Check out the MyMoney Five — Spend, Earn, Save & Invest, Protect, and Borrow. It’s the U.S. Treasury’s framework to tackling your finances and gaining financial literacy. We applaud any tools that help increase financial literacy. Well done Financial Literacy and Education Commission!

Traditionally, taxes have taken a backseat to investing. We think that’s wrong. They are just different sides of the same coin. Investing can help you grow income, and tax planning can help you keep the growth you've achieved. You need both.

The cost of college has skyrocketed, raising questions about the cost/benefit of a college education. And even if investing in a college education will someday pay off, financing college now requires a lot more planning and saving than it used to.

Are you thinking about retirement? In our new reality of volatile financial markets, higher interest rates, higher inflation, and ever-increasing medical costs, it can feel like retirement is even more complicated. We can help with tried and true solutions.

All three main types of investment accounts are all taxed at some point. Dividing your investments among them and then being strategic about your withdrawals can increase what you keep after the taxes are paid.

The inflation rate has come down from the forty-year highs we experienced in 2022, but it is still elevated. While it’s hard to find a silver lining to such high growth rates, with taxes, there are some positive impacts of higher inflation.

Getting organized is one of those goals that can seem like it would be life-changing – if you could just get it done.

So why is it so hard to get started on organizing your money? Maybe because money is tied to deep emotions and is woven into all our relationships. Organizing your pasta by shape in matching containers? Easy and satisfying. Looking over your spending and deciding what to reprioritize? Scary and hard.

It’s been a multi-year process, but the FAFSA Simplification Act (FSA) passed back in 2021 is finally showing results, and the new FAFSA has been rolled out online starting December 31, 2023.

Northwestern Mutual's annual Planning and Progress Study is out, and the results this year are very interesting. The study examines U.S. adults by generation to understand attitudes and behaviors toward money, financial decision-making, and financial security.

Given the volatility of the last year, the results reflect more uncertainty. But they also indicate that while each generation has different goals, needs, and attitudes toward money, seeking financial advice from a trusted resource is a constant.

Just as donating assets to charities while living can be gratifying to the donor and can put funds to work immediately, creating a gifting strategy that transfers assets to family and other people has similar benefits.

Wellness, in all its many facets, is increasingly becoming part of daily life.

Taking an approach that places financial wellness alongside other methods to achieve a balanced, happy life can help unite all the pieces together and can pay dividends by relieving what, for many people, is a major source of stress.

There's a lot you can do to ensure you are keeping everything moving towards your goals. The mid-year point is a good time to take stock – and then take action.

As you become successful in your career, buy a home, save, and invest, you're building knowledge and capability. But are you gaining the ability to achieve your own goals?

No matter how high your salary, successful your business is, or big the windfall – is it enough to create lasting wealth? How about generational wealth?

Times have changed. Modern lives are complicated and good estate planning is for everyone.