Thanks to legislation enacted over the past 5 years, our rating of a 529 has received a boost. The beauty of a 529 plan has always been the tax-deferred growth and the potential tax-free withdrawals for college. But…. Prior to 2017, this savings vehicle was pretty straight forward. You could use the funds for qualified…
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Did you know as of 2023 there are over 1.13 billion websites on the internet?1 In 1996, there were only around 100,000. At what point, is there too much information out there? Have you ever tried to self-diagnose a few health symptoms? After Googling for a while, you might just learn you only have a…
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The phrase “if you don’t use it, you will lose it” applies to more ways than one in retirement…It’s not just your health or mind – it could be your credit, too! You can spend a lifetime building and maintaining perfect credit only to watch it dwindle when you stop using it. Well, is it…
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Do you have it? Do you have enough? Does it cover what you think it does? What would happen if…. You were at cause/fault in a car accident in which someone was badly injured or worse? Someone else was driving your car and the same thing happened? Someone got hurt stepping down the stairs of…
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I’m so grateful Angela invited me to be a guest on the Life Planning 101 podcast. In this week’s episode, we talked about how technology — which makes our daily lives easier — has the potential to make things incredibly challenging for our loved ones, should something ever happen to us. One of the topics…
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Earlier this year, we shared a parable about a giant ship engine that quit working. Countless hours and money were spent hiring experts to do the job. No one could get it working. Then, along came an old man who had been working on ship engines since he was a child. He inspected the engine…
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The irony of stress is realizing it isn’t good for you, then stressing about being stressed. Keeping with the theme of Mother’s Day this week, ask yourself…what advice would your mom offer you? …Hold your horses. …Take it down a notch. …What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand? …Shut the door! Who do you thing…
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That is the million-dollar question…no pun intended. It sounds like a lot – and it is – but well, it’s not. It is exciting when that life event you’ve been anticipating finally occurs: retirement or selling your ranch or business. It is especially exciting when there is a seven-figure check involved. However, it is important…
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How quickly we have arrived! Cash was earning almost zero if you had a savings, money market, CDs, etc. Now it appears to be the hero. Day-to-day interest rates are fluctuating. Sometimes the moves are drastic, but here are some recent yields. Savings accounts earning over 4%, 3-month treasuries hover around 5% yield, and CDs…
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The August 2008 Money Magazine offered up an article of several successful individuals talking about the smartest financial advice they have ever received. Billionaire and CEO of Virgin records, Richard Branson shared a story about his lack of knowledge in the financial realm and being humble about what you don’t know. Have you ever noticed…
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