Posts by Michelle Smalenberger, CFP®
[Video] Consolidating Retirement Accounts
What To Consider When Consolidating Retirement Accounts Are you nearing retirement or maybe in retirement? Or have you had a 401(k) at an old employer and now need to decide what to do with the different accounts? Can you consolidate them, move them, or need to just leave them where they are? To move a…
Read MoreTax Reform & Portfolio Protections
What kind of news have we heard this past week that is impacting the financial markets? TAX REFORM First, we’ve seen progress toward tax reform. The House of Representatives passed the 2018 Fiscal Budget which will now move to the Senate for a vote. This step has to happen in order for overall tax reform…
Read MoreWhat In The World Is Going On?
MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP® You can picture the movie scene where a character says: “Don’t move” while the others cautiously stand still and watch. You could say this is reminiscent of the world at the moment. Instead of standing in paranoia, we are waiting for clear direction. There are so many random, unconnected events happening all…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read More[Video] Free Money May Exist With This Employee Benefit
MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP® We all like the idea of free money, so I want to walk you through one area where there may be free money available which you’re not taking advantage of. In your retirement account you’re putting money in yourself and then your employer may also be willing to put money in as…
Read MoreFriday’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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