In the age of DIY, should you manage your own portfolio? That’s a great question! And we’d like to weigh in. According to the financial experts at The Balance, one of the world’s largest investment companies, Vanguard, has been examining this question for 15 years. Based on research, analysis and testing, Vanguard has concluded that there is, in fact, a quantifiable increase in return from working with a financial advisor. Vanguard calls this advantage the “Advisor’s Alpha.” When certain best practices are followed, the result can be an Alpha in the 3 percent per year range. Read more about this topic HERE.

Beyond the math, there are plenty more reasons to get an advisor on your team. On today’s show, Dennis and Heidi will give you a few good ones when considering an advisor in 2021.

Not sure about you, but we’re getting a little excited thinking about 2020 coming to an end. When we joked about 20/20 vision and getting more clarity – we never imagined a pandemic as the impetus to get us there. For a lot of you, the disruption has caused you to reevaluate your careers, goals and travel plans. We no longer take for granted our health, seeing family on a regular basis or even having enough toilet paper.

Join us today for the checklist to end all checklists! We will cover the changes in 2020, milestone ages, life events and, of course, how to talk to your beneficiaries about your plans.

Bring your list. Check it twice. This year was naughty. Not nice.

My hope is that the real retirement stories we’ve been featuring this fall have inspired you to consider what retirement could look like for you. It’s one thing to imagine a life after work and it’s another to realize that dream. Speaking of which, have you taken the time to dream? Most pre-retirees who meet with us have only a vague vision of what they will do … not because they lack imagination but, simply, because life itself has been so demanding. We get it.

Perhaps you can take time today and start by joining Heidi and Dennis as they share some of the realities (both good and bad) of retirement, including doubling your budget for things like … BOOKS!

There are two kinds of people in this world: dreamers and doers. Then, there are those who do BOTH! Meet our guest, Sally Manke. During her career as a teacher, she managed to raise two children while also running a seasonal hotel in Manistee with her husband. It wasn’t until retirement that she found her dream job as a fiber artist.

As an artist, Sally’s work has been featured at juried quilt shows throughout the U.S., including the American Quilter’s Society events and International Quilt Festival. Her innumerable awards include a blue ribbon at QuiltWeek in Paducah, Kentucky – ostensibly the Red Carpet of quilt guild shows – and a Red Hot Best nod as Northern Michigan’s Best Visual Artist in 2016. She enjoys sharing her expertise through trunk shows, classes, and workshops at quilt shops and guilds.

President-elect Joe Biden has proposed a tax plan that will increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy with no increase for individuals earning less than $400K annually. This is just one of several key takeaways that you can read about here, or you can join our special guest, CPA Jon Sluis, LIVE today to learn more. He’s also going to help dispel some of the rumors swirling around in the media and give prudent tax guidance as we head into 2021. And with only six weeks until the end of the year, there are still things you can do for own tax planning.

There’s never a dull moment when we have Jon on the air! Tune in and get the details. In fact, you might want to take some notes.