Oct 9, 2019
By Edward “Ed” V. O’Neal, Vice President and Manager, Retirement Plans
Sometimes just the surprises and uncertainty in our daily lives can be scary! At times, things just don’t work out as planned and events can happen that we didn’t anticipate; like a job change or health issue. And typically, these situations seem to happen at the worst possible time and can lead to some unplanned and frightening financial challenges.
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Oct 8, 2019
By Joanne M. Welker, CFA, Senior Vice President and Manager, Advisory Services
Coffees, cereals, cookies, candies and now even Spam have a Pumpkin Spice edition product, so we thought maybe we should too! With a Pumpkin Spice financial plan, we help our clients’ dreams from turning into pumpkins and assist them with spicing up their lives along the way.
While it is true that a financial plan can help do these things,
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Oct 2, 2019
By Debbie Placke, Vice President, Manager Financial Planning Tools and Marketing
Ghosts, goblins, monsters, spiders – What scares you? When it comes to your finances, mistakes and oversights can be very scary and costly! During October, we will review some scary financial mistakes people commit in the hopes that you can avoid making them yourself.
For starters, do you have a financial plan in place? Whether you are just beginning your career,
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Oct 1, 2019
By Theresa Fry, Senior Vice President and Manager, IRAs, Retirement and Education Planning
October brings a lot of things…cooler weather, falling leaves, pumpkin spice everything, and if you are the parent of a senior in high school planning on going to college next year, probably a little panic. That’s because it’s time to file the FAFSA. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (or FAFSA) is the first step to uncovering if your student will qualify for federal financial aid,
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Oct 1, 2019
By Joanne M. Welker, CFA, Senior Vice President and Manager, Advisory Services
Deciding if a brokerage (commission based) or an advisory (fee based) account is right for you may feel overwhelming or something you question in your mind even after the decision has been made. Let’s start to break it down by considering these three things:
Time – Managing an investment portfolio takes time. Time to analyze and perform research on the securities for consideration.
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Sep 30, 2019
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President
As a rule, I avoid imparting any political spin in these commentaries. Still, I think everyone would agree that it hasn’t been all sunshine and warm breezes for the Trump administration during its reign. Now, a new and darker storm threat has appeared. The sudden possibility that impeachment hearings might begin, has materialized as a new potential peril on the market’s horizon.
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Sep 23, 2019
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President
I’ve never been in a pawn shop, but I think I understand how they work. If I needed to pick up a little cash, I could take something of value I own to the pawn shop. The shop would buy the item from me with the mutual understanding that I could buy it back at some point in the future. I get my short-term cash along with the option to repurchase the thing I pawned in the near future.
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Sep 18, 2019
By Dan Schulte, Vice President and Manager, Annuities and Insurance
September is Life Insurance Awareness Month which is a month-long public awareness campaign sponsored by the nonprofit organization Life Happens.
If the income you earn would suddenly stop, due to death, could your family continue to meet their financial obligations such as paying the rent or mortgage, paying bills, daily living expenses, or even sending a child to college?
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Sep 17, 2019
By Dan Schulte, Vice President and Manager, Annuities and Insurance
All businesses, regardless of their size, have key employees that are invaluable to the success of the company. The death of an individual whose services are important to a business will almost certainly cause considerable losses and costs to the business. For example, some customers or clients with whom the key employee enjoyed a close relationship may choose to not stay with the business,
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Sep 11, 2019
By Joanne M. Welker, CFA, Senior Vice President and Manager, Advisory Services
It is understood that the phrase “Happy Tax” is a bit of an oxymoron, but as an investor that truly is what the capital gains tax is. Did you make the investment hoping the value would go down? No. Are you happy that the value of the investment went up? Yes. And are you happy that you were able to exit the investment while the price was still elevated?
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