What is a Fiduciary?

I once received an email from a family friend about long-term care insurance. He was frustrated over a premium increase – which wasn’t the first rate hike – yet, he was still thankful for the policy. Despite the rising cost, he knew the importance of long-term care insurance in helping prot …

By definition, a fiduciary is a professional who is legally obligated to act in a client’s best interests when making financial decisions on their behalf. That means the fiduciary must consider what is best for the client – not what’s best for the professional. The needs of the client …

Mike Valenti, CPA, CFP®, Director of Tax Planning Qualified retirement plans – such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s and IRAs – offer clear tax advantages. Traditional 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and IRAs offer a tax deferral on contributions and growth until distribution. Their Roth counterparts can provide an i …

Kevin Oleszewski, CFP®, MST, EA, Senior Wealth Planner  As you’re setting your new year’s goals, one that should top everyone’s list is increasing your savings. After all, we’ve recently seen inflation at work, reminding us that even everyday essentials can bust budg …

By Jamie Hopkins, Managing Partner, Wealth Solutions   The SECURE 2.0 Act has passed, making it the largest retirement legislation since the original Secure Act hit in the late 2019.

Tom Fridrich, JD, CLU, ChFC®, Senior Wealth Planner Thinking about making some New Year’s resolutions? Add financial wellbeing to your list. It’s a terrific time to identify goals and opportunities that may put you in a better financial position — not only in the upcoming year, …

Tom Fridrich, JD, CLUⓇ, ChFCⓇ, Senior Wealth Planner  The end of the year offers an ideal opportunity to look both forward and back — reflecting on recent achievements, while setting goals for the upcoming months. For many of my clients, it’s also a time to review their finances and i …

Last Friday, yet another strong payroll report was released with the headlines stating payrolls grew 263,000 in September and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%.

“You make most of your money in a bear market, you just don’t realize it at the time.” —Shelby Cullom Davis We all blinked, and it is now October.  This can be a good thing if you’re hoping for some higher stock prices. As this great quote by Shelby Cullom Davis above explains, it is …

Kevin Oleszewski, CFP®, Senior Wealth Planner It’s hard to fathom, but there are a lot of employee benefits that people aren’t using correctly — or aren’t using at all.