Our community’s biggest day of giving is rapidly approaching—Give Local Piedmont is one week from today on May 2, 2017.  Last year, this 24 hour giving contest raised over $879,000 for over 60 local charities.  At Meridian, we love this day as the generous spirit of our community is seen so clearly and so many

I’ve been having a lot of conversations recently about budgeting—not because our clients are awful at it, but because it is helpful to get a handle on how much things cost every month when we are working on planning.  For those starting out, it is helpful to know how much those nebulous categories of groceries,

As we enter the 8th (!) year of a bull market for the S&P 500, it is days like today (Tuesday, March 21st) that remind us that markets can still go down. While I will not claim to know exactly when the current bull market will end, I do know that it will end at […]

On the way back to the airport from our recent ski trip, we encountered somewhat unexpected snow on the way down the mountain to the “valley.” That is if you count being one mile above sea-level a valley. My father-in-law was driving a recently purchased Suburban, and doing it quite well. We encountered many

2016 was a tough year for celebrity deaths—between Carrie Fisher, David Bowie, Florence Henderson, and Muhammed Ali, it seemed we lost an icon monthly.  One death that shook the music world was Prince in April 2016, and settling his estate has been a case study for the importance of estate planning. Prince’s lack

As my family and I enjoy a ski trip over President’s Day weekend, risk is frequently on my mind. As an overly-paranoid father, skiing with your young son can be quite stressful, and while I cannot eliminate all risk of injury, there are some precautions that can be taken. The first step is making sure […]

Today is Valentine’s Day—the day we celebrate love and the pursuit of living happily ever after in a loving, long-term relationship.  However, it is tough to find THE ONE—often you have to kiss a lot of frogs to finally meet the perfect match.  In a weird way, finding your financial advisor is a lot like

If you are one of the 111 million people that watched the Super Bowl on Sunday night, you were treated to one of the best comebacks of all time (if not the best). Whether you love or hate the Patriots, Bill Belichik , and/or Tom Brady, you can’t help but admire their accomplishments. In an […]

I just returned from an annual investment conference in Florida—it is one of my favorite to attend, not only because it is oceanside in Florida in January, but also because of the great content and cutting edge investment strategies that are discussed.  This year was no exception—it was a great conference and I