Posts in Mid Career Professional
Third Quarter Market Review
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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Mid Career Professional, Investments, Pre-Retiree, Retiree, Retirement PlanningChip Hymiller, AIF®, CFP®Personal Finance, market turbulence, Stock Market
FAQ on 529 College Savings Plans
FAQ on 529 College Savings Plans

College is almost here! So, while my family is busy applying for college, you may be considering utilizing a 529 College Savings Plan as a component of your college savings strategy for your own kids or grandchildren. 529 Plans can be an excellent tool when saving for college, however, there are also a number of drawbacks to consider.

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Education, Tax, Mid Career ProfessionalErin Campbell, CPA/PFS, CFP®529 Plans, college planning, Saving for College, tax planning
Finance in a Flash: What is "The Market"?
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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Education, Investments, Mid Career Professional, Podcast, Pre-Retiree, Retiree, Retirement PlanningChip Hymiller, AIF®, CFP®personal financial planning, financial planning
Finance In A Flash: Should I Adjust My Asset Allocation?
Finance In A Flash: Should I Adjust My Asset Allocation?

On this episode of Finance In A Flash, Nick and Chip discuss a question that a lot of people have been asking during this turbulent time in the market; "Should I adjust my asset allocation?". They start with the basics of describing how they think about asset allocation throughout a person's lifetime and then transition into instances when it may or may not be an appropriate time to adjust your portfolio's asset allocation.

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Podcast, Pre-Retiree, Retiree, Mid Career Professional, Financial PlanningChip Hymiller, AIF®, CFP®Asset Allocation, financial planning
Alternatives for Avoiding Probate
Alternatives for Avoiding Probate

Many people would prefer that their estates avoid the probate process. While the probate process is not overly costly in most states, it is generally considered a hassle to those who have experienced it. The following is a discussion on several alternatives for avoiding probate.

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Estate Planning, Eldercare, Mid Career Professional, Pre-Retiree, RetireeChip Hymiller, AIF®, CFP®Estate Planning, financial planning, Probate, Trust, Revocable trusts, beneficiary
Roth Conversion Instead of Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)?
Roth Conversion Instead of Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)?

With the passage of the CARES Act on March 27th, Congress eliminated IRA required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year. This means that many taxpayers above the age of 72, or anyone who is taking inherited IRA distributions, will likely have quite a change in their taxable income in 2020. So, is it a good year to do a Roth Conversion instead?

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Financial Planning, Investments, Mid Career Professional, Pre-Retiree, Retiree, Retirement Planning, TaxErin Campbell, CPA/PFS, CFP®Roth IRA, tax planning, income tax, required minimum distributions, Roth Conversion
Financial Planning Opportunities Amid Market Downturns: Planning Techniques
Financial Planning Opportunities Amid Market Downturns: Planning Techniques

On this episode of Finance In A Flash, we conclude our series titled: Financial Planning Opportunities Amid Market downturns. Throughout the episode, we cover several planning techniques such as Roth Conversions, Refinancing your mortgage, and reevaluating your budget, especially if you are in the distribution phase.

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Investments, Mid Career Professional, Podcast, Pre-Retiree, Retiree, Retirement Planning, TaxChip Hymiller, AIF®, CFP®Personal Finance, tax planning, personal financial planning, Roth IRA, mortgage
It’s Time for an Estate Planning Review
It’s Time for an Estate Planning Review

It is very important to periodically take the time to review your estate plan and make sure your existing documents are still appropriate and continue to meet your needs. This is a task that Beacon reminds clients to address about every other year. So what are those things that need to be reviewed?

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Estate Planning, Financial Planning, Mid Career Professional, Pre-Retiree, Retiree, Retirement PlanningChip Hymiller, AIF®, CFP®Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Personal Finance, Probate, Trust, Will, beneficiary
Financial Planning Opportunities Amid Market Downturns: Tax-Loss Harvesting
Financial Planning Opportunities Amid Market Downturns: Tax-Loss Harvesting

On this episode of Finance In A Flash we continue our series on Financial Planning Opportunities Amid Market Downturns by covering Tax-Loss Harvesting. We go through the details of Tax-Loss Harvesting and the benefits of using this strategy during times when your investments have losses.

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Financial Planning, Investments, Mid Career Professional, Podcast, Pre-Retiree, Retiree, Retirement Planning, TaxChip Hymiller, AIF®, CFP®tax planning, personal financial planning, Retirement Planning
Establishing Your Emergency Fund Target
Establishing Your Emergency Fund Target

Do you know the factors to consider when establishing an emergency savings account? How much cash is it appropriate to keep on hand in short term savings and money markets?  Before we address the question, it is important to understand the important role cash plays in an overall financial plan.

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Financial Planning, Retirement Planning, Mid Career Professional, Investments, Pre-Retiree, RetireeErin Campbell, CPA/PFS, CFP®financial planning, Asset Allocation, investments, investment management
Benefits of Portfolio Rebalancing
Benefits of Portfolio Rebalancing

We at Beacon Financial Strategies, believe that rebalancing is an integral component of the investment management process. In this presentation, Chip Hymiller, AIF®,CFP® explains the concept of rebalancing and discusses the advantages of implementing a portfolio rebalancing strategy.

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Investments, Mid Career Professional, Pre-Retiree, Retiree, Retirement Planning, Web PresentationChip Hymiller, AIF®, CFP®investing, Retirement Planning, virtual planning
Why Haven't Stocks Declined More This Year?
Why Haven't Stocks Declined More This Year?

Doesn’t it seem like the stock market should be down more in 2020? This article takes a deeper dive into the numbers and it turns out that when using more diversified definition of “the market,” stocks have taken quite a hit this year.

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Investments, Mid Career Professional, Pre-Retiree, RetireeChip Hymiller, AIF®, CFP®Asset Allocation, diversification, investing, investments, investment planning, Stock Market, market turbulence
Charitable Gifting in 2020
Charitable Gifting in 2020

2020 is turning out to be quite different from what many of us had planned on back in January. Not only are there changes in our day to day life, there are changes that could impact your financial life and what you had originally planned on doing this year. One of those changes relates to charitable gifting.

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Charitable Gifting, Financial Planning, Mid Career Professional, Pre-Retiree, Retiree, Retirement Planning, TaxStephanie MurrayCharitable Gifting, tax planning, Personal Finance