Posts in Mid Career Professional
Finance in a Flash: ETFs vs. Mutual Funds

In this episode of Finance In A Flash, Nick & Chip discuss the most popular types of investment vehicles in the world, Mutual Funds & ETFs. What are the differences between the two and are there advantages or disadvantages to using them? In addition, they spend a lot of time talking about the tax efficiency of ETFs and how Mutual Funds can be incredibly tax-inefficient at times.

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Protecting Your Earning Power - A Primer on Disability Insurance

Insurance issues are one of the most confusing areas that people address. What would be the financial impact on your family if there were a loss of income due to a physical or mental disability? This article addresses important considerations to help you decide if you need disability insurance.

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Finance in a Flash: Is There A bubble In The Stock Market?

This week we tackle a very important and popular question people are asking: "Is there a bubble in stocks or the stock market?" We also discuss various strategies you should take and questions you should ask yourself when feeling uncertain about the future of the stock market.

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Finance in a Flash: The Story of Gamestop and Important Lessons Learne‪d‬

In this episode of Finance In A Flash, Nick & Chip discuss the story of Gamestop and how it has captivated the world over the past week. Thanks to a Reddit thread pointing out that a large hedge fund had a massive short position on Gamestop, the stock price rose almost 2,000% within a week! We break down how this happened and the important lessons everyone should take away from these recent events.

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CAA Provides Relief to Individuals and Businesses

The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) offers many tax provisions to assist in the ongoing economic crisis. Many of the provisions affect not only the 2020 tax return but into future years as well.

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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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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: Pension Plans

On this episode of Finance In A Flash, Nick & Erin discuss pension plans. Not many people have Pensions anymore, but we do see a fair amount in the federal and state retirement system as well as some holdovers from private companies. We are going to go over topics such as Annuity Style vs. Lump-sum pension, Survivor Options as it relates to pensions, and we also discuss leaving pensions to your spouse.

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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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Stocks Move in “Bursts”

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could invest your money and earn a consistent 0.85% every month (10.25% each year)? Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that stocks often move in abrupt bursts. These bursts of volatility can lead to high stress, doubts, or even unrealistic return expectations.

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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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