Category: Financial Planning

May 7, 2021 Companies are always looking for relatively inexpensive ways to increase the odds of getting the best workforce to join them. In the Technology sector, these ‘inexpensive’ ways often translate into offering employees stock options as incentives that don’t hit their cash reserves but offer workers an interesting ‘carrot’ – ownership in the [...]

April 7, 2021 Decluttering. Thanks to Marie Kondo, meditation gurus and an amazing amount of time at home, we have all had opportunities to declutter our closets, our monkey minds and our “working-from-home” space (formerly known as the dining room).  But what does it mean to declutter your financial life? What ever happened to ”set [...]

February 3, 2021 Well, if you don’t know what a 10b5-1 plan is yet, you may aspire to be in a place to need one. For some, they are a necessary evil. For others, they are downright mystifying.  But let’s take a look at their origin story, and try to unpack what they are, why [...]

September 29, 2020 COVID-19 and the economic downturn have many out of work and looking for new positions.  A job search can be competitive and confusing, especially if you haven’t looked for a job in a while.  Companies in sectors that have been weathering the current economic storm well are still hiring, although the interview [...]

July 14, 2020 Buying a second home. It has always been an aspirational goal for our family, and with the shelter in place ordinance, the idea of having a safe getaway where we could unwind and get away from my dining-room-turned-office became the motivating factor of finding that second home now. [...]

June 3, 2020 A little over a year ago, I lost both a brother and a very close friend to cancer within two days of one another. While devastating, I was honored to be able to spend time with them prior to their passing, listening to their personal feelings and concerns about their cancer, their [...]

As the year comes to a close, you may be considering charitable gifting. With so many mechanisms to do so, it is necessary to plan ahead. Start by deciding who will receive your donation. We are here to help with the what, how, and when of charitable giving. Although using cash is the simple and [...]

Year-end tax planning may be especially challenging this year because Congress has yet to act on a host of tax breaks that expired at the end of 2014. Some of these tax breaks may be retroactively reinstated and extended, but Congress may not decide the fate of these tax breaks until the very end of [...]

Many parents in the Pacific Northwest choose to start saving early for their children’s education, including participating in Washington state’s Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program. However, as tuition starts lowering with the College Affordability Act, the state felt it was necessary to reevaluate the GET program. Board members announced this August that they would be [...]