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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.
A young girl riding a horse
Planning Basics

Taking the Reins

Last weekend our oldest turned four, so we figured what better way to celebrate, than taking her to go ride a real-life pony. She also deserved a mega award for being patient with me and my husband constantly working on renovations on the house and the rescheduling of most extra-

Sarah IrvingSarah IrvingSep 16, 2020
Investing Can Pay Dividends
Investing & Markets

Investing Can Pay Dividends

When most people think about investing in stocks, they tend to think in terms of buying a stock at a low price and selling at a higher price. This is certainly the goal whenever buying a stock, but what many often forget about is that some companies also pay their shareholders di

Nathan GilbertNathan GilbertSep 8, 2020
Splitsville
Investing & Markets

Splitsville

With Apple and Tesla completing their stock splits last Friday, we’ve been talking to lots of investors that have become interested in their stock…which sort of baffles us, as the basic principle of a split doesn’t alter the fundamental value of a company in any way. When a compa

Sarah YakelSarah YakelSep 1, 2020
Name Your Beneficiaries
Estate & Legacy

Name Your Beneficiaries

I know I have touched on this topic before, but we have come across a couple of cases recently where clients have failed to name beneficiaries on their IRAs, or they have named their estate as the beneficiary. Both situations can create problems, and in some cases, less options f

Nathan GilbertNathan GilbertAug 18, 2020
Tax Planning

Becoming a Homebody

If you stand by the proverbial water cooler at Meridian, you are bound to hear one of us lamenting about the never ending home projects / renovations (ahem, I am looking at myself), finishing a move into a new home, looking at buying a first home, planning weekend home projects,

Sarah IrvingSarah IrvingAug 18, 2020
Planning Basics

Adulting, deferred

When the world stopped in March with the arrival of COVID-19, we got a small reprieve from the endless string of ‘grown-up’ appointments…no routine doctor visits, hair cuts, teeth cleanings, vet visits, etc. It sort of felt like playing hooky from doing adult things…but now, sadl

Sarah YakelSarah YakelAug 11, 2020
Family & Life Events

Taking it with a Grain of …. Sand

Last week my family and I had the opportunity to escape to the beach in North Carolina, close to where I grew up … pretty lucky timing on our part considering hurricane Isaias’s path! As any parent knows, vacations with small children aren’t exactly relaxing, but the making of li

Sarah IrvingSarah IrvingAug 4, 2020
A young girl and her mom hiking in the forest
Investing & Markets

Headed Up the Mountain

This past weekend, my family and I headed into Shenandoah National Park for a camping weekend. It was very nice to get away to nature and have no choice but to be out of cell range. I think it was healthy for all of us to take a break from the plethora of devices we […]

Nathan GilbertNathan GilbertJul 28, 2020
The Rest of the Story
Retirement Planning

The Rest of the Story

My dad engrained many things in me from a young age…value of hard work, honesty, family values, etc. But also his love of the Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers movies, Johnny Cash, the Beatles, Neil Diamond, Looney Tunes, Ray Stevens, lots of old movies, and Paul Harvey… I don’t r

Sarah YakelSarah YakelJul 21, 2020
A man planning his finances
Retirement Planning

The FIRE is still burning

What Is the FIRE Movement? In the financial world, there has been a lot of recent attention on a movement among the younger generation which magnifies the advice of save early and save often. The FIRE movement – which stands for Financial Independence Retire Early – is built on t

Sarah IrvingSarah IrvingJul 14, 2020
A cute baby pouting
Investing & Markets

What the Heck is a Proxy?

If you own shares of a publicly traded company or fund, you have likely received a proxy statement and/or proxy card whether you know it or not. They are often mailed in the form of thick envelopes that look intimidating and can be quite confusing. I would suspect that most indiv

Nathan GilbertNathan GilbertJul 7, 2020
Perspectives
Investing & Markets

Perspectives

We just returned home from an epic road trip across Montana—we started in Glacier National Park in the north and worked our way to Yellowstone in the south. The trip was a feast for the eyes—and many times, it was hard to take it all in. The perspectives were so grand that it was

Sarah YakelSarah YakelJun 30, 2020