Finances & Your Family

MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP ® How do you communicate with other people? And better yet, how do you communicate with your financial adviser? Are you in a meeting and you ask a question and then they answer back. This might seem simple, but this process of information going back and forth is communication. Do you share…

MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP ® Could a career fair for your child, actually help your finances? Recently, we were invited to be a part of a career fair and offer some advice to students where they could ask questions of Steve and myself. Being at the event, I remember the feeling of being back in high…

STEPHEN SMALENBERGER, EA ® As we step into a new tax year, we’re probably thinking, “How much can I put into certain accounts? I remember what I did in 2018, but has anything changed for 2019?” Let’s talk about that so you can make the most of your tax exceptions towards retirement. 401K/403B For 2019,…

MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP ® Let’s talk about something that most people like to do – Spend money. Let’s also talk about something not everyone wants to do – keep a budget… If I were to ask you this question, “How much do you spend?” Would you be able to answer it? And how you answer…

MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP ® Do you ever catch yourself thinking about expenses in a sense that, “I’m spending so much”. Or, “This is going to cost me a lot, I’m not keeping much”. If so, you might categorize your expenses in your mind “Big Versus Little”. I often think with these big decisions we’re really…

STEPHEN SMALENBERGER, EA ® So we talked about the overview of a Health Savings Account an HSA. But now let’s continue on that, or build on that. Why would you want to fund it? What’s the advantages of funding it, versus paying out of pocket? Let’s look at those right now. So to make the…