Insights, Advice & a Whole Lot More
Handling an Inheritance: From Grief to Guidance
As I was writing this week’s blog, I realized that my last one was also about a sensitive topic (divorce), so I promise my next one will be a LOT lighter! Nevertheless, navigating the loss of a loved one and in turn, inheriting assets can be both a financial blessing and an emoti
Sarah IrvingOct 9, 2024
Happy Estate Planning Awareness Month!
It seems like anything and everything has a “month” these days. A quick Google search reveals that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Polish American Heritage Month, National Learning and Development Month. October also contains World Mental
Nathan GilbertOct 1, 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
Divvying Up Assets in Divorce
One of the most wonderful parts of my job is getting to celebrate so many positive life-changing moments with our clients like graduations, marriages, babies, new dogs, long-awaited retirements, the list goes on. While it’s wonderful to get the chance to celebrate these alongside
Sarah IrvingSep 17, 2024
Tax Loss Harvesting – Not as Fancy as It Sounds
Capital gains taxes are a consideration when buying and ultimately selling assets. For this post, we will focus on stocks, but capital gains taxes apply to real estate and other assets as well. Put simply: you buy a stock, it increases in price, and you sell it at a higher price.
Nathan GilbertSep 11, 2024
Understanding Your Employee Benefits: A Post-Labor Day Checklist
For many, Labor Day is part of a long weekend packed with parties and barbeques, marking the unofficial end of summer and the last day to wear white until next year’s Memorial Day. The holiday, however, has deeper roots, stemming from the late nineteenth century when labor activi
Kira TopekaSep 4, 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
Back to School Reading List
We asked around the office for their back to school reading recommendations. But when we asked people to choose their favorites, that turned out to be a hard task for our group of readers. As Sarah Yakel said, “I can’t say these are my favorite books of all time—I read too much t
Kira TopekaAug 19, 2024
Diversification: Free Lunch Anyone?
Harry Markowtiz, the Nobel-winning Pioneer of Modern Portfolio Theory, was quoted as saying that “diversification is the only free lunch in investing.” Properly diversifying may not always feel “free.” We tend to joke that in a diversified portfolio, there will always be somethin
Sarah IrvingAug 13, 2024In Light of the Recent Volatility
In light of the recent volatility (aka sharp decline), we thought we would send out a note highlighting some comments from others in our industry that we follow. We like the way they phrase things and the information they put out is always helpful to us. From a great blog from Mi
Nathan GilbertAug 6, 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
Capital Gains Tax
We love hearing from our clients with blog topic ideas, so thank you to the client who reached out about today’s topic: Capital Gains Tax. What is a capital asset? Almost any type of asset you own is a capital asset. This can include a type of holding, like stocks or bonds, or re
Kira TopekaJul 25, 2024