Blog
Educational Planning
The cost of a college education has skyrocketed in recent years, leaving many students and/or parents unable to afford it without assistance. Financial aid is available, but it can be confusing to navigate for those who are new to...
Read MoreDon't fear a recession. Instead, see it as an opportunity.
We thought it would be prudent to discuss and share our thoughts on several market narratives that are gaining traction (at least from a media perspective):Possible recessionThe debt ceilingCertificates of DepositsPause in interest...
Read MoreNational Nurses Day 2023
On National Nurses Day, we recognize and celebrate YOU!You watch over us as we come into this world, as we journey through it, and as we leave.You’re a daily witness to a thousand moments that matter in the cycle of life...the...
Read MoreLegacy Planning
LEGACY PLANNINGAre you prepared to pass on what you worked hard to grow?Emotionally, this is not something any of us is really ready for. It is difficult to wrap our minds around the complexity of change that our family would endure,...
Read MoreMartin Movie - INCEPTION
Getting this one posted a little late – profound apologies to both of my readers. Continuing through the “Best of” theme for 2023 leads me to interesting places. I backed into this month’s film simply because I...
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Tax Strategies
Imagine an account you can lock the IRS out of for the rest of your life, then watch as Albert Einstein’s 8th wonder of the world – compound interest – grows exponentially over the decades without paying taxes....
Read MoreMartin Movie - FIELD OF DREAMS
My year of bests finds me writing this on opening day of the 2023 baseball season, so it only seems fitting to take a look at my top-rated baseball movie of all time. Baseball and boxing have by far the most quality films of any sport....
Read MoreFinancial Literacy - Don't Die Without It!
Last month we spoke about Health, Auto, Homeowner’s and Renter’s Insurance. I also talked about how financial planning is forward-looking. Insurance is an important part of a complete financial plan, not because it is...
Read MoreFinancial Planning
This month we are focusing on Financial Planning and ultimately, Financial Goals!When setting financial goals, it may be helpful to categorize them in the following way:Defensive (Protection) Goals:Increase your “just in...
Read MoreMartin Movie - EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
As has become tradition and in keeping with my year of best in class, March is the month for my top movie of the year. In previous years, I feel like this choice has been a sentimental favorite for some reason but not truly an awards...
Read MoreCybersecurity Update: Pig Butchering
According to FINRA, scams such as pig butchering schemes have grown dramatically in recent years, with individual investors sometimes losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is where some bad actors are co-opting the identities...
Read MoreHealthy Savings Habits
Have you ever gotten into the car and before you put any thought into the drive, you were there?Driving to work over and over builds a habit, making your commute nearly effortless. Harnessing this power in how you save can add some...
Read MoreMartin Movie - ANY GIVEN SUNDAY
Whenever a large enough group of people here about my list and ranking criteria, they always ask me to name my top rated…something. What is your top Nicolas Cage film? What is the highest rated teen comedy? (For the record, those...
Read MoreNew Year, New Goals
When our daughters were young, they had one goal: to persuade us to get a dog!They looked up at us with their pleading little eyes and expressed such heartfelt anguish. This went on for months, maybe even a year.My husband protested....
Read MoreMartin Movie - BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID
I just came from our annual office tradition on the final work day of the year where we toast the achievements of the year that was and look towards the one to come. At this meeting, a co-worker noted that, no matter how good a year...
Read MoreGoal Setting
Soccer fans rejoiced worldwide as they cheered for their favorite teams in the World Cup last month.The thunderous, exultant cry of GOOOOOOAL is an adrenaline rush not to be missed. There is an innate joy in celebrating the success of...
Read MoreMartin Movie - CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE
December seems to bring a mix of holiday favorites and new attempted twists on those favorites. For whatever reason, the early holiday season makes me think of romantic comedies (many of which are set at Christmas but that feels weak...
Read MoreThe Empty Seat at the Table
Amid the hustle and bustle of the holiday season it is easy to forget there are those who do not share the season’s revelry. The absence of a loved one casts a deep sadness no carol can sing away. Most people will, at some...
Read More10 ways to be financially productive before Year End
As financial advisors, we find year end to be fast paced, often frantic as everyone tries to cram in celebrations, family, travel, holidays and a plethora of other busyness into a few short weeks. Here are 10 items to consider ...
Read MoreMartin Movie - BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS
Acting legend Angela Lansbury passed away about a month ago. Most people who know her probably know her from either Murder, She Wrote or as the voice of Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast. My childhood was a little bit different, so I...
Read MoreMartin Movie - BIG HERO 6
I have been watching a fair amount of coverage of Hurricane Ian the past day or so, and much of the footage has been about heroes running into rising water to save dogs or cats. At the same time, I have been thinking about the...
Read MoreMartin Movie - NOW YOU SEE ME
Apparently, I am in a highly suggestive mood today. With no idea what I wanted to write about this month, I let fate determine the answer. In the craze surrounding Wordle, someone alerted me to a game called Framed (www.framed.wtf),...
Read MoreMartin Movie - HER
August is my birthday month, so I am giving myself the gift of writing about a movie that I love irrationally. We all have things like that in our lives. Objectively we understand that this thing we love is probably not as great as we...
Read MoreMartin Movie - A FEW GOOD MEN
There are few screenwriters whose dialogue has as much punch and brilliance as Aaron Sorkin. I was reminded of this while watching Moneyball again the other day. He made a movie about the process of using analytics to make an average...
Read MoreMartin Movie - MOULIN ROUGE!
Searching for inspiration for this month’s review – and largely coming up empty – fate intervened and let me know that today (as I write this but not as you read this) was the 21st anniversary of the premiere of a...
Read MoreMartin Movie - THE FATHER
December is a time for many things: various religious holidays, Kansas basketball to set my heart up for inevitable disappointment in March, and part 3 in my 4-part series of films that have fatherhood as a principal element. I clearly...
Read MoreMartin Movie - HOOK
It is November – a time when most people are sitting down with family, so what better time to deliver part 2 in the 4-part series of films that have fatherhood as a principal element. This one may not immediately pop up in your...
Read MoreMartin Movie - FINDING NEMO
Last month was the culmination of the Summer of Surprise – four movies that surprised me in some way with the fourth one being a negative surprise. So now we begin another series of four films dealing with fathers. It was my...
Read MoreMartin Movie - PAY IT FORWARD
I teased it last month and I am going to follow through – reminiscing all summer about movies that I thought would be nothing special and turned out to be very special made me want to revisit the alternative. How often do we go...
Read MoreMartin Movie - THREE KINGS
As noted in June, this is the third in a three-part series I am calling The Summer of Surprise. Something about each film I will write about in June, July, and August surprised me in a positive way (and I am toying with the idea of...
Read MoreMartin Movie - GALAXY QUEST
As noted last month, this is the second in a three-part series I am calling The Summer of Surprise. Something about each film I will write about in June, July, and August surprised me in a positive way (and I am toying with the idea...
Read MoreMartin Movie - 25th HOUR
For the next three months, I am going to highlight three films that were big surprises to me – calling this The Summer of Surprise. Something about each film I’ll write about in June, July, and August surprised me in some...
Read MoreMartin Movie - SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
Everyone has a list of movies that, when channel surfing (assuming people still do that in this age of streaming), you watch until the end no matter what when you find it happens to be on. For me, that list is fairly long, but I would...
Read MoreMartin Movie - A NIGHT IN MIAMI
A little later than usual this year, but it is time to talk about the Academy Awards. The Oscars will be given out on April 25th this year, which is a full two months later than usual to give more films the chance for a qualifying...
Read MoreMartin Movie - THE ROCK
In what has now become a monthly tradition when lacking inspiration for which particular film to choose in a given month, I asked the weekly poker game what they would like me to write about. It was pointed out to me that The Rock...
Read MoreMartin Movie - YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
I get a little fastidious when it comes to many things (seriously, watch me reheat shredded pork tacos sometime if you want to test that statement). One of the top areas where I am very picky about certain distinctions is when someone...
Read MoreMartin Movie - THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES
I am a big fan of irony. Any time I can find true examples of it in the world, I try to celebrate it. I am not talking about the various ridiculous (and, for the record, not ironic) examples in the Alanis Morrisette song. I am talking...
Read MoreMartin Movie - DIE HARD
I have been hosting a regular poker game for the past 15 years. Many of the players in that game have been coming for most of those years. During quarantine, we had to stop the live games, but we have picked up the game in an online...
Read MoreMartin Movie - LA STORY
My growing base of readers for this monthly column (initially my wife and my sister and now includes my mother as well – 50% increase in readership!) has informed me (mostly telepathically) that they do not want this to be a...
Read MoreYou Are (Still) the Weakest Link
Online villains (bad actors) target passwords more so than any other means by which to maliciously gain access and information. Did you know that the average person today uses 191 online services and accounts that require login...
Read MoreMartin Movie - LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL
Last week my father turned 90 years old. As I thought about what to write about this month, I was thinking about my dad. Should I pick his favorite movie? No, because I have not been able to sit through Gunga Din. Should I pick Grumpy...
Read MoreMartin Movie - PANIC ROOM
A genre that I have completely avoided thus far has been horror. It feels like we read about enough horror in the world on a daily basis that choosing a film from that genre might cut my readership down to 3 (from its undoubtedly...
Read MoreMartin Movie - ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
All right. Enough. I have been messing around with fun movies that I love or sports movies that I like or underrated movies you should check out. It’s time to focus on great – pantheon great – films that I believe...
Read MoreMartin Movie - BREAKDOWN
Throughout the quarantine, I have been playing a regular online poker game once a week. I like to throw a mindless action movie on in the background as I play. It got me thinking about mindFUL action movies that are out there....
Read MoreMartin Movie - SNEAKERS
Maybe it is because I just watched the delightfully silly Celebrity Escape Room last night. Or maybe it is because one of the sub-themes of the movie is to use technology to bring down nations, which seems to be on my mind these days....
Read MoreMartin Movie - MAJOR LEAGUE
At the suggestion of my friends Mike (the biggest K-State sports fan I know) and Dan (whose birthday is today), I decided to focus on the world of sports on film this month. I am definitely missing sports right now and will forever be...
Read MoreMartin Movie - ROBIN HOOD
In reality, it has only been a month since my last posting – though I am sure we can all agree it has felt like a whole lot more than that. After discussing whether or not we should even post one this month, we decided that...
Read MoreManaging A Job Layoff
If COVID-19, or any other cause, has resulted in your unemployment, our colleagues at MFS have a concise outline of some things you can do to improve the situation. Click here to read.
Read MoreMartin Movie: ONCE
After reviewing Jojo Rabbit last month – which is one of those films that may not be for everyone but I found brilliant – it seemed fitting to pivot to a film that I feel has universal appeal for the month of March. To...
Read MoreCoronavirus: A Dose of Uncertainty and Risk
The Coronavirus has brought about feelings of fear, uncertainty, and empathy from around the world. What are the impacts to financial markets and your portfolio? To an extent, risk can be assessed, measured, and managed. Uncertainty is...
Read MoreThe Economy vs. the Stock Market
Investors are often bombarded with economic data, company news, market information, and news headlines. Not only can this be overwhelming, but it can lead to confusion. The best analogy I’ve heard on this subject comes from...
Read MoreMartin Movie: JOJO
With the Academy Awards right around the corner (tune in Sunday, February 9th), it seems fitting to make the first Martin Movie Monday review center around my favorite film for this year. In a year with several very good movies, my...
Read MoreDoing the math to prioritize your retirement list
A significant percentage of Fit-To-Retire clients come into our office with a bucket list a mile-and-a-half long and no idea what to do with it. We call these folks “High Enthusiasm/Low Preparation” clients. And, we love...
Read MoreMonetary Policy vs. Fiscal Policy
As we head into election season, these terms will pop up. But what do they mean for the economy and for you? The aim of monetary policy is to manage inflation and economic growth using interest rates and other tools to influence the...
Read MoreIntroducing Martin Movie Monday
WARNING – This post has nothing to do with financial planning, money, or economics. This is the first post in what I plan to make into a monthly series. Outside the office, one of my primary interests is movies. Being a...
Read MoreGive yourself the gift of a well-planned retirement
Call us greedy, but we’ve never thought Santa’s list should be limited to the kids. After all, children have such short attention spans. They may spend an hour on Christmas morning fawning over new toy cars, dolls and...
Read MoreGross Domestic Product (GDP), Simplified
Economic progress is typically measured by GDP growth. Here, we break it down into basic components that are easier to understand. GDP is the value of all final goods and services produced by a country’s economy. Investors...
Read MoreHow to Help When a Loved One Dies
“ The price of love is loss, but still we pay. We love anyway.” That quote from the musical Next to Normal illustrates the unfortunate side of having close relationships with our clients. We grieve with them when they lose...
Read MoreHow to Give a Financial Gift to a Loved One With Special Needs
What do I need to know before giving a financial gift to my loved one with special needs? The end of the year is approaching and the holidays are about to be in full swing. With that comes a time of gift-giving for family members....
Read MoreHow to make gratitude last into retirement
As you take stock of your bountiful blessings this year, pay special attention to the categories into which those blessings fall: Good health and nutrition (gravy, mashed potatoes and pie notwithstanding), relationships with family...
Read MoreAvoid Phish This Holiday Shopping Season
As the holiday season approaches, it is timely to remind ourselves of the vulnerabilities that await us online should we fail to exercise diligence and vigilance while making merry online. The reality is, the end user (that's you and...
Read MoreInteresting times, indeed.
There is an old Chinese saying, “May you live in interesting times.” We have low interest rates, low commodity prices, low unemployment, and low inflation, all of which are generally helpful inputs for economic growth....
Read MoreHow much will health care cost in retirement?
During a recent panel discussion with Fit-to-Retire contributing authors, we discussed ways to motivate clients who score HIGH Preparedness / LOW Enthusiasm on their assessment in the Health & Nutrition category. A popular...
Read MoreNational Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Each and every one of us needs to do our part to make sure that our online lives are kept safe and secure. That's what National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) – observed in October – is all about! Each October...
Read MoreHarnessing the power of technology in retirement
If you’re retiring from a career spent hunched in front of a glowing computer screen, it’s likely the last thing you’ll want to do is keep up with ever-changing technology. While we can all recognize the importance...
Read MoreRecession Data and Yield Curve - 5 Bullets
While recent market movements have been well-publicized, a few things that aren’t making the main headlines: Historically, just because the 2y - 10y treasury yields invert does not necessarily signal a recession unless the...
Read MoreGrowth vs. Value
If you look at your portfolio, you notice both growth and value stock investments. What’s the difference? Growth stocks are just that-stocks that are believed to have meaningful potential still to be realized. This could be due...
Read More“Finding yourself” beyond retirement
For baby boomers, “finding yourself” was something we did in the ’60’s. By the time we reach our 60’s, we assume the question, “Who am I, man?” has been answered. But, it’s likely the...
Read MoreMythbuster: taxes brackets and politics
Just kidding. In no realm of the imagination would I write something on politics, something I am not educated on. However, we hear politicians talk all the time about raising or lowering taxes. Unfortunately, many Americans, including...
Read MoreTime: The Most Precious Commodity
What if you stopped thinking about how you’re going to spend your money in retirement and started thinking about how you’re going to spend your time? It’s a simple but essential paradigm shift that puts retirement...
Read More30 Years Ago Today ...
It was a different kind of Independence Day! 30 years ago today, Glenda and I moved into the empty offices that would become Prosperity Advisory Group. The two of us became CEO and Chief Operating Officer from the very start, Captains...
Read MoreWhy do you want to see my tax return?
Why do you want a copy of my tax return? We get this question sometimes from existing and potential clients. It puzzles me. Why wouldn’t you want your financial planner to get a copy of your tax returns, the main financial...
Read MoreCFP Board Research Shows ...
CFP Board Research Shows Almost One-Third of Americans Aren’t Aware of their Employer Retirement Plan Options. According to a recent study conducted by the Certified Financial Planner Board, almost 3 out of 10 Americans do not...
Read MoreDave Martin earns his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation
We are happy to announce that Dave Martin has earned his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) designation. Earning the CFP® designation signifies that an advisor has mastered a comprehensive and rigorous curriculum...
Read MoreFT400 Top Financial Adviser Recognition for 5th Consecutive Year
We are proud to announce that Paul Ewing has been named as a Financial Times Top 400 Adviser for the fifth consecutive year. This elite award is based on assets under management, growth, years of experience, compliance record,...
Read MorePaul Ewing and Angela Brill Deliver Financial Advice on Capitol Hill
On April 10 and 11, Paul Ewing and Angela Brill were among a select group of advisors who provided financial planning advice and education to congressional staff on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. Paul and Angela are advisory council...
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