Evaluating Old Life Insurance Policies
Not all financial decisions are made with a clean slate. Nearly everyone we meet has made choices both good and bad. Our approach has always been to look everything over with a critical but nonjudgmental eye and find the most appropriate way forward for the future. Often our first opportunity to practice this approach is […]
Property and Casualty Insurance
We all face the threat of a potentially catastrophic event every day, whether at home or at work, and we need financial protection against these inevitable risks. It’s virtually impossible to avoid risk – the good news is we as individuals and/or organizations have the ability to exchange some of these risks for premium payments […]
Insurance for Small Businesses
As an independent, locally owned firm, we have had the opportunity to learn about insurance needs first hand. While daunting at times, even for us who help advise others on insurance requirements, once a plan is in place we can personally attest to the peace of mind that it brings. Many small business owners wear […]
Long Term Care Overview
One of the most intimidating and misunderstood areas in financial planning is Long Term Care Planning. In general, long-term care is classified as ongoing healthcare needs for the basic activities of daily living such as eating, bathing, dressing, and transferring. In most cases, a person who cannot perform even a few of these activities independently […]
Disability Insurance – Protecting Families and Businesses from Disaster
According to the Social Security Administration, just over 1 in 4 of today’s 20-year-olds will become disabled before reaching retirement age¹. With such high odds of experiencing a disability for some period of time, it is clear that financial plans should consider ways to limit the financial impact of disability. After all, when someone becomes […]
Life Insurance – Protecting Against the Unexpected
Coming in at number two (just behind estate planning) on the list of dreaded-but-necessary financial to-do’s is life insurance, because, let’s be honest, no one wants to reflect on the circumstances in which life insurance would come in handy. We’ve heard nearly every reason in the book as to what keeps people from getting the […]
Insurance
The Ballast Atheneum is a collection of our thoughts on the twelve most important topics in financial planning. Today, the focus is on Insurance. Insurance may be the most common form of financial protection out there. From protecting your loved ones from financial hardship after an untimely loss to protecting your income stream or […]
Open Enrollment Period
This week, we have a quick video from Cameron Hamilton. Many of you are currently in an open enrollment period for health insurance. Based on the plans we are seeing, for many, it may be better to choose a High Deductible or HSA Eligible plan. Give us a call and we can help you decide […]
Evaluating a Pension Buyout
Key Takeaways: Calculating the “hurdle rate” of return is an important first step in determining whether staying in the pension or taking a lump sum is the best option for you. Beyond the math, there are other big-picture variables that should be considered before deciding. The pension vs. lump sum decision should be made […]
Year-End Financial Planning & Investments Among Market Volatility
By: Andy Reynolds, CFP®, MBA COO/Partner – Ballast, Inc. With the recent stock market volatility, many investors have, and understandably so, buried their heads in the sand, shredding investment statements without looking and focusing outside of their financial life. While many choose to simply not look, the volatility provides significant opportunities for financial improvement, several of […]
Evaluation of a Job Offer
Key Takeaways – The following considerations must be made when reviewing an opportunity to take a new job or leave a W2 salary to start a business. Nearly 93% of Americans earn income outside their primary job1. What are all the aspects of my compensation package? This includes salary and other benefits such as […]
Market Volatility & Behavior Finance
If you feel like the stock market has been all over the place recently, there is some merit behind the feeling. So far, during 2022 we have experienced 41 days where the S&P 500 has returned greater than a +/- 1% return. This represents approximately half of the trading days of the year so […]
