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Category: Financial Planning

Infographic of "2025" with icons symbolizing action, planning, and goals; includes a target and arrow, gears, handshake, and symbols of growth and strategy.
  • Financial Planning
5 min read

3 Financial (New Year’s) Resolutions for 2025

The start of the year is the perfect time to prioritize both personal and financial well-being. While physical health often takes center stage in New Year’s resolutions, financial fitness deserves equal attention
A person in a hoodie works at a computer desk, surrounded by multiple screens displaying data and graphs.
  • Financial Planning, Taxes
5 min read

Practical Ways to Protect Yourself Against Tax Fraud

Tax-related identity theft is a growing issue that has the potential to wreak havoc on your ability to grow and retain wealth over the course of your life. It happens when scammers use your personal information—such as your Social Security number—to file fraudulent tax returns and claim refunds in your name.
A hand holding a one-dollar bill that appears to be disintegrating into small particles from the left side against a black background.
  • Financial Planning, Investing
5 min read

Why Cash Is Not a Long-Term Investment

In times of market uncertainty, many investors seek the safety of cash. This has certainly been true over the past several years as markets have fluctuated dramatically due to the pandemic, geopolitical events, Fed rate hikes, inflation, gridlock in Washington, technology trends, and more. More recently, the possibility of worse-than-expected inflation and a delay of the anticipated Fed rate cut have led to renewed investor concerns. At the same time, interest rates on cash are at their highest levels in decades, making it appear that there are attractive “risk-free” returns. How should investors today really think about cash?
Stacks of coins with letter tiles on top spelling "INFLATION" in front of a jar labeled "PENSION" filled with paper currency, spilling out onto a surface.
  • Financial Planning, Taxes
4 min read

How Inflation Impacts Taxes and Retirement Benefits

While the holiday season is ideally a time for family and friends, it is also a good time to review tax strategies for the current as well as the coming year. Tax planning includes possibilities such as tax-loss harvesting, choices of investment vehicles, order withdrawal optimization, and many others. Given the complexity of these considerations, it’s important to work with a trusted financial professional to best understand each approach and its implications. It’s also important to understand the economic climate's effect on taxes, especially the impact of inflation. What should investors know as they plan for 2024?
People sorting and organizing clothes at a donation center. A person with short grey hair is holding a red and grey piece of clothing.
  • Financial Planning, Retirement Planning
3 min read

Using Qualified Charitable Distributions to Benefit both Yourself and Others

For many individuals, financial planning extends beyond managing their investments with the goal of a comfortable retirement in mind. It can also include the desire to make a positive impact through charitable giving. Charitable Gift Annuities (CGAs) have long been a popular way for individuals to address both their retirement goals as well as their philanthropic interests.
A child with glasses sits cross-legged on the floor, raising both arms in excitement, with a laptop in front and a sofa in the background.
  • Financial Planning
5 min read

Why Investing Early Is the Key to Achieving Financial Goals

For long-term investors, knowing the difference between what can and cannot be controlled is the key to both financial success and peace of mind. While all investors would like to believe they can predict the direction of the market, experience teaches us that this is difficult to do.
Two adults and two children run joyfully together on a sunny beach with waves in the background. The adults appear older, possibly grandparents, and the children are a boy and a girl.
  • College Planning, Financial Planning
6 min read

6 Rules Grandparents Should Follow When Helping With Grandchildren’s College Savings

Contributing to your grandchildren’s college savings is a wonderful idea. You can reduce worry and financial stress for your own children during their peak career years, enabling them to save more effectively for their own retirement. You can lower the likelihood that student debt will be a burden on the family. And your gifts may even be part of a smart estate plan.
An elderly couple with glasses smiles at a toddler wearing a graduation cap. The child is near a jar of coins and a rolled-up diploma tied with a red ribbon.
  • College Planning, Financial Planning, Saving & Budgeting
5 min read

Why College Planning Is a Core Part of Any Financial Plan 

Celebrating as a family member graduates from high school and attends college is the culmination of years of hard work and a joyous event. Paying for college, however, remains a significant source of stress for many households.
A diverse group of eight smiling professionals, both men and women, standing indoors in a well-lit office environment.
  • Financial Planning, Saving & Budgeting
9 min read

5 Reasons Your “Middle Years” Are Different, and What That Means for Your Finances

If you’re just starting out, financial advice is easy to find. Fast forward to nearing 60 and thinking about wrapping up your career, and suddenly just about every financial pitch you’ll hear screams “retirement.”
A stethoscope rests on top of several hundred-dollar bills placed on a wooden surface.
  • Financial Planning, My Money & Me
4 min read

Some Pro Tips for Your HSA and FSA Contributions in 2023

For 2023, the Internal Revenue Service has increased the allowable maximum contributions to health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs). For HSAs, the new limit is $3,850 for single-individual plans and $7,750 for family plans. For FSAs, the new limit is $3,050 for healthcare plans, while the limit for dependent care plans remains unchanged at $5,000 per household. In addition to the new, higher limits for contributions, there are some points to consider for those using or considering the use of either an HSA or an FSA. Let’s take a look.
A man holds a child on his back while another man high-fives the child outdoors.
  • Financial Planning, My Money & Me
4 min read

What Are You Really Worth? The Answer Is Probably Not on a Balance Sheet

At Griffin Black, we spend a lot of time thinking about our clients’ accounts. After all, our clients expect us to guide their investment strategies in a way that enables them to build wealth. But the most important conversations we have with our clients often center on matters that don’t boil down to dollars and cents. In fact, we’ve written previously about the importance of integrating your financial planning with the core priorities in your life: your “why,” in Simon Sinek’s terms.
A smiling man and woman sit at a table with a laptop and notebook, looking at each other. The man holds eyeglasses, and there is a wooden shelf in the background.
  • Financial Planning, My Money & Me
5 min read

Decluttering Your Bottom Line: Financial Spring Cleaning

It’s an annual ritual in many American households: as the weather gradually begins to warm and the trees begin to bud, we open all the closets and dresser drawers, pulling out clothes and other items and sorting them into three piles—“keep,” “throw,” and “sell or give away.” It makes sense. Spring cleaning is one way that we make a periodic assessment, not just of our wardrobes, but also in our lives. It helps us get rid of what we don’t need so we can focus on what is most important. For many, it’s an emotional decluttering as much as a material one.
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