The Master’s Minute

Our son, Cam, is turning 4 next month and has mastered the skill of riding his balance bike. A balance bike is essentially a bike with no pedals that he pushes (and brakes!) with his feet and legs. He loves flying around the neighborhood on his balance bike and has plenty of confidence in his ability to ride it. We recently decided it was time to transition him to a… Read More

When it comes to planning for a financial goal, such as retirement, there are several variables that play a role in your ability to meet the goal. Because of this, it can be tempting to feel overwhelmed. Which is why we find it helpful to categorize some of these major variables into what you can and what you cannot control. I really like the above picture as I feel it… Read More

If you are like me, a fun surprise can transform an ordinary day into a delightful adventure! However, a sudden interruption to a highly anticipated event can leave you extremely disappointed. Several months ago, our family started planning a long weekend trip to visit my brother-in-law’s family at a lake house near their home in Indiana. As you can imagine, the details of our planned visit took shape as we… Read More

In his June 28th blog post, Garry highlighted what our process looks like when new people first contact our office after having been referred to us. Today, I want to outline our onboarding process for those people that decide to work with us in a formal planning relationship. Our onboarding process is a very intentional eight-week process that we have built as a structured, comprehensive dive into each client’s personal… Read More

Yesterday we celebrated Independence Day! I hope you all had an opportunity to do something you enjoy. As a reminder, the reason we celebrate is that 246 years ago on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence after deliberating for two days over the exact wording of the document. That was the official date placed on the Declaration of Independence. The founding… Read More

There is no higher compliment than a recommendation from someone we trust. Some of these recommendations are relatively low stakes, such as a restaurant or book recommendation, but others carry much more weight. Certainly, a recommendation from a friend to talk to a particular financial advisor about their financial life is towards the top of the list! Over the years, we have been privileged to receive referrals from many of… Read More

Earlier this year my father-in-law had agreed to pick up some individuals from an airport and transport them about 80 miles to their homes. Some snow was expected during the trip, but he quickly found himself in a much heavier snowfall than what was forecasted. His passengers were kindly adamant about their goal to get home that evening despite the snow. Even though my father-in-law felt somewhat apprehensive about continuing… Read More

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. I remember being taught this basic concept in geometry class. This is an accurate statement from a mathematical standpoint when you have a flat surface. As we all know, life is not a mathematical equation or a flat surface. So, when we create expectations about reaching our financial goals in a linear fashion, we set ourselves up for disappointment. In… Read More

I am currently in the midst of studying for the CFP® exam and am scheduled to sit for it in the middle of July. This exam is a 170-question, six-hour exam that carries a historical average fail rate of roughly 40%. Obviously, my goal is to pass this exam. As a result, I began preparing roughly a year and a half ago by enrolling in various courses, making a study… Read More