We love to inform people on the latest industry trends and how to make educated financial choices. Be sure to stay connected with us, and updated with our discussions!

[Video] Maximize Annual Retirement Contributions

Maximize Annual Retirement Contributions One of the items at year-end that we need to be thoughtful of is how much money we’ve put into your retirement accounts available to us.  This is one item that is part of our year-end tax planning checklist. In this video, we discuss maximizing your annual retirement contributions: MICHELLE SMALENBERGER,…

Read More...
Quarterly Earnings

Third Quarter Earnings Are In Full Swing (Unlike The Cubs)

 Third Quarter Earnings Are In Full Swing (Unlike The Cubs)! Just like we watched our beloved Chicago Cubs inch out wins during the playoffs, quarterly corporate earnings keep us watching with anticipation. Corporate earnings are reported each calendar quarter and provide us with insight to how a company is operating. The earnings number represents how…

Read More...
Financial Design Studio Consolidating Retirement Accounts

[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 More...
Financial Design Studio Portfolio

Tax 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 More...

What 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 More...

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…

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 More...

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…

Read More...

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…

Read More...

[Video] Beneficiaries: Who, When, & Why?

STEPHEN SMALENBERGER, EA In Prior videos we talked about 401(k)’s, IRAs, and even life insurance.  Something that we haven’t touched on yet is what happens when you pass away.  So what I want to go through here is the big picture to make sure everything is still as you desire.  Because sometimes life happens.  It…

Read More...

Do You Panic About Investment Performance?

We have been attending a conference in Dallas over the past week.  After leaving the hotel, we started hearing that many gas stations throughout the city and suburbs were actually out of gas.  Due to the rising prices caused from the destruction that Hurricane Harvey had on the Houston community and two oil refineries there,…

Read More...

[Video ] What Are The Basics of Social Security?

STEPHEN SMALENBERGER, EA This is a topic that becomes important especially when someone is considering retirement or is already retired. When does it make the most sense to start collecting?  That really depends upon your specific situation. In order to start receiving the full value of the benefits that you’ve accumulated over your working career,…

Read More...