A CFP® Exam Taker’s Guide to the SECURE Act

The SECURE Act is the largest and most comprehensive update to the CFP® Exam material since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The July (now September) 2020 CFP® Exam is the first Exam to test the SECURE Act. In this video Mike and Jerry cover everything you need to know in order to answer any and all SECURE Act questions that come your way. Read More

Tax Deductions are Cool, but Tax Credits are Like, Way Cooler

A critical area of personal finance for everyone to understand is the availability of tax credits. A tax credit is an amount of money a taxpayer can deduct, dollar-for-dollar, against their tax liability for the year. Tax credits can be more beneficial than tax deductions because a tax credit is a direct reduction in one’s tax liability. Whereas a tax deduction simply reduces the amount of one’s taxable income which results in a smaller reduction in the final tax liability. Read More

Advisors Can Flatten The Emotion Curve

This is a guest blog written by the co-founder of Blueprint Investment Partners. For more great content please check out Blueprint's Insights page.   What incredible times we are living through right now. About six weeks ago here in the United States all seemed quiet and strong. Of course, there are always problems, but by comparison to today, things were positive. Boy, that seems like a long time ago. Read More

Benefits or Booby-Traps? The SECURE Act Brings New Retirement Laws

The SECURE Act signed into law in late 2019 delivers new opportunities for employers to offer retirement plans to employees and for individuals to enhance their retirement savings. But is there a tax trap in the legislation that could ultimately undo the benefits for unwary clients and their families? Read More

Why Social Security Knowledge Pays Off for Financial Planners

“I’d love to work part-time during retirement, but I am concerned that the government will take away my Social Security retirement benefits if I do.” That sentiment is an alarming one to hear from a client that is already or will be soon claiming Social Security retirement benefits. Social Security is a critical piece of the retirement plans of many Americans. That said, many Americans misunderstand the specific rules that will determine their benefits. The rules are complex so this is understandable and to be expected, but it’s very important for us as financial planners to know them cold, so that we can put any misunderstandings to rest while properly advising our clients. Read More

An Exam Taker’s Guide to CFP® Board’s New Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct

CFP® Board has updated their Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct. The November 2019 CFP® Exam is the first Exam to test these new updates. This video breaks down what test takers need to know with regard to the updated Code and Standards. Read More

Scary Headlines and Investor Reactions

How do we manage our clients’ behavior, and by extension, our own behavior, when negative headlines and concerning events dominate the markets? It certainly isn’t easy to maintain objective long-term investment plans when the short-term outlook seems ominous, especially knowing that markets are largely driven by two emotions, greed and fear. These emotions affect investors very differently with fear being more dominant and more impactful to retail investors’ actions.  To be an effective investor, it is important to deal with these emotions separately. Read More

What I learned from Gary

They say that education is a two-way process between teacher and student. I echo this sentiment loudly and believe that when the learning process is working best, it’s not just the student that’s learning. The teacher is learning too. Read More

So the yield curve is inverted... What does that really mean?

What exactly is the yield curve? Read More