Insights, Advice & a Whole Lot More
Are We There Yet?
As I write this, we are packing up to head out on a small road trip to visit friends and clients. Thankfully, with electronic devices, our kids are mostly self-entertained on the road, but invariably—about an hour into the trip–the littlest will pull out the age old question—”are
Sarah YakelJul 31, 2018Got $11,180,000?
Believe it or not, that’s how much you can die with before having to worry about federal estate taxes. And, if you’re married, you and your spouse can double that to $22,360,000. So, why would anyone worry about doing any estate planning or creating a trust if there is no tax ben
Nathan GilbertJul 24, 2018Growing Old But Not Up
I am not the biggest fan of Facebook—I do recognize its value and admit to scrolling regularly to see what the rest of the world is up to, but generally I am not a huge contributor. However, this weekend, Facebook reminded me that two years ago, Milo looked like this: Two short y
Sarah YakelJul 17, 2018Hello Robo?
High on the list for “Most Annoying Things in Life” for many people is robocalls. They come in several forms, and while all of them are annoying, a few can be downright dangerous. Often, the calls are a solicitation of some kind, but sometimes an actual person is “voice phishing”
Nathan GilbertJul 10, 2018Independence Day
Happy 4th of July eve! Tomorrow we celebrate our nation’s fight for independence with BBQs, pool parties, and fireworks—and oddly enough lots of hot dogs. Apparently, Americans consume over 150 million hot dogs on July 4th. Pretty impressive.Our forefathers fought for independenc
Sarah YakelJul 3, 2018
The Starry Night
Weekend in NYC with the Kids My family and I recently spent a weekend in New York City, and we packed a lot into a very short period of time. A boat ride around the Statue of Liberty, the Museum of Modern Art, Frozen the Musical, a “bubble” show, Gulliver’s Gate, delicious lunche
Nathan GilbertJun 26, 2018Time to Get Active
Summer has officially begun, and our kids are super busy. Right after school let out, we went down to visit grandparents in Williamsburg. We went to Busch Gardens and stayed until the park closed, then got up early the next day to be at Water Country at park opening, then saw mov
Sarah YakelJun 19, 2018
Rock the Red
Yesterday, Washington D.C. hosted its first major pro-sports team championship parade in 26 years. Not since the Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1992 have Washington fans been able to celebrate their team reaching the pinnacle of their sport. As a lifelong fan of the Capitals (and
Nathan GilbertJun 13, 2018
Celebrate Good Times, C’mon…
In keeping with the song titles theme that Nathan started a month ago, this weekend was filled with graduation celebrations for many of us. Despite the gloomy rain, we enjoyed the one we attended yesterday. Pictures of the graduate from a tiny baby to a high schooler decorated th
Sarah YakelJun 5, 2018
Reunited and It Feels So Good (and so does saving for college)
Since Sarah called me out on song references in her last post, I thought I would stick with the theme. I could remember the name of the song “Reunited,” but I couldn’t remember the artists. In my defense, the song was released in 1978, and I was only one-year old. Google quickly
Nathan GilbertMay 29, 2018Let’s Get Digital…Digital…
Nathan always references cool songs in his blogs—the only one that came to mind for this blog was Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical”. Not exactly a cool song, but I digress… Recently, I followed our usual Meridian advice to clients and started to review our own estate plan. I hadn’t
Sarah YakelMay 22, 2018
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
“Turn and face the strange. Ch-ch-changes.” It’s hard to say exactly to what David Bowie was referring in his song Changes. Not surprisingly, I am going to use some of this great song’s lyrics and try to tie it back to the markets. As I have said in a previous post, you’re welcom
Nathan GilbertMay 16, 2018