There is a wonderful philanthropic underpinning to America. The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2021 reports that individuals, bequests, foundations and corporations gave an estimated $484.85 billion to U.S. charities in 2021. An increasingly popular vehicle for charitable giving is a Donor Advised Fund and it is an idea we often bring to […]

I’m writing this post on June 30, 2022 as stocks are set to end the first half of 2022 with the worst first-half performance since 1970. Think about that – the worst six month start to an investing year in 52 years. Geez, that’s longer than I’ve been alive! Add in high prices in many […]

Let’s talk about budgeting! I started working with a young couple and we are working together to put a savings approach in place – determining how much of their net earnings each month can/should be allocated to the various savings/investment buckets (cash reserves, IRAs, employer plans, after-tax investments, education funds, etc). The place to start […]

I have to admit that I unfortunately didn’t know much about this holiday. As we marked its first official occurrence as a federal holiday this past Monday, I did some reading and research to educate myself and I thought learning more about the day and the new holiday may be of interest to you as […]

Just as I was putting the finishing touches on a different Pam to Paper column (I’ll come back to that one another week), I received an email from a Mutual Fund Company we work with, Calamos Investments. In addition to having a proven track record as a money manager, they also produce some very informative […]

Class is in session! Twice this week, I had discussions with clients about what information should be shared with their young adult/teenage children and grandchildren as it relates to finances and investing. I always enjoy these discussions. It’s a honor to speak with young adults and add some much needed context to a topic that […]

It’s not every day that a meeting of the US Federal Reserve Bank becomes a spectator sport. However, today (June 15, 2022), there was considerable buzz around this event. There was a countdown clock, endless commentary/predictions, and a televised press conference. Jay Powell (Chairman of the Federal Reserve) is now a well known celebrity (for […]

It’s severe weather season in Wisconsin. Earlier this week, we had a major thunderstorm roll through in the late afternoon. The storm clouds encompassed the sky, blocked out all the light, caused quite a bit of worry, and left some damage in their wake (fortunately, most areas weren’t as hard hit as had been anticipated). […]

If you own Amazon (or any other stock over the years that suddenly carries a lower per share price), you may have the same question I heard this week – what is a stock split and why would a company choose to do this? What is a stock split? A stock split is a decision […]

With the 2nd quarter estimated tax payment deadline approaching, let’s talk about everyone’s favorite topic – Taxes! As you well know, taxes are owed on the income you earn. What you may not know is that there are also rules requiring that tax payments are made as you earn and receive income during the year. […]