Resources

You probably have a checking account. Here’s what else you need and why the order matters. Most people in their 20s have a checking account and maybe a savings account they barely touch. That’s a start — but it’s not a plan. By the time you hit 30, having the right accounts set up is […]

Most conversations about money and investing start the same way. Someone sits down across from Wayne and says: “I just want my money to grow.” That’s a reasonable thing to want. But when we ask a few follow-up questions — how close are you to retirement? What’s your pension covering? What does your monthly income […]

I recently started reading The Power of Zero by David McKnight. I’m only about halfway through, but it’s already reinforced something I see in almost every client meeting: the vast majority of people have all of their retirement savings sitting in accounts that have never been taxed. Traditional 401(k)s, traditional IRAs — they started contributing 20, 30, […]

There’s a verse I come back to a lot: “Just as a tiny rudder controls the direction of a ship, the tongue directs the body.” James 3:4,5. The versions differ, but the point is the same. The words we use — out loud and inside our own heads — steer us. I didn’t always think […]

Here is a situation we have seen play out more than once. A couple in their late sixties — responsible, careful people. They saved for thirty-plus years. They have a million dollars in a 401(k) or IRA. They hired an estate planning attorney. They set up a revocable living trust. They thought they had everything […]

The return lands on the desk. The CPA has done her part. Somewhere in Northern Ohio, a retired couple is filing the paper copy in a drawer with the phone bill and last year’s Christmas cards. Most of the time, that’s where the story ends — until next January when it starts over. That’s a […]

Spoiler: there’s no magic number. But there are habits that’ll put you way ahead of most people your age and they’re simpler than you think. If you’ve ever Googled “how much should I have saved by 30,” you’ve probably run into those rules of thumb — save 1x your salary, have six figures in the […]

A client of ours was sitting at her computer when a Windows Defender Security Alert filled her screen. Alarms were going off. A voice was telling her to call a phone number. The screen appeared locked. She was terrified. Then she did the thing I preach to every client — she called our office first. […]

There is no shortage of people who will call themselves a financial advisor. The title is not protected. A person can call themselves a financial advisor the day they pass their first licensing exam, with very little behind them in terms of training, obligation to you, or accountability. So how do you find a fiduciary […]

By the time we get to spring, most people I talk to aren’t in bad shape financially—but things feel a little… scattered. A retirement account from a previous employer that hasn’t been looked at in a while. A few subscriptions quietly renewing each month. A budget that made sense in January but hasn’t really been […]