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It Takes Eight Games to Win - Not One A few weeks ago, my family and I sat in AT&T Stadium in Texas and watched Japan and the Netherlands play to a 2–2 draw in their opening World Cup match. If you missed it, here's what happened: Japan fell behind, equalized, fell behind again, and then equalized one more time in the 88th minute. They never led for a single second of the match, but they were able to capture a point to try and move on to the knockout stage. It got me thinki

Hard to believe it's June 1st! Hope everyone enjoyed Memorial Day weekend. My kids are as excited about summer as I am... maybe more. This month I want to walk through two key events shaping 2026. Interest Rates & Mid-Terms A new Fed Chair. Kevin Warsh was sworn in as the 17th Chair of the Federal Reserve on May 22nd, replacing Jerome Powell after his term expired on May 15th. Powell led the Fed through COVID and the inflation surge that followed. He'll be remembered for call

If you're a Michigan University employee over 50 earning more than $150K, this post is for you. It's called the SECURE 2.0 Act Roth Mandate. And if you're contributing catch-up dollars to your 403(b) SRA or 457(b), it directly changes your 2026 tax bill. This one rule has generated more confused conversations than any retirement change I can remember. Here's the plain-English version. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ FIRST — KNOW YOUR BUCKETS Michigan University employees actually have three

Ever think about how someone would get access to your online life if you were to pass away? It’s a real concern that many of us think about but take no action to address. Our digital lives have expanded beyond what many believed was possible just 5-10 years ago. How does someone get logged into your iPhone? Email? Google Drive? Facebook? The list goes on and on. This month’s blog post will cover some basic things we can all do today to prepare for an unexpected death, to help

Over the past two years, it’s been a family ritual to watch an episode of Little House on the Prairie before bedtime for the kids. For those familiar with the show, I’m sure you can recall Pa’s constant endeavor to secure employment and farm his land to help the Ingall’s family live in modest comfort. For those who have never watched the show, I highly recommend! The Failed Crop In his youth, Pa made a big bet. He borrowed money to plant seed for his farm. With a big payout

Most people have a 401(k), 403(b), IRA, or Roth IRA. This is the most common way to save for retirement since most employers offer these plans. On average, people will have 10–12 jobs throughout their working careers, which often leads to rollover IRAs or Roth IRAs along the way. If you’re saving for retirement, it makes sense to use retirement accounts, right? However, there is a powerful alternative that many individuals overlook. I’m talking about an after-tax investment a

Over the past 5 years, investors have lived through the COVID crash, high inflation and Fed rate hikes in 2022, Russia/Ukraine tensions, bank crisis (SVB collapse), and Tariffs. Even with all the challenges, we see US equity markets at near all time highs. What are some important things to consider during times like this? One of the most important aspects to investing is “when in doubt zoom out”. For long term investors planning for retirement, it’s best to consider a longer

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act created a new pathway for kids in America to get introduced to investing. Like anything else that is beneficial for children (reading, writing, math, science, sports, etc.), the way to get them excited about a topic is to introduce them to the concept and then actually get involved! Getting the youth involved with equity markets is a wonderful thing, and hopefully will lead to more financial education and wealth creation for their futures. So wh

With a New Year comes new goals! Here are some simple action items you can implement to improve your financial picture for 2026. Retirement Savings Adjustments With higher contribution limits for 2026, this is a great opportunity to review your 401(k) or 403(b) contributions and consider increasing them to take full advantage of the new limits. Employee Contribution limit: $24,500 Catch-up (age 50+): $8,000 Higher catch-up: (ages 60-63): $11,250 instead of $8,000 Tradit