Strategies for Higher Returns on Cash Reserves By Clete Albitz, CFA, CFP® Cash reserves are an important part of any sound financial plan, providing liquidity as well as being a safety net for emergencies or unforeseen expenses. Due to years of low interest rates, cash reserves have often been [...]

June 8, 2022 Series I Savings Bonds By Clete Albitz, CFP® About a year ago, in June of 2021, I wrote an article about Series I Savings Bonds. These bonds are issued by the U.S. Treasury and can only be purchased directly at TreasuryDirect.gov. They were yielding 3.54% which was noteworthy [...]

September 15, 2021 529 Plan Distribution Options By Paul Miloe, CRPS® With several schools back in session and others starting soon, many parents are setting budgets for private tuition and college. Those who funded 529 plans have the accumulated funds as an available resource, but most aren’t totally clear on how [...]

June 10, 2021 Series I Savings Bonds By Clete Albitz, CFP® Investors are increasingly concerned with ways to protect their savings from rising inflation. Series I Savings Bonds are a unique asset that can meet this objective. These savings bonds are issued by the U.S. Treasury and the current annual yield [...]

March 10, 2021 Investing vs. Gambling: What's the Difference? By Vance Albitz, CFP® When it comes to the stock market, there is a fine line between gambling and investing. This may be more prevalent than ever in 2021. Sometimes it can be hard to tell the two apart. Both strategies [...]

December 15, 2020 Investor Considerations When Choosing a Mutual Fund or Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) By Clete Albitz, CFP® Mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can be found in most investor portfolios today. They provide a simple and low-cost way to obtain diversification, professional management, and targeted investment exposure.  Although similar, there [...]