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What are some financial topics you're looking to learn about?  Occasionally, I will post general financial topics and answer questions.  Feel free to submit a request for a topic.

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

A video explaining a chart showing former bear markets in comparison with the current bear market.

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

This week's chart is on former bear markets and where the 2022-present market stands in comparison.

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

This video discusses Midterm Election Year Markets

Saturday, October 22, 2022

Today we'll review the difference between an investor and a speculator.

Thursday, May 5, 2022

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Saturday, December 18, 2021

Should I Roth Convert in 2021? This is a difficult question to answer, but let’s look at a few reasons why one may want to convert prior to year end.

Friday, October 22, 2021

Friday, August 27, 2021

Asset Allocation and Diversification. WHAT?!? These finance people always use industry jargon. What’s it supposed to mean for me? Let’s start with the definitions: “Asset Allocation 101 Asset allocation involves dividing an investment...

Friday, August 20, 2021

What is a SPAC? This is a very popular investment lately. Let’s explore what it is. ““SPAC” stands for special purpose acquisition company—what are also commonly referred to as blank check companies. SPACs have become a popular vehicl...

Friday, July 9, 2021

What is inflation? “In economics, inflation (or less frequently, price inflation) is a general rise in the price level of an economy over a period of time.[1][2][3][4]”1...

Friday, July 2, 2021

FIRE? You may have heard about this FIRE movement lately. If you have not looked it up yet, it stands for Financially Independent Retire Early. Pretty self explanatory. If you do a simple browser search you’ll have more information than ...

Friday, June 25, 2021

“What are REITs? Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) allow individuals to invest in large-scale, income-producing real estate. A REIT is a company that owns and typically operates income-producing real estate or related assets. These...

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

View our 1 min Video on How Divorce Affects Your Finances.

Friday, June 18, 2021

What are 529s? What are Coverdells? Both of these are education investment/savings accounts. 529 Plans Let’s first look at the definition of 529 Plans, according to the Securities and...

Friday, June 11, 2021

An annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company that is designed to meet retirement and other long-range goals, under which you make a lump-sum payment...

Friday, June 4, 2021

What are Mutual Funds? "A mutual fund is a company that pools money from many investors and invests the money in securities such as stocks, bonds, and short-term debt..." (reference here and below.) What are Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)?

Friday, May 28, 2021

What are CDs and Bonds? Are they different? The short answer is, they are very different. First, let’s start by clarifying that a CD is a Certificate of Deposit. Merriam-Webster defines it as: a money-market (short-term debt...

Friday, May 21, 2021

Today, and in the coming posts (not necessarily sequentially, depending on news/current events, etc) we will be discussing different types of investments. The topic of this post... Stocks....

Friday, May 14, 2021

I recently sent a risk tolerance questionnaire to a client. What I didn't realize is that it was not interpreted well, so the results were completely inaccurate. Let's take a look at some of the questions: These things start off simple wi

Friday, May 7, 2021

I'm dedicating this post to some of the most important people in my life. The mother's. Happy Mother's Day!

Friday, April 30, 2021

This video provides a brief overview of how social security benefits are calculated.

Friday, April 23, 2021

As promised from my last post, I'm going to share retirement plan contribution limits. IRA Contribution limits are below: Traditional - $6,000 with a potential catch up contribution of $1,000...

Friday, April 16, 2021

Today is typically the day after your tax filing is due. Hopefully you are receiving my updates via social media related to these important topics. If not, follow me here: https://www.facebook.com/nathancsumner Also, many Americans...

Friday, April 9, 2021

Parents often don't know where to start planning for funding their child's college. This can be scary. First, how much will it cost?... That depends: Will they go to an in state college? Will they go out of state? Will they live on cam...

Friday, April 2, 2021

Friday, March 26, 2021

Are your financial goals well-defined? While "I want to have lots of money" may sound like a great goal, it's just too vague. How much is "lots?" If you don’t know … how will you know when you have it? And will the...

Friday, March 19, 2021

Have you ever traded stocks at a loss and not been able to claim the loss? Read on for info as to why this happened. My last post Trading and Taxes discusses how timing matters related to gains. This post will focus on losses or losses tha

Friday, March 12, 2021

With all of the trading happening on sites like Robinhood and other "free" brokerage platforms (read the fine print). many novice investors may be in for a shock in the coming month. There are rules when it comes to investing that professio

Friday, March 5, 2021

Per stirpes (/pɜːr ˈstɜːrpiːz/; "by branch") is a legal term from Latin used in the law of inheritance and estates. An estate of a decedent is distributed per stirpes if each branch of the family is to receive an equal share of an estate. W

Friday, February 26, 2021

Bear with me on this post, because although it's a family update, I am first and foremost an educator and want to attempt to impart some wisdom with this blog. As you see...

Friday, February 19, 2021

A lot of clients and prospects that I've worked with over the last few years have believed Retirement Planning (the 4th area of Financial Planning, see previous blog in link) to be Accumulation or investments. It is actually quite the oppos

Friday, February 12, 2021

What's your answer? Do you love or hate Valentine's Day? My kid, pouting because his brother had a Valentine party before his "class" (COVID has changed "class") was able to, so we (his mother...

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Friday, January 29, 2021

Unfortunately, markets have a tendency to be volatile. There has been a lot of information in the news of late. Information is becoming more and more accessible, from many platforms.

Friday, January 22, 2021

1. Stop using debt, stop spending, pay off everything asap. 2. Pay off your highest interest debt first. 3. Pay off your lowest balances first.

Friday, January 15, 2021

I began this blog by wanting to talk about unbiased advice. With assistance and edits from my incomparible wife, we landed on a different interpretation. The people should have a bias toward doing what is in your best interest. That said, h

Friday, January 8, 2021

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 01/08/2021 “The only constant in life is change”-Heraclitus As we begin 2021, this statement comes to mind with so much change in the last year. The way we work has changed. The way we...

Friday, January 1, 2021

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 1. Pay off debt! 2. Stop using Credit Cards 3. Invest your stimulus payment 4. Contribute to a retirement plan 5. Begin your wealth transfer with an annual gifting plan

Friday, December 25, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 12/25/2020 Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! While I may not be the most religious person, I like to think that I am able to get in the Holiday spirit and be thankful for everything I have. For me, it's a...

Friday, December 18, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 12/18/2020 2020 has been the most challenging year most of us have ever seen. There has been much disruption to our lifestyles, work, personal, both. The holidays have always been my favorite time of...

Friday, December 11, 2020

This week we are discussing strategies for additional funds at Year End. This includes mitigating taxes, charitable giving and more.

Friday, December 4, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 12/04/2020 Below are just a few reasons to consider contributions to your retirement account.

Friday, November 27, 2020

According to this IRS page, Capital Assets are virtually anything of value in our possession. This time of year, many investment companies distribute Capital Gains. If your assets are held inside a retirement account, you need not be...

Friday, November 20, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 11/20/2020 Today I'm going to talk about Roth Conversions, the "Backdoor Roth", "Loophole" and any other name that one can come up with for this strategy.

Friday, November 13, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 11/13/2020 If you are over the age of 50, and have ANY assets, this may be one of the most important conversations you'll ever have. As we know, Boomers are one of the largest generations we've seen, to...

Friday, November 6, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 11/06/2020

Friday, October 30, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 10/30/2020

Friday, October 23, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 10/23/2020

Friday, October 16, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 10/09/2020

Friday, October 9, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 10/09/2020 Last week, we addressed some of the history of taxes. This week, let's address some options for planning for taxes near and long term. One of the most frequently asked questions to advisors is...

Friday, October 2, 2020

As I’m sure you know, the $2 trillion “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security” (“CARES”) Act was recently signed into law. The CARES Act is designed to help those most impacted by the COVID-19...

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 10/02/2020

Friday, September 25, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 09/25/2020 Market volatility appears to be back to round out the year. There is a lot going on in the nation and around the globe that would indicate a choppy ride into 2021. That said, there is an...

Friday, September 18, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 09/18/2020 Who's going to win? How will it affect the markets? What do I do? If any of these questions sound familiar, you should register for a presentation I'm hosting next week. Link below....

Friday, September 11, 2020

Welcome to the Weekly SUMmary - 09/11/2020 Today is National 401(k) Day.

Friday, September 4, 2020

This week, some employers may be utilizing the Payroll Tax Holiday. Before we look at options of how to handle this, let's cover the basics. The Payroll Tax. What is it? Tax paid by employers and employees. If you happen to be...

Monday, August 31, 2020

What makes you do what you do? My answer... Family. You may think, "Family makes Nathan (Nate, truly no preference), work in financial services?" I have some family that have been adversely impacted by decisions that were made based on...

Thursday, March 21, 2019

The deadline for 2018 retirement contributions is approaching. Find out more in this blog post.