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The Meridian blog

Insights, Advice & a Whole Lot More

Welcome to the official blog of Meridian Financial Partners. We'd love to hear your comments as well as your questions. Oh, and our attorneys want you to read these disclosures.
Silver Lining Opportunities
Investing & Markets

Silver Lining Opportunities

The past few days have given lots of reprieve from the colder weather, but the roller coaster in the markets seems to continue. Needless to say, investors have been put through an emotional ringer the last 2 years through stomaching the lows of the market drop in 2020, the unknow

Sarah IrvingSarah IrvingMay 18, 2022
Forward Thinking
Investing & Markets

Forward Thinking

The markets have always been a predictor of what’s to come. Everything feels bad, looks bad, and the outlook seems pretty bad on many fronts for the rest of this year. The market, both on the stock and the bond side, agrees with that sentiment. Hence, the terrible performance for

Nathan GilbertNathan GilbertMay 10, 2022
Investing & Markets

Are I Bonds a Good Idea?

Many of you have read Lucy’s blog about I Bonds, and we’ve been answering lots of questions about buying I Bonds and whether they are a good idea or not…so, we wanted to send a quick note to answer some of the questions we keep hearing… First of all, we scooped the Washington Pos

Sarah YakelSarah YakelMay 5, 2022
Should I Pay or Should I Go?
Investing & Markets

Should I Pay or Should I Go?

Recently, we have been fielding many questions about whether it is more prudent to use excess cash to pay off a mortgage or go invest. While we do answer this question with regularity, the interest in paying off (or accelerating paydown) a mortgage seems to have risen over the pa

Sarah YakelSarah YakelMay 3, 2022
The Name’s Bond, I Bond
Investing & Markets

The Name’s Bond, I Bond

In most cases, inflation is the enemy of investors. There are multiple repercussions when prices rise, most of which are bad. Gas prices are up throughout the country. In a recent trip to the PNW I filled up for well over $5/gallon! The Federal Reserve typically looks at raising

Sarah YakelSarah YakelApr 26, 2022
Family & Life Events

529s – Filling up the Education Basket

Despite the wintry mix yesterday, Spring feels like it may be here (knock on wood!). My family is enjoying the beginnings of spring and Easter 2022 was a success. This was the first time both of our youngsters were able to experience the thrill of racing against a pack of other k

Sarah IrvingSarah IrvingApr 19, 2022
Investors and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Quarter
Investing & Markets

Investors and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Quarter

It has been a rough start to 2022, and as quarter numbers are finalized, they are just confirming how rough it has felt for all investors: Source: Bloomberg, FactSet, FTSE Russell, MSCI, NAREIT, Standard and Poor’s, JP Morgan Asset Management. The only thing that is positive in 2

Sarah YakelSarah YakelApr 12, 2022
An 8% Raise
Retirement Planning

An 8% Raise

Just because you are eligible for Social Security benefits doesn’t mean you should start taking them right away. We often hear our clients ask about taking social security as soon as they are able, using reasoning such as: “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be around.” – none of

Nathan GilbertNathan GilbertApr 5, 2022
Capital Gains – Wallstreet Weight Lifting
Tax Planning

Capital Gains – Wallstreet Weight Lifting

If something you own goes up in value and you sell it, then you’ve made a profit. That profit is called a capital gain, and a capital gains tax is the tax you may owe on that profit. This tax isn’t just for wealthy investors. Capital gains tax can apply to anything of value, even

Sarah YakelSarah YakelMar 29, 2022
Investing & Markets

Rates are Increasing… What to Do?

In writing the blog for this week I debated whether I should write about something completely opposite from the overload of information we have had on the current economic and geopolitical landscape or if I should meet a very relevant topic head on. Needless to say, Jerome Powell

Sarah IrvingSarah IrvingMar 22, 2022
Inflation Hedge?
Investing & Markets

Inflation Hedge?

Other than the very obvious and depressing headlines that Sarah Yakel deftly navigated in her last post, the next highest thing on investors’ minds is inflation and what to do about it. Like anything when it comes to investing, there is no perfect answer to how to invest in the f

Nathan GilbertNathan GilbertMar 15, 2022
The Big Picture
Investing & Markets

The Big Picture

When thinking about the blog topic for the day, the only thing that seemed appropriate to write about is the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the economic fallout seen in the market over the past few weeks. Heavy topics to take on in a short blog post, so please excuse the length

Sarah YakelSarah YakelMar 8, 2022