The Equifax Data Breach: What Matters?

MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP ® There have been articles informing individuals what to do about the recent data breach.  See this link for what has happened. What we have learned: Signing up for Equifax credit monitoring is not necessarily free like it has been with other company breaches. You can sign up by November 21st for…

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Friday’s Financial Update 9-15-2017

MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP® During the months of August and September, we’ve seen continued positive performance in the financial markets.  With this higher performance has come an increase in volatility attributed to a variety of reasons which we will dig into. The following chart is extremely helpful for comparing volatility and putting it into perspective.  As…

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You can’t afford to wait!

We are all praying for the states that have been, and will be affected by hurricanes.  No one wants to go through any natural disaster or event like this. But the reality is that things will happen in life that you just can’t afford to wait in planning for.  Governor Rick Scott in Florida provided…

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What is the market?

MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP® Whether it is on the nightly news, in the newspaper, on various financial radio stations or websites, you hear people talk about the market. Yet, what is the market? The market is simply where stocks, bonds and funds are traded.  Here we refer to a handful of common indexes or benchmarks used to…

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[Video] What To Do With My Paycheck?

MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP® It is really important to consider some of the first steps and goals in your financial life.  Before you start thinking about investing or saving for retirement, you need to be sure that you have a good foundation to build upon.  One of the first places to start is being sure to…

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