Blog

What Does Your Retirement Look Like?

Published by Jake Bleicher

When I think of retirement, I think of spending a month traveling throughout Asia tasting exotic cuisines. I want to go fishing in Alaska with my buddies and send my grandchildren to college. I want to surprise underprivileged children with presents on Christmas, donate to cancer research and leave an inheritance to my children. More than anything, I want the freedom to do what I want to do. I want to enjoy retirement. It is a goal I am working diligently towards. Read more

Seven Sins of Divorce

Published by Mark Petersen

Divorce is one of the most emotional experiences people may contend with in their lives. With the exception of Ross Geller on Friends, most people may only experience divorce once or twice in their lifetime. With limited exposure to the process, it may be easy to get caught up in the moment and fall victim to one or more of the seven sins of divorce. Read more

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

Who knew tax reform could be so easy? Less than two weeks after going to conference, Republicans reconciled the differences between the House and Senate bills and released their final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act last Friday (12/14) afternoon.[1] The final legislation provides significant permanent tax cuts for businesses, including reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Most individual taxpayers will also receive tax benefits, including lower marginal tax rates, and a reduction in the top tax rate for the wealthiest Americans from 39.6% down to 37%. However, all of the individual tax breaks will expire at the end of 2025 to comply with Senate rules. Read more

Could Living a Long Life Cause You to Go Broke? Strategies To Make Your Money Last

Published by Scott Ford, Member of the Investment Committee for Carson Group Partners

Have you ever thought about the possibility of living past the age of 100? If you haven’t, you probably should. While there are currently about 75,000 centenarians in the United States, it is predicted that by 2050 that number will rise to 1 million.^[1] People are living longer than ever before, and this plays a significant role in how you plan for your retirement. Read more

Financial Planning is for Everyone

Published by Beth Schanou

Everyone can benefit from some form of financial planning. Not all plans look the same because we are individuals and have unique needs, but the need for some amount of planning is present for every age group and financial status. Often this can be difficult to embrace because in order to plan effectively, there is a need to open up and share personal information including finances and goals. This isn’t always easy. Read more

Medicare 101: What You Need to Know

An often overlooked aspect of financial planning is considering health insurance options. Health care costs continue to rise, and as you grow older the likelihood you’ll need those services increases. Read more

Fallout from Equifax Breach

143 million American consumers were affected by the data breach at Equifax, one of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies. Read more

Safeguarding Personal Information

Electronic theft of personal information is the fastest-growing crime in the United States, with more than two billion personal records stolen worldwide in 2016. Protecting your personal information is a key component to reducing the potential that your information may be stolen. Read more

Eclipse Planning

Published by Mark Petersen and the Carson Group Partners Investment Committee

One in 256,481,280. No, I am not calculating the odds of winning the Powerball Lottery. This is the number of 50 square foot sections to view Totality for the 2017 Solar Eclipse in the state of Nebraska. So many choices! How does one decide? Let’s briefly review the thought process: Read more

Fees or Foes

Published by Scott Kubie

Recently, a fee-only financial advisor mentioned to me that more clients are proposing to manage more of their own assets and invest in the “S&P 500.” For most who go down this path, this move will likely end badly. These investors, while seeking to avoid wealth management fees, are ignoring the value their advisor brings to them as well as the current market environment. Read more