Our Blog

5 Financial Mistakes You Made in College and How to Fix Them

September 2, 2014

Written by Tami Tolsma College: some of the best years of your life. Hopefully you look back on your college years with fond memories of good friends, fun activities, and hard tests.  Unfortunately, there are often a few bad financial habits you may have formed during these few years that could have a negative long […]

Tami Tolsma is a Spartan

July 31, 2014

Last weekend, Tami Tolsma had the opportunity to participate in a Spartan race outside Washington, DC. “I’ve never been so dirty in my life,” was her comment after she crossed the finish line. Located on the Wicomico Motorsports Park in Maryland, the course was 4.5 miles of mud slides, vertical walls, rope obstacles, tire pulls, […]

Avoiding Probate in Virginia

Written by Rick Huff There is a new statutory transfer on death (TOD) deed that became effective July 1, 2013. These deeds are governed by the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act. The act allows Virginia real estate owners to convey land and improvements to beneficiaries and contingent beneficiaries without the need for a […]

A Message from Sandy Stuart

May 12, 2014

Written by Sandy Stuart When clients asked, “When do you plan to retire?” I answered, “I plan on leaving the office on my last day feet first.” I enjoy the job and hate gardening. Today, the answer is still the same but modified a bit. A big bit. It appears that when I served in […]

Difference Between Financial Advisors and Financial Planners

May 5, 2014

Written by Rick Huff Generically, there shouldn’t be any difference between a Financial Advisor (FA) and a Financial Planner (FP). Realistically, there could be a mountain of difference. A lot of the difference has to do with how the individual is compensated. Financial Advisor is a term associated with a registered investment advisor (RIA). An […]

Roth Conversion – Does It Benefit Me?

March 28, 2014

Written by Bob Veres Chances are, you know about Roth IRAs and what makes them special.  Any contributions you make are taxable, and if you convert all or part of a traditional IRA to a Roth, you have to pay taxes at your ordinary income tax rate.   But (the special part) you can take retirement […]

Your Tax “Bucket List”

February 19, 2014

Written by Rick Huff As a wealth/financial advisor with a CPA license, I am lumped with all CPAs when it comes to continuing education. Those with CPA licenses are required to have one of the highest number of continuing education hours in the professional industries – 40 hours a year. Obviously, one can be creative […]

Family Care Giving in Virginia

February 6, 2014

For those of you who are caring for a loved one at home or who have a family member or friend/neighbor who is caring for someone in the home, please visit a new website that has a wealth of information for those living in Virginia. The site is called: The Virginia Family Caregiver Solution Center. […]

Is Your Closet Too Full?

January 21, 2014

Written by Tami Tolsma A good friend recently made me aware that my closet was altogether too full.  It’s not that I am an avid or compulsive shopper; quite the contrary.  Rather, I was raised by my wonderful Dutch parents with the philosophy “Waste not, want not” ingrained within my being.  There have been times […]

Feelings

December 13, 2013

Written by Sandy Stuart Feelings – The avowed enemy of the investor. If you feel too good, you tend to buy high. If you feel scared, you tend to sell low. Opinions vary widely concerning how feelings are formed and what we can do about them. I’d like to take a crack at getting a […]