Showing 97 of 97 videos.
Investing gets the spotlight, but it's one piece of a real financial plan, not the whole thing. A complete plan also covers Social Security timing, tax strategy, the order you draw down accounts, insurance, estate planning, and income planning, the discipline of making sure the money lasts.
Investing & Markets
Every dollar you set aside has to go somewhere, and the order matters more than most people think. In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert breaks down how to prioritize your next dollar, whether that means high-interest debt, emergency savings, or accounts like a 401k or Roth IRA.
Retirement Planning
Diversification often gets reduced to a simple idea: do not put all your eggs in one basket. But the more useful version of that idea is about owning investments that respond to different forces at different times.
Investing & Markets
"Defense isn't designed to outperform offense. Its purpose is something far more important—it helps you stay in the game long enough for the offense to do its job." That is the line from this week's Meridian blog by Sarah Yakel, and it applies just as well to your portfolio as it does to the World C
Investing & Markets
In this Meridian Market Minute, we break down why some of the strongest companies in the world, including Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon, have seen short-term stock volatility even while posting strong earnings.
Investing & Markets
It seems like a generous move: giving appreciated investments to your children or grandchildren while you are still alive. But from a tax perspective, it may actually cost your heirs more than leaving those same investments as part of your estate.
Estate & Legacy
The term AI tends to get a strong reaction right now. Some people are genuinely excited about what it can do. Others are worried about privacy, accuracy, and what it means for the professionals they trust. Most people, if they are honest, are somewhere in the middle.
Investing & Markets
Most people can picture Day One of retirement. Fewer can picture Day 4,567.
Retirement Planning
Most teenagers spend every dollar they earn. A few invest it, and the difference decades later is remarkable.
Family & Life Events
When markets move higher, it is easy to stay focused on the gains and miss what is changing underneath. But a strong rally can quietly push a portfolio far from its intended balance, which means more risk than you may have planned for.
Investing & Markets
Retirement planning has changed dramatically over the last several decades. Traditional pension plans have largely disappeared, placing more responsibility on individuals to save for retirement through workplace plans like 401(k)s and IRAs.
Retirement Planning
Having a financial advisor and having a trusted financial partner are not the same thing. The difference shows up when life gets complicated, whether that is a job loss, a family health crisis, or the months leading up to retirement.
Family & Life Events
You've heard the saying, and maybe you've even thought about acting on it. Before you make any moves this spring, here's what the data actually shows about seasonal market timing strategies.
Investing & Markets
Most people assume they know more about personal finance than they actually do. Financial Literacy Month is the perfect time to find out where you really stand.
Investing & Markets
You've seen the SpaceX IPO headlines, and maybe you're wondering how to get in on the action. The hard truth is that most individual investors, including clients of fee-only advisory firms, simply don't have access to IPO shares before they hit the open market.
Investing & Markets
Most couples avoid talking about money, and that silence can create real problems down the road. If you and your partner aren't on the same page financially, planning for the future becomes a lot harder than it needs to be.
Family & Life Events
Everyone seems to be talking about Trump accounts. But before you sign up on July 4th, it is worth slowing down for two minutes to understand what you are actually opening.
Family & Life Events
Tax season is prime time for scammers, and the tactics are more convincing than ever. If you have ever received a suspicious email, text, or call claiming to be from the IRS, this video is for you.
Investing & Markets
You've worked hard to build something worth passing on. Have you taken the steps to make sure your family actually receives it without a fight?
Estate & Legacy
What if the technology everyone is buzzing about actually made your financial advisor better at the parts of the job that matter most to you?
Investing & Markets
If recent market swings have you second-guessing your portfolio, you are not alone. The good news is that investors who plan ahead are far better positioned to weather this kind of uncertainty. In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert explains why diversification across asset classes can signi
Investing & Markets
In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert of Meridian Financial Partners discusses the mental and emotional side of retirement and also shares two recommended books that explore purpose and fulfillment in midlife and beyond: Learning to Love Midlife (by Chip Conley) and Reinventing Greatness (b
Retirement Planning
AI is one of the most talked about investment topics today, but opportunities may extend far beyond the major technology companies making headlines.
Investing & Markets
As we head into 2026, investors are hearing no shortage of bold market predictions. In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert of Meridian Financial Partners explains why focusing on headlines and forecasts can lead to emotional decisions that do more harm than good.
Investing & Markets
A new year is a natural time to simplify and reset, including your finances. In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert of Meridian Financial Partners shares why decluttering your financial life works best when you start small. Rather than trying to organize everything at once, focus on one or t
Investing & Markets
Short answer: no. But they will be soon.
Tax Planning
Most couples divide financial responsibilities, but that does not mean one person should hold all the knowledge. In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert shares why an annual financial summit can help couples stay aligned, informed, and prepared.
Family & Life Events
Nathan sends happy New Year's wishes from snowy West Virginia. Hope your 2026 is incredible.
Meridian News
The PNC Christmas Price Index puts a festive spin on inflation, but the message behind it is important.
Investing & Markets
We ask Nathan Gilbert and Sarah Yakel the important questions about each other. Who is a red stapler? (Who is a folder?) Is Pentatonix the same as theTrans-Siberian Orchestra? Will it end in a split?
Family & Life Events
Cryptocurrency often sparks big conversations, but its risk profile is rarely understood. In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert breaks down why Meridian Financial Partners does not include Bitcoin in client portfolios and what investors should know before considering crypto exposure.
Investing & Markets
The S&P 500 has long been viewed as a simple way to stay diversified, but the index looks very different today. The Magnificent Seven now make up about 35 percent of the S&P 500, giving these companies an outsized influence on market performance.
Investing & Markets
In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert breaks down stock splits in plain language, using Netflix’s recent 10-for-1 forward split as a real example.
Investing & Markets
In this episode of Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert highlights Partner and Senior Advisor Sarah Irving. Learn how Sarah has made an impact since joining in 2017 and why she’s such an essential part of the team.
Family & Life Events
Ever wonder why investor returns are often lower than the funds they invest in? Nathan Gilbert from Meridian Financial Partners explains Morningstar’s Mind the Gap study, revealing how emotional trading and market timing can cost investors real performance. Learn how to avoid common behavioral mista
Investing & Markets
Scammers are getting more sophisticatedm and password security is your first line of defense. In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert explains why strong passwords matter, how password managers can help, and what steps you can take right now to stay secure online.
Insurance & Risk
Thinking about buying your first home? Should you pay cash or borrow? In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert walks through key factors to consider when making your home purchase. Learn how to weigh potential returns on your cash versus interest rates on loans, and discover practical tips for
Family & Life Events
In this week’s Meridian Market Minute, Founding Partner Nathan Gilbert highlights the contributions of Tyler Fetherolf, Meridian’s longest-tenured team member beyond the founding partners.
Investing & Markets
Thinking about converting your Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA? In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert, Founding Partner at Meridian Financial Partners, explains what a Roth conversion is, when it may make sense, and why your personal tax situation matters.
Retirement Planning
Over $1.7 trillion in retirement savings is sitting in lost or forgotten 401(k) accounts in the U.S. — and it could include yours.
Retirement Planning
Meridian Financial Partners is celebrating 10 years!
Meridian News
Meridian Financial Partners is proud to celebrate its 10-year anniversary! Since 2015, our mission has remained the same: to provide independent, fee-only fiduciary guidance and investment management tailored to our clients’ best interests.
Investing & Markets
Nathan Gilbert at Meridian Financial Partners celebrates advisor Kira Topeka’s 5-year milestone. Learn why balancing long-term planning with enjoying life today is key to a strong financial future.
Retirement Planning
Dividing assets in divorce can be complicated, especially with retirement accounts. In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert explains how Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) help divide workplace retirement plans without triggering taxes or penalties. He also highlights the importance
Retirement Planning
As you plan for retirement, it’s not just about finances, quality of life matters, too. Nathan Gilbert of Meridian Financial Partners highlights three simple questions from MIT AgeLab that can help you think about aging well: Who will change my light bulbs? How will I get an ice cream cone? Who will
Retirement Planning
Starting in 2024, a new rule allows families to convert leftover 529 college savings funds into a Roth IRA for the beneficiary. Nathan Gilbert of Meridian Financial Partners explains the key requirements—like the 15-year rule, earned income, annual limits, and the $35,000 lifetime cap—and how this s
Retirement Planning
Meridian Financial Partners’ Nathan Gilbert shares how the Department of Labor’s website, LostAndFound.gov, can help you locate old workplace retirement accounts you may have forgotten. Plus, a special shoutout to our Director of Operations, Heather Riggs, for her incredible work helping clients con
Retirement Planning
Not all investments serve the same purpose. Learn how to align your investment choices with your time horizon—whether you’re saving for a car or retirement. Nathan Gilbert of Meridian Financial Partners explains the fundamentals.
Investing & Markets
In this episode of Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert shares insights from Sarah Yakel's latest blog which explores the emotional and lifestyle side of retirement. Inspired by planner Kathleen Rehl’s “Five Fs of Retirement” (Family, Fitness, Friends, Fun, and Fulfillment) this video highlights t
Retirement Planning
In this Meridian Market Minute, Nathan Gilbert explains the Rule of 72, a widely used investing shortcut that estimates how long it takes for an investment to double. First documented in 1494, this rule is still a powerful tool for understanding compounding growth. Nathan also touches on the importa
Investing & Markets
In today's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains that while the term "Monet Market Account" is often used to describe both Money Market Bank Accounts and Money Market Mutual Funds, they are actually two different financial tools.
Investing & Markets
In today's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan discusses the pros and cons to a question we often hear - "should I continue renting or try to buy a home?"
Family & Life Events
In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan covers a topic that you have likely heard a lot about on the news: interest rates. He explains why the Federal Reserve lowers and raises the interest rates and how that impacts the economy.
Investing & Markets
There's still time! In today's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains that there is still time to make a 2024 contribution to traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and SEP IRAs.
Retirement Planning
The 2025 outlook is cautiously optimistic, but likely with some bumps in the road. In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan highlights the importance of a diversified portfolio in times of potential volatility.
Investing & Markets
In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan highlights the importance of reviewing more than just the market value on your statement. While 2024 was overall an excellent year, December performance was not as strong, meaning that December statements were a little jarring, especially if you do not t
Investing & Markets
With the calendar flipping over to the New Year, the next topic on folks' minds is taxes. In today's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains that tax forms from our custodian will not be available until late January at the earliest.
Tax Planning
As we head into the last few days of the year, Nathan takes a moment to recap a few of the Top Financial Headlines of 2024. From all time highs to geological tensions, 2024 was a quite a busy year!
Investing & Markets
The end of 2024 is just a few short weeks away! In today's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan highlights some year end items to get checked off your list.
Investing & Markets
In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains why working with a fiduciary is so important when choosing an advisor.
Investing & Markets
With Thanksgiving this week, Nathan takes a moment to reflect on the question "what are you thankful for?" in this week's Meridian Market Minute.
Investing & Markets
With the holidays spending on the horizon, Nathan discusses good debt vs. bad debt in this week's Meridian Market Minute.
Family & Life Events
With recent interest rate cuts, the yield on High Yield Savings accounts are starting to come down. In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan outlines other options for the funds held in HYSAs.
Investing & Markets
Ahead of the 2024 election, there is plenty of concern going around about how the market will react. As with any major world event, including next weeks election, the best protection against volatility is diversification.
Investing & Markets
Continuing on with our Estate Planning Awareness Month, this week's Meridian Market Minute looks at the changes in rules with non-spousal inherited IRAs.
Estate & Legacy
Continuing on through Estate Planning Awareness Month, this week's Meridian Market Minute focuses on another important piece - Power of Attorney. There are several types of POAs, but they all give your chosen agent the ability to act on your behalf under the specified circumstances.
Estate & Legacy
In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains the steps you will need to take if you are named as the executor (or executrix for women) of an estate. An executor is the person named in a will to carry out the terms of the will after the testator's death.
Estate & Legacy
In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan addressed how Living Trusts can be used to simplify matters for your heirs and loved ones.
Estate & Legacy
This week, Meridian Financial Partners turns 9 years old! In today's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan takes a moment to share his gratitude for all the people who have helped Meridian grow to what we are today.
Meridian News
There is a lot of fear and worry about paying capital gains tax. In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains why paying capital gains tax is a good thing.
Investing & Markets
This week's Meridian Market Minute looks at tax loss harvesting, a strategy you can use inside a taxable account to help offset capital gains tax. But remember - don't take a loss just for a loss!
Tax Planning
As we get close to the end of the year, it is important to review your employee benefit plan. In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan highlights the important of taking advantage of your plan's full employer match.
Retirement Planning
We have said it before, and we will say it again, the best defense for market volatility is diversification. In this week's market minute, Nathan explains what diversification really means.
Investing & Markets
We have seen volatility in the market over the past few weeks, which was tough to watch after double-digit returns in the first half of the year. In this week's market minute, Nathan explains the importance of choosing an asset allocation that is appropriate for your situation, and that diversificat
Investing & Markets
You have likely been reading a lot of headlines about the inverted yield curve, and how that impacts CD rates. In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains that it is wise to have a plan for your CDs as we will likely see lower CD interest rates in the future.
Investing & Markets
In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains capital gains tax - what capital gains are, how they are taxed, and when they are due.
Investing & Markets
When it comes to deciding if you should finance a home or use cash for the purchase, the decision rests in the interest rate on the loan vs. the possible interest earned on that cash. In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains how those factors weigh on that choice.
Investing & Markets
In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan highlights the importance of rebalancing your portfolio regularly to ensure that your asset allocation is aligned with your goals and needs.
Investing & Markets
When it comes to financial planning and wealth management, factors like your age, risk tolerance, and current situation influence your overall strategy - one size doesn't fit all!
Retirement Planning
In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains what it means to be an independent fee-only fiduciary and why that is so important.
Investing & Markets
Wedding season is upon us! In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan highlights some of the conversations about money that help make for a happy matrimony.
Retirement Planning
As we hit this mid-year point, a financial check-in can help ensure that you are on track. In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan highlights some important factors to consider.
Retirement Planning
With Father's Day coming up, Nathan shares a lesson he learned from his dad at a young age about saving for retirement.
Retirement Planning
Family Wealth Planning can mean a lot of different things. In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains the importance of keeping beneficiaries updated and how a living trust can help your inheritors.
Investing & Markets
Happy 5/29! In honor of the date, Nathan discusses the benefits of 529 accounts, which are often referred to as college savings accounts.
Family & Life Events
With summer travel coming up, Nathan reminds us that once you have a clear financial plan in place, you should remember to enjoy the journey!
Retirement Planning
In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan reflects on a few things clients can do now to prepare for next year's tax season.
Retirement Planning
In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains what it means to be fee-only and why that is so important.
Investing & Markets
Did you know that the SECURE 2.0 Act mandates that companies with over 25 employees have a retirement plan for their employees? With the tax credits offered, it can be cost-free or very inexpensive to set those plans up.
Retirement Planning
With the tax filing deadline just a few days away, SEP IRAs are top of mind. In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains how SEP IRAs can be beneficial for those who are self-employed or own their own small businesses.
Retirement Planning
Did you know that the time for a trade to settle has been adjusted by the SEC to T+1 ("trade plus one business day")? Most securities transactions will now settle on the next business day following their transaction date.
Retirement Planning
How much are you contributing to your 401(k)? In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains that if you are not meeting your employer's match, you are leaving money on the table. Additionally, if your employer doesn't offer a 401(k) Roth matching option, consider asking them to add one.
Retirement Planning
Have you rolled over your old 401(k) plan? In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan highlights factors to consider when deciding what to do with your old company plan.
Retirement Planning
There's still time! In today's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains how you may be able to make a 2023 contribution to a regular IRA or SEP IRA to help offset your tax bill.
Retirement Planning
We're in the thick of tax season and with some stocks like Nvidia shooting up quickly, it's important to consider capital gains tax when you are selling a stock that has appreciated value.
Investing & Markets
It's that time of year - tax forms are out! In this week's Meridian Market Minute, Nathan explains what forms to expect and where to find them.
Tax PlanningPrefer to watch on YouTube? Open the full playlist, or browse everything by topic.