Money and You

Simplifying the FAFSA® Process (Lakeside Chat 9/13/23)

September 13, 2023 | Topics: Recent Articles, Video, College Education Funding

Every fall, securing financial aid for your current or prospective college student can be one of the most stressful times of the new school year. Especially with changes to the process and definitions being phased in this year, it can feel as daunting as ever. We want to help! 

Your Digital Assets and Accounts: What Happens After You're Gone?

February 16, 2023 | Topics: Recent Articles, Articles, Risk Protection

These days, it’s likely that most of your important financial information is stored digitally through a combination of online accounts, saved documents on your personal computer, and your smartphone. Chances are you keep a lot of other important information stored digitally too.  If you’re a small business owner with registered domain names, a thriving e-commerce website or a money-making blog, you should recognize these as important digital assets as well. Have you thought about what will happen to these financial and sentimental digital accounts when you die?

Big Life Change? Helpful Financial Strategies for Women in Transition

Are you a woman in transition? If you’re facing a big life change — as a successful owner or manager of a rapidly growing business, someone with a recent inheritance, or perhaps recently widowed, divorced, engaged, married, or dealing with illness — then you’re a woman in transition, and you have special financial needs.

What is Hybrid Long-Term Care Insurance? (And When to Consider it)

November 11, 2021 | Topics: Recent Articles, Articles, Insurance

If you’re re-evaluating how much, and what types, of insurance you need in 2022 and beyond, you are not alone. The global pandemic brought many topics to the foreground that were often being pushed aside in the past and finding the right insurance coverage was a big one. While you may be focusing on healthcare insurance options, don’t forget to evaluate your life and long-term care insurance options too, no matter what age you are. 

3 Year-End Tax Strategies for 2021 to Keep Your Financial Plan on Track

September 9, 2021 | Topics: Recent Articles, Financial Planning, Taxes

The year 2021 is fast coming to an end, but there is still time to make smart moves to maximize your savings and minimize your tax bill next spring. While your situation at this point in time will vary from your neighbor’s or colleagues', here are three year-end tax strategies that can help you no matter what your life stage or current situation.

Small Business Owners: How to Chart Your Course to a Spectacular Retirement

There’s a myth out there that most owners of small businesses and startups are younger people. In fact, the opposite is true: Most business owners are age 55 and over. 

That reality can turn what are usually the peak earning and retirement savings years from your late 40s to late 50s into something more akin to watching " The Perils of Pauline." But it doesn’t have to be that way. Let’s look at how to avoid common perils and chart your course to the retirement you want while continuing to concentrate on the ongoing needs of your small business.

Is Now the Right Time to Make a Major Financial Move?

You take comfort in knowing your financial plan is designed to help you advance steadily toward your long-term goals — and to flex as your situation and goals change. But during 2020 and 2021, everything changed. So, let’s look at how to decide whether now is the right time for you to make a major financial move.

Why a Family Meeting on Finances is a Good Idea

Planning a conversation with your loved ones about your financial plans and goals may not be easy, but it can help you feel more confident about your family’s financial health and your peace of mind.

Discover Your Perfect Practical Financial Plan at Any Age

Having a solid handle on your financial well-being makes for one less stressor – and better sleep at night. But then you probably know that. Let’s explore some of the stereotypes and misperceptions that can get in the way of building your financial confidence and reducing stress through planning — and practical ways to get started or move ahead with your plan.

Gifting and Your Legacy: When is the best time to give?

November 12, 2020 | Topics: Recent Articles, Articles, Wealth

Seriously considering the timing and focus of your gifting and legacy for the first time — or perhaps reconsidering it — was among the countless tough questions stimulated by the global coronavirus pandemic. For many, widespread death and uncertainty raised the perennial question: How do I want to be remembered?