Monthly Newsletters

What Changes (and What Doesn’t) with the FICO 10 Credit Score Update

Anyone who uses a computer these days won’t be too surprised to see an update notification pop up on the screen. While you’re reading your email or playing Scrabble, irritating little boxes will jump in front of you declaring your virus protection out of date or offering a new, improved version of whatever app you’re using. It’s a part of modern life.

Monthly Newsletters

Financial Caregiving for Those With Alzheimer’s and Dementia

On an otherwise normal Thursday afternoon, a reporter had lunch with a resident from a memory care facility. Apparently, he asked for details on some kind of story and the confused patient was happy to comply and enjoyed the meal out. Then the police showed up.

Monthly Newsletters

Why We Don’t Keep Our Financial New Year’s Resolutions

So, did you hop on that new Peloton this morning or have you already broken the streak? Which diet are you planning on starting next week … or maybe the week after? Has your December credit card statement come in the mail and perhaps inspired you to make money-related goals in 2020? New Year’s resolutions are nothing new – neither is breaking them.

Monthly Newsletters

How to Give More than Stuff for the Holidays

Think about the best holiday gift you ever received. For some of us, that memory is pretty murky, but chances are you’ll come up with a toy you played with until it fell apart, or the bike you rode until the wheels fell off. Think about the “frame” that memory is in: was the gift exactly what you told your parents you wanted?

Monthly Newsletters

How to Maximize Your Giving with a Donor-Advised Fund

Many of us have memories of family giving practices. For some, it was that dime from your allowance that your parents said goes to the church. For others, it was the yearly (or more often) volunteering trip to help out at the local mission/soup kitchen. Or it might have been a policy of giving one toy to Goodwill for every new one you received as a gift.

Monthly Newsletters

Putting Your Health Savings Account to Work

Seven dollars. That was the per-day cost of a maternity room in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1942. Sure, adjusting for inflation brings us to $110, but that’s still unheard of. Try to find a hospital room for around a hundred dollars today! The bloated cost of healthcare isn’t a new discussion on the American airwaves.

Monthly Newsletters

Leave Them a Legacy, Not Taxes, with a Roth IRA Conversion

The SECURE Act is getting more press attention than retirement accounting has received in… well, probably ever, and was in the news all summer. It’s still being slowly digested by Congress but could change the landscape of retirement finance once it’s enacted.

Monthly Newsletters

3 Money-Smart Strategies for 529 College Savings Plans

Between squeaky new shoes, fresh pencils, packs of index cards, trendy new backpacks and other learning supplies, back-to-school shopping in the U.S. is expected to exceed $27 billion this year – about $510 per household. That’s a lot of Trapper Keepers.

Monthly Newsletters

Celebrating True Financial Freedom

Fourth of July! We stand in the haze of firework smoke and barbecue grills enjoying our family, sweating in the heat. On this most nostalgic of holidays, we celebrate the independent spirit of what it means to be an American. More than a one-time political event in distant history, this is the freedom to stand on our own two feet and pursue our unique destiny.

Monthly Newsletters

Teaching Kids about Money in the Summer Months

Summer arrives – bees, picnics, nostalgia and the chaotic sound of kids everywhere. It’s enough to bring back memories of sweating behind a lawnmower or scrubbing grandpa’s car to get a few precious dollars to spend at the mall or the movies.