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Why Retirement Timing Is One of the Most Consequential Financial Decisions You'll Make Deciding when to retire is rarely a single moment of clarity. It’s a series of interconnected decisions and calculations, each of which affects the...

AI has moved fast. The share of Americans using AI to help manage their finances jumped from 10% in 2025 to 55% in 2026. That’s not a trend. That’s a shift. It makes sense. AI tools are available around the clock, answer questions...

If you’re approaching your 65th birthday, odds are you’ve been inundated with documentation and advice about your social security options. It’s crucial to make sure you’re on solid ground with your finances as you get closer to...

At a time when your career is reaching a peak and you’re looking ahead to your own retirement; you may find yourself having to help your children with college expenses while at the same time looking after the needs of your aging...

Why Healthcare Costs Should Be Central to Your Retirement Strategy Healthcare is one of the largest — and most underestimated — expenses retirees face. According to Fidelity's 2025 Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate, a 65-year-old...

You’ve put years into building your business. But here’s a question most business owners don’t spend nearly enough time on: what happens when you’re ready to leave? The answer, for too many, is nothing good. Only 30% of small...

Summer has a way of slowing things down and that’s a good thing when it comes to your finances. The change of pace creates a natural opening to step back and take care of a few things that tend to get pushed aside during busier seasons...

Managing personal finances is a skill most people never formally learn and the numbers show it. In 2025, U.S. adults correctly answered only 49% of basic financial literacy questions, the same score recorded in 2017. A decade of effort...

Retirement planning is one of the most important financial priorities you can have and one of the most commonly delayed. Whether you’re just starting out in your career, navigating your peak earning years, or approaching retirement...

We all hope to live a long and healthy life. But planning for the unexpected is one of the most important things you can do for the people who depend on you. Life insurance exists to provide financial protection for your loved ones if...

Inflation may have pulled back quite a bit from its 2022 peak, but it hasn’t disappeared. Prices for groceries, housing, energy, and everyday services remain elevated and most households are still feeling it. The Federal Reserve has...

The Risk of Disability Is Higher Than Most People Think Disability income Insurance is one of the most overlooked pillars of personal financial planning, yet the risk of experiencing a disabling illness or injury during your working...

529 Plans account for more than 30% of all education savings plans and are the most popular of their kind. These plans can be used to finance higher education expenses such as tuition, fees, and room & board for post-secondary...

Why Retirement Planning Goes Wrong Building a retirement plan is one of the most important financial undertakings of your life and also one where small missteps can compound over time. The good news is that most retirement planning...

How Does Life Insurance Need Change Over Time? Your need for life insurance is not static. It rises and falls alongside your responsibilities, dependents, debts, and assets. For most people, coverage needs peak during the years of...

There’s nothing exciting about life insurance…or is there?Life insurance is meant to take care of you and your loved ones. Life insurance is designed to protect your income in the unfortunate event of your passing, whether too early or...

According to Bankrate’s 2025 Retirement Savings Survey, about 3 in 5 American workers say their retirement savings are behind where they should be. A 2024 AARP survey found that 1 in 5 adults over 50 have no retirement savings at all....

Running out of money in retirement is become one of the defining fears of modern life. According to the 2025 Annual Retirement Study by Allianz Life, 64% of Americans say they’re more worried about running out of money than dying....

According to the SBA’s Office of Advocacy, there are 36.2 million small businesses in the United States as of 2025, employing nearly 46% of the private-sector workforce. But for all their economic power, small businesses face serious...

Digital Legacy Planning: A Modern Piece of the Planning Conversation

Scott J. Menta, CFP®, CHFC®, CLU®

Thursday, March 12, 2026

More and more, I find myself asking clients a new question during review meetings.When I sit down with individuals and families to review their plans, we usually focus on the core elements first. Retirement accounts. Insurance coverage...

What You Need To Know About Your Cash Position But Probably Don’t

Scott J. Menta, CFP®, CHFC®, CLU®

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

When it comes time to decide on how to structure your investment portfolio (also known as asset allocation) I suggest you begin by determining how much you don’t want in the market. This will most certainly be your most important asset...

IRA's: Control from the Grave

Scott J. Menta, CFP®, CHFC®, CLU®

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Typically, financial planning does not involve dealing with the ethereal but there is a way, however, to create a “financial” ghost of yourself. Far too few people review their beneficiary designations often enough. Even fewer think...

What You Really Need To Know About Your Rate Of Return But Nobody Told You

Scott J. Menta, CFP®, CHFC®, CLU®

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Is financial planning more of an art than a science or the other way around? An interesting thing that I experience with people is their predisposition about the rate of return on their investment portfolio. There are generally two...

What Most People Need To Know, But Don’t, About Their Household Cash Flow

Scott J. Menta, CFP®, CHFC®, CLU®

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Similarly to the way the healthiest of most businesses are run, the income and expense picture of every household needs to be tracked, monitored and averaged. The truth is, few individuals appreciate the importance of having an...

What’s Not Discussed about Roth IRAs

Scott J. Menta, CFP®, CHFC®, CLU®

Thursday, April 7, 2022

The truth is that contributory tax-advantaged retirement plans were created in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s under the general premise that a) our tax system is progressive (meaning that progressively higher incomes are taxed at...

What Investors Should Understand About Capitalism

Scott J. Menta, CFP®, CHFC®, CLU®

Saturday, April 2, 2022

The reality is that while the capitalism’s past few decades has made investors out of most of us, most of us don’t know how to be investors. Being in the investment business for almost 30 years has given me the opportunity to work with...