Category: Financial Planning

Google provides an extensive range of benefits that can enhance your wealth, manage risk, and secure your future. By integrating Google’s compensation, retirement, and health benefits into your financial plan, you can better align these offerings with your long-term goals. Equity Awards Google’s stock units (GSUs) can be a powerful tool for achieving financial objectives. [...]

You can read and/or download our 2025 Year-End Tax Planning Checklist here: [...]

For the past two years, I’ve been the primary caregiver for my 94-year-old mom.  The experience has been both challenging and—unexpectedly—rewarding. Everyone’s journey looks different, but there are common threads. Caring for aging parents requires planning, flexibility, compassion, and a strong support system. Here are a few lessons that I’ve learned that may help guide [...]

Summary points: This article outlines and describes some of the most important legal documents you’ll need to include as part of your end-of-life planning, including: Your last will and/or living trust determine how assets are passed on after your death; a living trust may also determine how assets are used and distributed if you are [...]

Beginning September 30, 2025, the U.S. Treasury will no longer issue paper checks for most federal payments. This change affects how Social Security benefits, tax refunds, trust and estate payments, and other government disbursements are delivered. All payments will transition to Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), such as direct deposit into a bank account or a U.S. Treasury–issued Direct Express® [...]

In Coldstream’s inaugural Ask the Expert videocast episode, Wealth Manager Glen Goland, JD, CFP®, invites guest Elma Friend, President of Willamette Valley Benefits, to discuss Medicare. With over three decades of experience in healthcare and a focus on Medicare, Elma brings a wealth of expertise around Medicare trends and issues. Willamette Valley Benefits specializes in [...]

Meta provides an extensive range of benefits that can enhance your wealth, manage risk, and secure your future. By integrating Meta’s compensation, retirement, and health benefits into your financial plan, you can better align these offerings with your long-term goals. Equity Awards Meta’s stock units can be a powerful tool to help you achieve your [...]

Claiming Social Security is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll make in retirement—and it’s far from one-size-fits-all. Your choice will affect not only the size of your monthly benefit, but also the total amount you may receive over your lifetime. Factors such as your health, life expectancy, marital status, income needs, and confidence [...]

Attention, Charitable Givers! The recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is reshaping how Americans approach charitable giving—especially among retirees. While the legislation introduces a modest above-the-line charitable deduction for non-itemizers, it limits the benefits of itemizing charitable gifts, which particularly impacts higher-income households. In this shifting landscape, Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) are gaining [...]