Blog Posts

By Jessica Searcy Kmetty

Experiencing a divorce is rarely something couples expect to face. When I was first married at age 19, I had visions of what it would be like to celebrate my 50th anniversary. I pictured a large party with our friends and family, cakes and grandkids and maybe even great grandkids. I remember sighing a breath of relief at our 8th anniversary because we had made it through the infamous “seven-year itch” with three small children.

But alas, there are two people in every relationship, and despite all efforts, my marriage fell apart and we divorced after 18 years, splitting up assets and spending thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees in the process.

By Jessica Searcy Kmetty

Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky is a pretty quick read that is packed with great ideas. It’s all about being intentional and not allowing things you may do by default to hijack your productive time.

The authors provide abundant details, tips and tricks to help you pick and choose what strategies you might utilize in your own life. It also includes a multitude of good ideas we should all probably be doing a better job of: exercise, drink water, watch less TV, get good sleep, etc.

During holiday seasons, you might think about different types of gifts for family members or for your favorite charity. A financial gift is certainly a generous offering, but it may also be something to think about come tax time.

This article is designed to give you an overview of things you may want to consider when making a gift in the here and now, while touching on longer-term tax relevance for both you and the recipient. We’ll also cover some estate considerations for gifts you make now and as part of your future legacy.

By Marc C. Shaffer

Skip the bad days? It sounds like a great concept.

How many of you would choose to skip right over 2020? If only we all had perfect foresight – both in life and with finances.

Here’s one thing we know about investment markets: in election years, years where we experience a pandemic, years that are filled with big news and years that are calm…they fluctuate.

The Ties That Bind

For people around the world, 2020 was a strange and lonely year. Many of us will remember it as a time of loss of family members, jobs, social lives, or even homes.

Cultural shifts, the fast pace of modern life, and other complexities, compounded by the practice of social distancing, might leave us feeling like true community is something from “the good old days” that will never return. In the wake of such a difficult year, we may find ourselves at a loss as to how to move forward and create a “new normal.”

But move forward we will.

One step toward healing is to build (or rebuild) stronger connections within your local community.