What Got Me Interested in Bitcoin

By Kristan Anderson, CEBS®, CFP® | Dir. of Retirement Plan Services & Dir. of Financial Planning
I recently attended a Fidelity sponsored webinar in which they presented their new whitepaper on bitcoin. In general, I’m skeptical of digital assets such as bitcoin and other digital currencies, as well as Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the like.
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Pets: They are an Investment

By Rasti Nikolic, FPQP® | Associate Financial Planner
We Americans love our pets and are spending more and more money on their care and wellbeing. Based on the May 2021 ASPCA 1 survey, 23 million American households acquired a pet during the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns about potential challenges of pet ownership as people’s lives return to normal, post-pandemic have not yet reached a critical level, according to the survey.
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Need more space? One family’s journey to their dream home…

By R. Jonathan Stolz, CFA | Portfolio Manager
There are many reasons to look for a larger home – feeling cramped in your current space, family changes (marriage, kids, family moving in), increased work from home, and desire to spend more time with loved ones. My lovely wife and I, and our 5 kids, had several of these squarely on our minds when we started our home upgrade journey in 2019.
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Prioritize Savings Now

By Kristan L. Anderson, CEBS®, CFP®, Dir. Of Retirement Plan Services & Dir. Of Financial Planning and Rasti Nikolic, Associate Financial Planner
When we meet with retirement plan participants, an almost universal recommendation is to try to increase savings each year by one percent. But in order to get to that extra one percent, you have to be maintaining a positive cash flow. And the best way to establish and maintain savings is to prepare a budget.
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The Biggest Purchase of My Life – Part I

By Ryan Streilein, CFA®, Equity Analyst
During the pandemic, my fiancé (now wife) and I arrived at the conclusion that a one bedroom, 750 square-foot apartment is not ideal for two people and a dog to share 24-7 for an extended period of time.
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Cryptocurrency in Your Estate Plan

Rasti Nikolic, Associate Financial Planner
Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security. Each cryptocurrency uses a unique electronic address for transfer between users’ digital wallets. The user must have a ‘private key’ to be able to move cryptocurrency. If the owner does not provide a fiduciary with a ‘private key,’ the cryptocurrency is inaccessible by anyone upon the owner’s incapacity or death. This is known as a “black hole” wallet because the cryptocurrency becomes inaccessible and essentially worthless. Cryptocurrency is difficult to counterfeit because of this security feature. A
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