Insights, Advice & a Whole Lot More
Happy T + 2 Day! (and Happy Birthday Molly!)
We celebrated our youngest daughter’s 3rd birthday over the weekend. It was a very nice gathering with friends and family. And the kids even went swimming which must have been pretty darn cold. Peppa Pig was the dominant theme, and Molly cutely identified each of the British-base
Nathan GilbertSep 5, 2017
Cone of Uncertainty
This week, we are enjoying the last of summer in Sandbridge, Virginia: For the last several years, we meet my family at the beach the last week of August, before Labor Day. During this “shoulder” week, rental prices drop substantially and the beach is much less crowded now that m
Nathan GilbertAug 29, 2017Keep on Eating?
Our youngest, Molly, has been on an eating binge unlike anything we have seen with our other two kids. We are all in amazement every time she sits down to eat a meal or even a snack. She is usually eating long after our other two are “too full” or “don’t want anymore!” Our Saturd
Nathan GilbertAug 22, 2017
The Problem of 5 + 2
I love a good accent. I love hearing clipped British notes, the slow Southern drawl, or my favorite—the lilting Irish brogue. Hence, the reason why my favorite economist is Dr. David Kelly from J.P. Morgan—he discusses the world economies with sly humor and a lovely Irish lilt. H
Nathan GilbertAug 15, 2017
No Fear
If you were born in the late 70’s or early 80’s, you might remember the No Fear “lifestyle” clothing brand that was very popular in the mid 90’s and early 00’s. Personally, I found the brand and the attitude that its wearers often embodied a bit off-putting. If you still wear any
Nathan GilbertAug 8, 2017Milestones
Yesterday, my son Ethan celebrated his 9th birthday. He was super excited for his cake and his gifts—most of all his new skateboard. To Ethan, 9 is a pretty important year—it is the last year in the single digits. He says he feels like he is really growing up… There are some mile
Nathan GilbertAug 1, 2017School of Rock & Earnings Season
For most of us with kids, summer presents the challenge of keeping our children occupied (hopefully constructively!) until school starts again. Camps are certainly a popular option as they take up big chunks of the summer and allow kids to explore activities outside of a typical
Nathan GilbertJul 25, 2017ROI to ROL
The financial services industry loves acronyms—as an example, I am a CFP1 that works at an RIA2 which makes me an IAR3—yeesh! At Meridian we try to strip all of the jargon and opaque phrases from our conversations, as we want to help people truly understand their money and what i
Nathan GilbertJul 18, 2017The Individual Medley
As a relatively new “swim parent,” I have learned a lot about swimming and swim meets in general. For those of you experienced swim parents, you are probably doing a combination of cringing and smiling right now; cringing at all of the early morning practices and smiling at all o
Sarah YakelJul 11, 2017House Odds
I write this blog post from Las Vegas—we are here for a few days to celebrate my husband’s birthday. As a financial planner, I am not a huge gambler. My normal life is filled with assessing odds, the lurking risks and potential rewards, so it is hard to ignore the fact that Vegas
Nathan GilbertJul 3, 2017Professional Nitpicker
Unfortunately for me and my family, I recently learned that the Professional Nitpicker does in fact exist and is apparently widely known. While I am tempted to go for the obvious joke and say that I thought that title belonged to my wife, I won’t go there. I am sure the same can
Sarah YakelJun 28, 2017Rules of Thumb: Financial Planning Hack?
I recently heard a radio story about Fidelity Investment’s Rule of $2,000. In an effort to simplify college planning for parents, Fidelity says that in order to determine how much you should have saved currently for your child’s college expenses, multiply your child’s current age
Sarah YakelJun 20, 2017