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Looking Forward In 2023

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office, SLC Winter 2023, Tax Planning, Winter 2023 by Scott Dougan

Let’s be blunt: 2022 was rough for many investors. With many of the year’s events unforeseen and unfavorable, this was a year we’d like to soon forget. That said, many of the opportunities in 2023 are the direct result of some of the challenges that 2022 brought us, and as we enter the new year, some of these challenges remain. …

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2023 Winter Newsletter: Kansas City

In Newsletters, Newsletters: Kansas City Office, Newsletters: Kansas City Office by Scott Dougan

With 2023 upon us, I find myself wondering where 2022 went. Didn’t we just finish cleaning up from the last New Year’s party? And now we’re here again? Then I consider all that happened in 2022 and it starts rushing back in a flurry of memories that feels a bit like driving through a hailstorm. Oh, yeah…all of that. So, …

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Welcome Pratik J. Mehta, CPA

In Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office, SLC Winter 2023, Team Spotlights, Winter 2023 by Scott Dougan

Welcome to our new Director of Tax Preparation & Tax Planning Pratik was born and raised in Mumbai, India. In June of 2002, he moved to Overland Park, Kansas. Pratik received his Bachelor of Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance as well as a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from University of Missouri, Kansas City. Pratik’s number one priority …

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Back to the Basics: 10 Ways To Improve Your Family’s Future, Starting With You

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office, Back to the Basics, SLC Winter 2023, Winter 2023 by Scott Dougan

I’m yet to meet somebody who doesn’t want a brighter future for his or her family. Let’s face it; changing other people to see your point of view isn’t easy. In fact, it’s nearly impossible. Because of that sobering reality, the best chance we have to improve our family’s future is to look inward and start improving ourselves. As Gandhi …

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Briefcase Study: The Aspect of Debt You May Not Have Considered

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office, Briefcase Studies, SLC Winter 2023, Winter 2023 by Scott Dougan

If you’re like many of our fellow Americans, you’re considering what rising inflation, a declining stock (and bond) market, and higher interest rates mean to you and your financial choices. And while there are a lot of varied consequences to this new ‘normal’, I think we can agree that one big change is that it’s immediately more painful to borrow …

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Six Ways To Improve Physical and Financial Health in the New Year

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office by Scott Dougan

With a new year underway, this signals a time when we tend to become more excited about taking inventory of our lives. If we’re really on our game, that excitement turns into an effort to resolve to be better, in any number of ways. Whether diet, exercise, career, finances, or relationships, New Years resolutions serve an important function in our …

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The Antidote To A Stressful Retirement

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office by Scott Dougan

‘Into the great unknown’ is a wonderful phrase to setup a big screen sci-fi thriller, or a dramatic novel, but seeing your retirement through this lens can cause many people to shudder a bit, and for good reason. After investing three or four decades into a career and amassing savings to support yourself through a non-paid retirement of similar length …

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Busy, Busy, Busy

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office by Scott Dougan

401(k), 403(b), 457, Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, Deferred Comp, SEP IRA, Simple IRA, HSA, Fixed Annuity, Fixed Indexed Annuity, Variable Annuity, Deferred Income Annuity, Mutual Fund, Exchange Traded Fund, Index Fund, Stock, Bond, Option, CD, Term Life, Whole Life, Universal Life, Variable Universal Life, and on and on.  All you need to do is put just the right amount of …

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Can You Build a Retirement Income Plan With Both Risk and Reliability?

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Investment Management, Retirement by Scott Dougan

Two strategies for making retirement savings last — probability-based income planning and guaranteed income planning — can help ensure you have what you need in your golden years, but which is right for you? Two very different strategies can help retirees’ retirement savings last their lifetime, and the one that works for you, or even a hybrid plan, may depend …