirement funds for education spending when the time comes.
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Saving for College
When you’re ready to start thinking about saving for your kids’ college funds, it’s time to learn about the different types of education-based savings accounts. Here are three of the most common options.
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Give the Gift of a 529 Plan
Explore a 529 Plan and how the tax benefits of this plan could make it the right choice for your family.
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529 Plan 101
Many parents today suffer from sticker shock when they learn what it costs to send their children to college. While the cost of college can be a hard pill to swallow, it’s never too early to get familiar with a 529 college savings plan.
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Do You Have a Savings Plan?
The importance of having a savings plan can’t be stressed enough. Here are three simple things you can do right now to start saving more.
Read MoreConcerned You’ll Outlive Your Money?
Americans are living longer than ever and that, of course, means they need more and more retirement savings.
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Five Savings Secrets
There are many ways to start saving, even if you start out small, that can increase your net worth without significantly altering your current quality of life.
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Don't Invest Like a Leprechaun
While many of you will be “going green” on the 17th of March, Leprechauns have their eyes set on gold. Find out how much a pot of gold is worth and why it might not be wise to invest like a leprechaun.
Read MoreKeeping It In Perspective
It’s easy to get excited reading the news. With all of the storm and stress of the last few years, it’s only natural to react to each ping of our phone’s news apps with a deep sigh and a cynical “what now?”
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Life Insurance: Term or Permanent?
Determining the right type of life insurance for your family’s needs can be confusing and complex. Do you need term, permanent, or a combination of the two? Do you need whole, universal, or variable life? Term insurance is...
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Tax Season: What to Expect
Tax returns must be filed on April 15 of every year unless an extension is filed or if April 15 falls on a weekend or holiday. A quick reference for what to expect with your tax forms: W-2 (Employment income) and 1099...
Read MoreThe Many Important Roles of Life Insurance
Most people are aware of the typical life events that trigger a need for life insurance, such as marriage, the birth of a child, or the purchase of a home. But life insurance can also help with other important financial needs: Life...
Read MoreReducing Tax Burden
Make sure you’re taking advantage of opportunities to reduce your tax liability. That begins with understanding the “ADCs” of reducing your tax burden: Avoid, Defer, or Convert.
Read MoreTax Surprises for Life Events
Whether you’re getting married or divorced, welcoming a new baby, sending a child off to college, changing jobs, or retiring, most life events have tax implications. While some of these events result in welcome new credits and deductions, o
Read MoreManaging Your Tax Exposure
Tax planning is a part of our ongoing process that should continue beyond tax season. Working together can help avoid surprises and take advantage of provisions that can help you manage your tax exposure.
Read MoreDetermining the best tax strategies for your small businesses
No matter how simple or complex your business, tax considerations are central to many important decisions: how you structure your business, how you pay yourself, whether to buy or lease office space and equipment, and more.
Read MoreHow can a financial professional help you?
People often view financial guidance as investment guidance. However, there’s a big difference between simply managing your investment portfolio and taking a holistic approach to coordinating your entire financial picture.
Read MoreWhat Medicare Covers—and What It Doesn’t
Turning 65 means you’re now eligible to receive Medicare benefits. But sorting through the Medicare alphabet can be challenging. How do you get started and what do you need to know before you enroll? The first step is to visit...
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2021 Year-End Letter
2021 was the hangover from the year that we still can’t believe actually happened. Life started to feel more normal (whatever that means anymore!) but we still wonder if this is the new normal that we should accept as reality....
Read MoreYou Can Avoid Higher Medicare Premiums
Whether you’re receiving Medicare benefits now, or will begin soon, it’s important to understand how income-based premiums are calculated for Medicare Parts B and D. Your premium is determined by your modified...
Read MoreStay Ahead of Medicare Choices
Right about now you’re probably thinking time flies—and it does! Many people aren’t aware that the best time to begin planning for and learning about their Medicare options, eligibility, and enrollment requirements...
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Your Security Online: Online Shopping
If shopping without braving crowds and weather sounds attractive, you’re not alone—the amount of shopping done online is constantly going up. And as you can imagine, when online shopping increases, online fraud does, too....
Read MoreEasing into Retirement
There’s good news for the growing number of Americans approaching retirement age who are ready to scale back, but aren’t ready to completely stop working: Work-from-home jobs give you more options than ever before, whether...
Read MoreAvoiding High Medicare Premiums
Managing your retirement income and Medicare costs can be confusing. For instance:Most people who are eligible to receive Medicare benefits pay no premium for Medicare Part A. However, Medicare Parts B, C, D, and Medigap charge...
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Retire Wise | November 2021
Social Security Announces the Largest COLA Increase in 40 YearsThe Social Security Administration (SSA) recently announced the largest cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in four decades. For Americans receiving Social Security benefits,...
Read MoreSave On Taxes With These Simple Year-End Tips
USE THESE YEAR-END TAX PLANNING TIPS Everybody wants to save on their taxes. If you think tax-saving strategies are too complicated, you could be missing out on tax savings. There are a few simple tax-saving strategies available to...
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Ready for Medicare Open Enrollment?
Medicare’s annual open enrollment period begins October 15 and ends December 7. During this time, current Medicare beneficiaries have the option to adjust their coverage for the coming year. Any changes to your plan will go into...
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Estate Taxes May Be Amended Soon
To help raise revenue to pay for President Biden’s Build Back Better Plan, Congress is considering a number of tax law changes, including adjusting estate taxes.One of the proposals would reduce the estate tax exemption to...
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Financial Watch | October 2021
What Does Your Credit Score Say About Your Financial Health?Your credit score, the three-digit number lenders use to help measure your credit worthiness, has the power to save—or cost you—thousands of dollars in interest...
Read MoreGet a Handle on Holiday Spending
It’s not too late to get a handle on spending. Begin with these tips:Develop a holiday spending budget—Whether you plan to travel, host or attend holiday parties, shop for friends and family members, or all the above, a...
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Do you control your finances, or do your finances control you?
Do you control your finances, or do your finances control you? If you’re like many people, today’s rapidly changing economic picture and frantic pace of everyday life prevent you from effectively working toward pursuing...
Read MoreEstate Planning: Tough Conversations, Tough Decisions
Creating an estate plan is an essential component of your financial life, but one that can lead to uncomfortable conversations. For one, it forces us to discuss that none of us will live forever. And, it may reveal details about your...
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Retire Wise | September 2021
How Technology Is Making It Easier and More Cost Effective for Retirees to Age in PlaceAccording to a recent national survey, 90% of adults, age 50 or older, say they want to remain in their current homes as they age. The survey also...
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Thank you for being IN THE ROOM with Heroes of 9/11
Thank you for joining us IN THE ROOM with Heroes of 9/11. If you’d like to watch the discussion again, or if you were unable to join us, the replay is available for you to view until October 9, 2021. To access the replay:If you...
Read MoreLead With Planning
Many of you know that my dad started Balanced Financial Concepts in 1987. If you haven't heard The American Dream story, READ IT HERE. I joined the firm in 2009 and quickly began to learn how to provide customized financial guidance to...
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Retire Wise | August 2021
4 Things You Can Do About Rising InflationIn June, the Consumer Price Index, which measures the change in the prices of a broad range of goods and services over time, rose 5.4% from a year earlier, marking the sharpest increase in...
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You’re Invited: IN THE ROOM with Heroes of 9/11
We are living in a pivotal moment of American history, and there’s one word that best sums up our hope and optimism: resiliency.It’s in this spirit that I’d like to invite you and your family to join me IN THE ROOM...
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Retire Wise | June 2021
4 Reasons to Consider Selling Your Business in 2021Like many business owners, you may have spent more time over the last year focused on keeping your businesses afloat and navigating rapidly changing public health orders, rather than...
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You’re Invited: IN THE ROOM with Grammy and Tony Award-Winning Hamilton Star, Leslie Odom, Jr.
On Thursday, June 17, you and your family are invited to join us for an invitation-only conversation and performance with a legend in the making: Leslie Odom, Jr.Get your digital front-row seat as Leslie shares his journey to success...
Read MoreNew Virtual event: IN THE ROOM!
We recently hosted our first IN THE ROOM virtual event featuring Ben Bernake. If you missed it or would like to watch it again, the replay is available for you to view until April 18, 2021. To access the replay: If you registered in...
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The American Rescue Plan Act Explained
The Cetera Advanced Planning Group has released an overview of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This provides explanation and analysis on how this may affect your financial planning interests.This overview provides information...
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Lessons from a pandemic
Unbelievably, we’re now one year since the Coronavirus (now affectionately called COVID-19) pandemic forced us to change the way we see the world and the way we go about our lives. As we look back on what I hope is just...
Read More2021 Tax Update
Friends, A few tax updates as we welcome Spring: IRS has extended the 2020 tax filing and payment deadline to May 17. Here is the official announcement, though IRS will provide further guidance soon: https://www.irs...
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Retire Wise | March 2021
3 Ways to Boost Cash Reserves in RetirementHow would you pay for an unanticipated home or car repair, medical emergency, or other expense? A recent study indicates that fewer than 4 in 10 Americans have enough savings to pay for an...
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