Sarah Yakel
When Can I Start Filing Taxes?
HOLD…HOLD… As the calendar turns to 2025, many people immediately start to think about filing taxes. While it’s generally a good thing to avoid procrastination (I tell myself…), your 2024 tax filing may be an exercise in patience for some… If you are one of those very organized p
Sarah YakelJan 14, 2025
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays from our Meridian family to yours! We are taking a break from the blog next week, so have a happy and safe New Year’s celebration, and we look forward to seeing you in 2025! — Sarah Yakel Blog Disclosure
Sarah YakelDec 24, 2024
NOT YET! Good Debt vs. Bad Debt and the Holiday Season
I’ve started grocery shopping with my air pods in…not to be anti-social but because—as a Christmas purist—I firmly believe that there should be NO Christmas music before Thanksgiving. If you start listening now, then you’ll hear “All I Want for Christmas” 2,954,359 times before D
Sarah YakelNov 19, 2024
Estate Planning: Understanding Inherited IRAs and the SECURE Act
With October being Estate Planning Month, we wanted to address IRAs (individual retirement accounts). Until the SECURE Act, IRAs were relatively easy to incorporate into an estate plan. As long as beneficiaries are named after the IRA owner dies, the assets are automatically and
Sarah YakelOct 21, 2024
So Thankful
This week marks the 9th anniversary of Meridian Financial partners — as we prepared for our annual client event earlier this month, we all had a moment where the tremendous growth over the last 9 years became apparent…and was truly humbling that so many people choose to trust us
Sarah YakelSep 24, 2024
Gen Ed 101: Financial Literacy for College Students
Last week, we dropped Melanie off at her new home for the next four years: James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She has had a whirlwind of a week, meeting tons of new people, learning how to co-exist in a suite with 5 other girls (and share a bathroom with 11 girls
Sarah YakelAug 27, 2024
Flipping the Script: Pay Off a Mortgage or Invest
We’ve been receiving a lot of questions about paying off mortgages or using cash to buy real estate…Nathan covered the question of whether to purchase a home with cash (or use cash for a larger down payment) in his Meridian Market Minute, so this blog post is about using cash or
Sarah YakelJul 29, 2024
Declaration of Independence
This week, we celebrate an important historical event… Mr. Yakel’s birthday: And also, the birthday of America! 😊 On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the colonies’ separation from Great Britain. The Dec
Sarah YakelJun 27, 2024
Understanding Family Wealth Management
As our newest partner, Sarah Irving, pointed out in her blog a few weeks ago, it’s Maycember—a month with all the craziness of December but without the holiday cheer…or cookies. And part of what makes May so busy are all of the graduations…which we are personally swept up in with
Sarah YakelMay 30, 2024
Closing Out Financial Literacy Month
Although every month is financial literacy month at Meridian Financial Partners, we are just about to close out April, which is National Financial Literacy Month. AND the fourth Thursday in April is “Teach Children to Save Day”. To celebrate, the Meridian children got together to
Sarah YakelApr 30, 2024
It’s Been One Week
For Spring Break 2024, we decided to cruise the largest cruise ship in the world, The Icon of the Seas. We had a wonderful time exploring the new ship, seeing all of the shows, and eating ice cream all day (literally…I think Ethan counted 7 cones before lunch one day…gross!). Whi
Sarah YakelApr 3, 2024
The “Cash Trap”
With the Federal Reserve’s campaign to tame inflation pushing short term interest rates higher, cash yields have become more and more enticing. Frankly, we’ve never bought more CDs and Treasury bonds for our clients than over the past year. It’s been a welcome sight to see Treasu
Sarah YakelFeb 27, 2024