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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.
Calling All Super Savers
Retirement Planning

Calling All Super Savers

Is there such a thing as overdoing it when it comes to contributing to your 401k / employer sponsored plan? If you are in the position to be questioning this, then congratulations, that is an excellent place to be financially! Obviously yes, there are limitations as to how much y

Sarah IrvingSarah IrvingSep 1, 2021
Dealing with Uncertainty
Investing & Markets

Dealing with Uncertainty

TL;DR: more cute dog pics below 😊 Over our 20+ years in the industry, my partner Sarah Yakel and I have heard the refrain ‘I’ll get out of the market now and get back in when things look better’ countless times. In the least accusatory tone possible, that is almost never the rig

Nathan GilbertNathan GilbertAug 24, 2021
Money and Happiness
Tax Planning

Money and Happiness

The old adage of “Money Can’t Buy Happiness” has been tested in several high profile academic studies—the first major study was in 2010, when a paper was published that showed a correlation between higher household income and increased levels of satisfaction (happiness). That ori

Sarah YakelSarah YakelAug 17, 2021
Why Is Taking Financial Risk Important?
Investing & Markets

Why Is Taking Financial Risk Important?

No matter where you are on your financial journey, controlling your finances is one of the most important things you can do for your future. While it’s challenging to break the cycle of living paycheck-to-paycheck or find money to invest when you’re supporting kids or helping agi

Sarah YakelSarah YakelAug 10, 2021
IPO FOMO
Planning Basics

IPO FOMO

Our dog Dude is a reeling ball of energy, not surprising given his breed as a Blue Heeler and their intuitive need to be constantly occupied with a job or a purpose. As of right now we don’t have any field animals for him herd, so by default he has latched onto our two kids […]

Sarah IrvingSarah IrvingAug 3, 2021
Contribute to Your Company Plan or IRA?
Retirement Planning

Contribute to Your Company Plan or IRA?

Short answer: Likely your company plan. Feel free to stop reading now! 😊 If you are employed and covered by a 401k, 403b, 457b, TSP, or some other unnecessarily complicated number/letter combination (qualified plans), then you should maximize contributions to that plan prior to

Nathan GilbertNathan GilbertJul 27, 2021
Musings
Planning Basics

Musings

What a difference a few months can make…with time, perspectives can change! From last quarter to this quarter, this happened: Bailey doubled in size. Here are a few other charts or images that caught our attention this past month and shifted or confirmed our perspectives: Large c

Sarah YakelSarah YakelJul 20, 2021
A woman riding a horse
Investing & Markets

Asset Classes

What is an asset class? An asset class is a group of similar kinds of investments. It’s a generalization, not a detailed description, and can help you understand and manage your investments at a high level. The four main asset classes are: Stocks – when you buy a stock, you becom

Sarah YakelSarah YakelJul 13, 2021
The Halfway Point
Planning Basics

The Halfway Point

We’ve officially hit the half way mark in the year and as another parent pointed out, the half way mark of the summer as well. Last summer looked a lot different for everyone, so we are trying to make up for “lost time” and are squeezing in as many quintessential summer activitie

Sarah IrvingSarah IrvingJul 6, 2021
Happy Belated Father’s Day (A Custodial ROTH IRA?)
Retirement Planning

Happy Belated Father’s Day (A Custodial ROTH IRA?)

My family and I were on vacation last week at Bethany Beach, and as usual, it was a great and relaxing time. It was especially nice to see my kids and their cousins playing together after last year’s hiatus. I didn’t totally escape work and did have my laptop in tow (I avoided it

Nathan GilbertNathan GilbertJun 29, 2021
FLORIDA! (And Master Planning)
Family & Life Events

FLORIDA! (And Master Planning)

As I write this blog, the Yakel family is working our way down the Florida coast. We started in Hollywood, and now we are working our way towards Key West. From there, we plan to head up to Marco Island and then end our trip in Orlando. Sort of a little sampling of Florida’s attr

Sarah YakelSarah YakelJun 25, 2021
A woman horse back riding
Estate & Legacy

Emergency Fund 101

Life happens Unfortunately, things can (and will) happen that seem to derail your plans or force you to hit the “reset button” when you least expect. While we certainly wouldn’t wish some of life’s unpredictable events on anyone, we know that at times, some (or maybe all) of us w

Sarah YakelSarah YakelJun 15, 2021