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Back to the Basics: Why A Successful Retirement Starts with Income Planning

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

There are several questions that hopeful retirees are consistently asking as they seek to build a successful retirement. Some of these questions are: When can I retire? How much do we need? Will I have enough? What if there’s a major healthcare, stock market, or inflationary event that threatens what we’ve saved? While all of these questions are certainly different …

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Briefcase Study: Team of Three: Who’s in Your Financial Planning Trio?

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

There’s such power in the number three. Whether in literature, joke telling, the meats of a club sandwich, or nature itself, three represents completeness, rhythm, and strength. In fact, the triangle is the strongest geometric shape; you see the triangle in roof trusses and bridges. There’s just an elegance and magic to it that is so easily overlooked. We see …

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Financial Stress on the Rise

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

Financial stress is on the rise and employees are feeling it in their wallets and at their workplace. In fact, 73% of surveyed Americans cite finances as the greatest stress in their life. Interestingly, 60% of people surveyed in TIAA’s 2022 Financial Wellness Survey said they’d be more likely to stay at their job if their employer offered financial-wellness benefits. …

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2023 Winter Newsletter: Salt Lake City

In Newsletters, Newsletters: Salt Lake City Office, Newsletters: Salt Lake City Office by Scott Dougan

As we say farewell to 2022, we look back on all the good the year offered. 2022 brought new and exciting ventures, and a small sense of the “normal” we were accustomed to before 2020. We traveled, gathered, went out, met new people and tried new things. I’m looking forward to continuing this and more in 2023. Whether it’s the …

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SECURE 2.0 Act

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

Congress recently passed SECURE 2.0 Act, which includes over 90 new provisions for retirement plans. The goal is to help improve Americans’ retirement savings. This effort is a continuation of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act that was signed into law back in December of 2019.    We wish to highlight just some of the notable …

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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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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 …