Foreclosure of a Dream

By Matt Armendaris, Associate Financial Planner
With so many Gen Zers moving into the work force and establishing long term careers, their focus starts to shift to the next symbol of adulthood – owning a home.
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If You Can’t Touch It, Is It Really Art?

By Kristan Anderson, CEBS®, CFP® | Dir. Of Retirement Plan Services & Dir. Of Financial Planning
You know how your Apple iTunes library is not really music you own, even though you paid for it? Yet your vinyl collection somehow now has some appreciable value? Or did you ever collect baseball trading cards? And now you see that these cards exist in the digital world and are being traded at high values.
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Sell Discipline

by Rod Huerta, CIMA® »
When investing in stocks, it is certainly important to focus on what companies to purchase, but just as important is knowing when to sell. We call this having a good “sell discipline.” Taylor Swift tells us to “shake it off” in her catchy song about not sweating the small stuff.
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Stop Kicking the Financial Plan Can

By Victoria G. Henry, CFP® »
A few months ago, I realized that I needed some help. Between my husband and I working full time and trying to keep our three little girls safe, fed, and entertained, housework kept falling through the cracks. We were losing a battle to the “stuff” that was just piling up.
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Art for Art’s Sake

By Kristan Anderson, CEBS®, CFP® | Dir. of Retirement Plan Services & Dir. of Financial Planning
I purchased my first piece of real art (i.e., not an art poster from a shop in the West Village) as a housewarming and anniversary present for my husband years ago. It is a silkscreen print of firecrackers from a local artist (Clay Huffman, now deceased) who had a studio at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Old Town, Alexandria.
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Continued Growth in Cybercrime and Tips to Protect Against It

Mai Nguyen and John Kim
With continued advancements in the digital world, individuals have inevitably seen an increase in cybercrime. According to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, financial losses due to investment schemes rose more than 300% to $10.3 billion in 2022, compared to the previous high of $3.3 billion in 2021.
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Oh, the Places You’ll Go

By Tanya Carson, CFA
To quote Dr. Seuss, "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." Growing up, teachers and parents always stressed the importance of an education. But what happens when formal schooling is over? Lifelong learning is defined as the self-motivated practice of continuing to learn throughout one’s entire life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills, and competencies.
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Stereos, Records, & Cassettes

Laurie M. Kramer, CFP® »
I LOVE that I had the childhood that I did – playing outside for hours on end with little to no supervision, climbing on metal playground equipment, Saturday morning cartoons (Scooby Doo, Where Are You?) reading Nancy Drew books, and listening to Casey Kasem’s Top 40 countdown on the radio. I also had the benefit of growing up on a farm, so caring for the horses was among many things that I did to earn my allowance.
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Investing Unplugged: Embracing the Art of Probabilities

By Dan Trosch, CFA
In the world of investing, uncertainties abound and, as investors, we are confronted with pivotal questions. “Have interest rates peaked? Will the U.S. have a recession this year? Will the U.S. default on its debt?” While it's valuable to have an informed opinion, making large portfolio decisions based solely on these macro events can be extremely challenging.
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