Financial, Investment and Estate Planning Blog

Happy April Greetings! What do rain showers, baseball, and Earth Day have in common? They all happen in April! So whether you're anticipating May flowers, enjoying the opening of our national pastime, or renewing your focus on the environment, there's much to enjoy this month.April is Financial Literacy Month, a time to promote and increase awarene...

We always hope our clients feel confident discussing money with their families. But, the truth is, talking about money can be very uncomfortable for many. Where do you begin? What's the right age? The good news is, it's never too early to teach financial literacy.Here are four tips on how to get started:Create a financial mission statement. A missi...

 "You need a budget!" It's often one of the first pieces of financial advice many of us hear. Budgeting isn't a one-size-fits-all exercise, though. It's about finding the system that works for you. Fortunately, there are multiple ways to get started and/or refine your current budgeting approaching. Here are just a few: The Line-Item Budget. Th...

If your kids regularly save their allowances and birthday money, they're well on their way to establishing great money habits. So let's build on that strong foundation with some early entrepreneurship lessons.Here are three real-world lessons and/or activities to further prepare kids and teens to successfully create wealth:Encourage entrepreneurshi...

Budgeting can sometimes feel like a chore, particularly if you had a tough month where you spent more than you wanted to. Seeing every transaction pile up can be disheartening. Don't get lost in the weeds with how you're doing – get back on track with why you're budgeting! Whether you want to pay off debt, build up your savings, save for retirement...

The new year is an opportunity for new beginnings – including setting new goals! Whether big or small, setting resolutions can help create a path to greater happiness and freedom. Here's the thing – setting and keeping resolutions isn't one size fits all, so this year, try a different approach to keep those resolutions! SMARTSMART goals are Specifi...

Budgeting is one of those activities that can pay dividends – literally! However, building and sticking to a budget can be daunting, particularly as you try to align categories with your real-life spending. Is Chipotle a want or a need? What about Starbucks (just kidding, it's absolutely a need).Whatever tools or methodologies you decide to use, al...

Your thirties are an exciting time! For many, it's the decade to take significant steps forward in setting and reaching personal and professional goals. So it's important to focus on a couple fundamental things that are key to getting and keeping your financial house in order.First and foremost, utilizing a budget is essential to always know where ...

The new year is a perfect time to review progress toward your financial objectives – whether that's in person or over video conferencing. We want to hear about your interests and plans for the new year so that we may align your desires with financial strategies that are in sync with your goals. Here are three things we recommend you spend a moment ...

If you want to start investing but don't think you have enough funds, you're not alone…but you may in fact be mistaken! The size of your portfolio 20, 30 or 40 years from now won't be reflective of how much you started investing with today. It'll be reflective of the fact that you started investing sooner rather than later. Period. Every day you de...