Blog
The Big World of Small Business: 4 Statistics Every Small-Business Owner Should Know
News headlines are often dominated by some of the world's largest businesses—from FAANG stocks soaring to new heights to Space X planning to send rockets to Mars. But the makeup of American companies includes more than just the...
Read MoreSetting and Targeting Investment Goals
Go out into your yard and dig a big hole. Every month, throw $50 into it, but don't take any money out until you're ready to buy a house, send your child to college, or retire.It sounds a little crazy, doesn't it? But that's what...
Read MoreA Tough Times Survival Guide for Small Businesses
Small businesses may often find themselves struggling, and there are many situations in which business owners may find themselves weathering a storm and hoping to make it through. While the strength and fortitude of those who run small...
Read MoreLife Insurance Needs: Taking a Closer Look
Taking a Closer LookWithout a doubt, it is important to have enough life insurance coverage to handle any financial contingencies that may affect your family if you die prematurely. However, determining the amount of life insurance you...
Read MoreRetiring as a Small-Business Owner: What to Know Before You Go
The thought of retiring may be intimidating for anyone—but if you own your own business, handing your "baby" to new owners might be enough to stop you in your tracks. What might you do to set your successor up for success? What...
Read MoreShow All
Timing Your Earnings in Retirement to Optimize Your Social Security Retirement Benefit
What is this strategy?If you work after you begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits, all or part of your retirement benefit may be withheld if your earnings exceed the retirement earnings test exempt amount. However, excess...
Read MoreThe Principles of Financial Literacy
Financial literacy refers to the skills and knowledge that allow an individual to make informed and effective decisions through their understanding of finances. Financial literacy starts by building a basic understanding of 'money...
Read More4 Financial Skills All Business Owners Should Learn
Running a business requires gaining expertise in many things over a short period—especially financial matters. If finances do not come naturally to you, you may quickly feel like you are in over your head. Fortunately, mastering...
Read MoreUnderstanding Social Security Strategies
As you age, the question of when to collect Social Security (SS) retirement benefits will likely come to mind. There is no one size fits all age; your unique circumstances and goals will dictate the appropriate time for you to take...
Read MoreHow Emotional and Behavioral Barriers May Impact Your Investing Decisions
Ah, Money. The word leaves you with a positive or a negative feeling when you hear it. The feeling we get from money, and investing, has deep roots inside our emotions, although we may not understand why. Behavioral science explains...
Read MoreWhy Financial Literacy is Crucial for Business Owners
Everyone needs to have some level of financial literacy to help manage their finances. However, financial literacy becomes even more crucial when you're a business owner. You need to become familiar with common terminology and business...
Read MoreLuck of the Investor: Making Your Own Luck on St. Patrick's Day
As Samuel Goldwyn once said, "The harder I work…the luckier I get!" 1 But when it comes to investing, luck may play a huge role in outcomes—no matter how hard you work.2 Below, we discuss some ways that luck may...
Read MoreSilicon Valley Bank Is the 2nd Largest Bank Failure
It will take some time, but the FDIC was designed for moments like this. The FDIC-seizure of Silicon Valley Bank is the second-largest US bank failure in history as it held $209 billion in assets at the time of its collapse. Even after...
Read MoreInvestment Lesson from the Monopoly Board Game
I don't know about you. But, growing up, I loved playing Monopoly. However, after I started investing, I realized it taught valuable investment planning lessons. For example, in Monopoly, it's generally advantageous to hold onto...
Read MoreHow to Prepare for Retirement
Whether you’re just starting your career or are planning to retire this year, it’s never too soon or too late to start preparing for your retirement. What this entails may be different from person to person, but there are a...
Read MoreA Beginner’s Guide to Investing
When you start to consider if investing is an appropriate option for you, you may have questions. You might want to ask: How do I invest money, and where? How much money will I need? What are some common strategies for someone that has...
Read MoreTax Planning for Business Owners
What is business tax planning?When starting a business, you must consider a number of tax-related issues. Although business tax planning is a complicated area, it is essential to understand three major topics: tax consequences when the...
Read More3 Practical Time Management Tips for Investors
For many, spending more quality time with loved ones and friends is a New Year’s resolution or work-life balance goal. But for investors who are accustomed to keeping a close eye on their assets' performance, balancing one's "to...
Read MoreThe Importance of Financial Wellness
Financial wellness, like physical wellness, isn’t something you should ignore. Instead, it's a critical concept for anyone who wants to be knowledgeable and confident about their finances, and in fact, financial wellness is so...
Read MoreTax Prep Checklist: Everything You Need to Be Ready for Tax Season
Regardless of whether you prepare your taxes yourself or use a professional's services, it's a good idea to gather the information and documentation you need well in advance of your actual tax filing date. Below, we've listed some key...
Read More3 Ways to Tackle Your Financial Goals
Though the New Year may bring with it a new opportunity to set and achieve financial goals, the thought of making sweeping changes to your budget and lifestyle may be overwhelming. What can you do to improve your odds of success...
Read MoreNew Year, New Goals: Your Countdown to Financial Health
For many people, a new year provides a new start—and nothing says "new start" like a fresh new set of financial goals. But setting these goals is easier said than done. What steps should you take to get the most bang for your...
Read MoreYour Financial Fresh Start: 12 Resolutions in 12 Months
Change may be difficult, especially when you try to change your financial habits. The process might be easier if you take an incremental approach. Do you want to get on top of your finances this year? Are you looking for ways to...
Read MoreNew Year's Financial Resolutions to Implement Now
When it comes to New Year's Resolutions that include financial goals, writing them down and being visible is essential to your success. After you’ve written down what your financial resolutions for the New Year are, tell others...
Read MoreCharitable Giving: Making a Positive Difference
There are countless benefits of charitable giving. Through generous donations, you can make a difference in your community and society. You may also feel happier and even save on your taxes. Here are some key things to need to know...
Read MoreA Year-End Planning Considerations for Business Owners
The end of the year can be a chaotic time for business owners. It is a time to compile data, review the numbers, evaluate strengths and weaknesses, and determine growth opportunities for the future. A business owner would be keen to...
Read MoreA Year-End Wealth Planning Guide
As we approach the end of the year, you may want to review areas that may impact your wealth and estate planning next year. In this year-end planning guide, we examine four critical areas to consider that may affect your finances:...
Read MoreGiving Tuesday: A Global Day for Giving Back
Consider whether a donor-advised fund can help build a more generous world. November brings us Thanksgiving – a day for simply giving thanks. The 11th month also brings us Black Friday and Cyber Monday – two days encouraging...
Read MoreA Guide to Incorporating Philanthropy into Your Financial Planning
If you're considering giving back to society or a cause as part of your financial planning, there are many ways you can do so. You can make an impact while receiving tax benefits by including philanthropic giving as part of a holistic...
Read MoreYour 2022 Year-End Planning Checklist
It may be easy to forget we're nearing the end of the year. Even during the busy end of year rush, it's a good time to reevaluate your 2022 finances and turn an eye toward 2023. What can you do now to potentially improve and streamline...
Read More5 Ways to Boost Your Business for Small Business Saturday
Shoppers spend nearly $20 billion every year on Small Business Saturday.1 If you’re not familiar with this particular holiday, it takes place in the U.S. the day after Black Friday in November, and a few days before Cyber...
Read MoreA Year-End Wealth Planning Guide
As we approach the end of the year, you may want to review areas that may impact your wealth and estate planning next year. In this year-end planning guide, we examine four critical areas to consider that may affect your...
Read More2022 RFN Scholarship Winner
Being financially responsible is extremely important to me. From a young age, I can remember my mom telling me how important it would be to save my money for my future. Back then, I didn't really understand why, but I knew that if she...
Read MoreCould Your RMD Age Be Pushed Back Again?
In its simplest form, a retirement plan can be split up into two parts, the accumulation phase, and the distribution phase. The goal is that you start early in the accumulation phase, so you don't need to skimp on the distribution...
Read MoreUpdated Medicare Numbers and How it Affects Your Retirement
When we get repeat questions from different clients, we realize it is a hot topic for people. One topic that has been brought up a lot recently is Medicare.Before we get into how it affects you, let's look at what has recently happened...
Read MoreWill Your Wealth Last Multiple Generations?
Lottery winners who go broke, you've heard the stories. You read about it, and it's hard to fathom how that could happen. We can dive into that topic in a different post but successfully transferring wealth across generations (or...
Read MoreYou Want to Retire, But Are You Mentally Prepared?
When we think about retirement, we pay attention to only the financial aspect of it most times. How much will we need per month? How much do we need to save? Will we have enough? The truth is retirement is more than just those...
Read MoreI Contributed Too Much to My Roth IRA, Now What?!?
Roth IRAs can be a tremendous tool to give you flexibility in your journey to retirement. Creating some tax-free income in retirement allows you to be strategic with the amount of money you take out of your taxable accounts.New...
Read MoreWhy Do You Need to Plan for Retirement?
When you think about any successful venture it's common that you only pay attention to the end result. Watching professional golf is a terrific example. When you watch a professional golfer hit a pristine golf shot it's easy to say...
Read MoreWhat Can You Do With Your Money?
Money plays a significant role in our day-to-day lives. We work for it, we use it, we like to talk about it, but how often have you actually sat back and thought of the different things that you can do with money. What is the first use...
Read MoreCase Study: Meet Bob & Nancy
Bob has been a successful blue-collar business owner for the last 25 years. He runs a prospering one-person mechanic shop generating high income.During his time as a mechanic, he has bought some commercial properties. His wife Nancy...
Read MoreRetirement Preparation Mistakes
When planning to retire we always hear the term "able to." "Hopefully, we'll be able to retire", "I want to be able to retire on my terms" phrases like that. We know that we need to save money and have it grow but we don't always know...
Read More