Posts in Retirement Planning
Finance in a Flash: Financial Jargon

On this episode of Finance In A Flash Nick & Chip discuss Financial Jargon. They break down common words used in the finance industry, that people may have heard before, but don’t actually know what they mean! They go over terms such as asset allocation, stocks, risk tolerance, personal brokerage accounts, and market capitalization just to name a few!

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Retirement Plans for Small Business Owners

Small business owners have a number of alternatives to choose from when it comes to establishing retirement plans for their business. Each plan type can vary in their contribution level and matching requirements, as well as their ongoing regulatory and administrative burden.

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Estate Planning with Roth IRAs

Roth IRAs are great savings mechanisms and can be used effectively for retirement and education planning. One of the less publicized advantages to Roth IRAs is that they can be a great estate planning technique when someone wants to pass along as much as possible to their heirs.

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Finance in a Flash: What Are Target Date Funds?

Welcome back to Finance In A Flash, this week we bring back our investment expert, Chip Hymiller to discuss Target Date Funds. We have a detailed discussion about Target Date Funds, the pros and cons of having them in your portfolio, and what to consider when choosing this type of investment.

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Will You Retire in 2021?

Have you decided to retire in 2021? If so, congratulations—it’s a big step and for most, it’s a once in a lifetime decision. Even if you’ve planned ahead, you may still be a little apprehensive about this monumental life transition. Here are a few last minute things to consider or confirm as you embark on this new and wonderful journey.

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2020 Year In Review—One that will not soon be forgotten!

I don’t think any of us realized how many things in our life that we take for granted—that is not until 2020. Boy oh boy, there have been some seismic changes in our world! For the most part, every aspect of daily life has been altered for many households.

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Finance in a Flash: So You Want To Retire?

What do we think about when doing a Retirement projection? Someone walks into our office and says to us"I want to retire" or "I want to prepare for retirement", what do we do from there? In this episode of Finance In A Flash, Erin Campbell joins Nick Faulkner to walks us through this process and discuss the details of how we prepare a retirement plan.

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Finance in a Flash: How Should You Think About Debt When Gearing Up For Retirement?

On this episode of Finance In A Flash, Nick & Erin discuss a very important topic in the Financial Planning world: Debt. They discuss a variety of questions such as; What is considered good debt or bad debt? Which type of debt should you pay off first? When you should look at refinancing your home, and much more!

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Headline Risk

In today’s connected world, headline risk is everywhere! As harmless as headline risk may seem, it can represent a huge deterrent in making progress towards long term financial goals. 

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Finance in a Flash: How Does Your Cash Flow Impact Your Retirement Plan?

On this episode of Finance In A Flash, we talk through cash flow and the enormous impact it can have on your retirement plan. To help walk us through this important topic we bring back our tax and planning expert Erin Campbell. Throughout this episode we discuss the three phases of retirement, common cash-flow myths, and much more!

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Why are Personal Expenses so Important to your Financial Plan?

What are your monthly expenses? It’s a simple question we ask every new client, and one that’s often difficult for them to answer. But, consider the importance of this basic question: In order to plan a secure financial future, a key element has to be the amount we spend on a regular basis.

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Finance in a Flash: When Should I Take Social Security?

On this episode of Finance In A Flash, we discuss one of the most frequently asked questions people have when considering retirement or when they are currently retired; "When Should I Take Social Security?". To help us tackle this important question we bring in Erin Campbell our tax and planning expert!

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Common, Life-Altering Financial Mistakes

Unfortunately, we have been around long enough to have seen people make some serious financial mistakes. Mistakes that can have life-altering consequences. Helping people knock the dust off and pick up the pieces is not fun. If there is a bright spot in going through these difficult times with clients, it is that our current and future clients get to benefit from the knowledge we gain from having helped clients during these setbacks.

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Finance In a Flash: 401ks and FAQs

On this episode of Finance In A Flash, Nick and Chip discuss the importance of contributing to 401k's and their benefits. They go through 401k frequently asked questions, tax benefits of 401k's, and have a quick discussion on how you should view investment options within your 401k plan. Chip and Nick then discuss what you should do if you have an old or inactive 401k plan and whether or not you should consider rolling it over to your new 401k plan or roll it over into an IRA. Lastly, always remember to check your beneficiary designations on your 401k plans!

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Beacon Financial Strategies' Market and Planning Update Webinar 4th Quarter 2020

Here is a replay of our October 20, 2020 webinar. During this webinar we discuss: observations on 2020 market performance, thoughts heading into the election cycle, tax planning opportunities as we head into the end of the year, and what have we learned from 2020. All followed up with a Q&A!

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Third Quarter Market Review

As the Covid-19 pandemic enters its 8 month, so many questions remain unanswered. How far are we from having a vaccine? Will there be an emergence of new Covid cases as the weather gets colder? Will states be able to effectively reopen local economies? Most importantly, when will things get back to normal? These unresolved questions all seem pretty important at the moment. However, will these temporary issues have a meaningful impact on a well-diversified, long term investment strategy?

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Finance in a Flash: What is "The Market"?

In this episode of Finance In A Flash, Nick & Chip discuss one of the most used phrases in all of finance, "The Market". What are people actually referring to when they say things like; "The market is crashing today!", "The market is down 1000 points", or "Stocks are soaring!"? Nick and Chip unpack the different indexes people may be referring to when they mention "The Market" and why you shouldn't always correlate the performance of "The Market" with your overall portfolio.

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