Your Input Helps What We Shape Next.
Your experience matters to us. As we continue refining how we serve our clients and community, we welcome your perspective.
Are there topics you’d like explored more deeply? Areas where we can improve? Questions you’d like addressed directly?
Each month, members of our team will respond to select questions and feedback offering clarity, context, and transparency around what we’re doing well and where we’re evolving.
Your insight helps us grow with intention.
Thank you for being part of that process.
Ditch the Suits
In this episode of Ditch the Suits, we tackle some of the biggest financial questions people face and why the “right” answers aren’t as universal as we’ve been led to believe. Instead of rigid rules or industry clichés, this episode focuses on how real people can think more clearly about their money and make better long-term decisions.
We break down common assumptions about being “ready” for retirement, when to invest versus buy a home, and how fear and uncertainty often drive financial choices more than facts. If you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure which move comes next, this episode will help you reframe the questions and move forward with more confidence and clarity.
The Year of the Fire Horse
Kerstin Driscoll-Witt, Senior Retirement Plan Navigator
I’m not usually one for following the Lunar New Year, but there seemed to be a lot of buzz around the 2026 Lunar New Year- the Year of the Fire Horse. ‘Bold, passionate and impossible to tame’. I just loved the name. Seems feisty and fun. I thought it might be interesting to learn a bit more about it.
The Lunar New Year is one of the most celebrated festivals in the world, marking the beginning of the New Year according to the lunisolar calendar. Each year is associated with one of twelve animals- 2026 is the Horse and one of five elements- this year, Fire.
The Spring festival is an opportunity to start fresh, celebrate your family, respect your elders, welcome prosperity, and preserve traditions. I was especially interested in the ‘welcome prosperity’ part. Basically, it is defined as ‘good luck and fortune’.
I have spent my entire career guiding employees toward a comfortable retirement. I wish I could say that it is a result of ‘good luck and fortune’. Unfortunately, it is not. It’s hard work, deliberate saving, conscious decisions, sacrifices, and planning. I have experienced countless conversations with people that say, ‘I wish I had started sooner.’
Saving for retirement seems to be a dream for some and a goal for others. Regardless of which camp you fall into, I do know that the sooner you commit to tucking away a bit of money for retirement and creating a systematic plan for doing so, the more prepared you will be to have the difficult conversation around when you can retire. Making sure you contribute enough to get your employer match/ ‘free money’ (if one is available) and ensuring that you are invested properly takes time, effort and purpose. No one is responsible for making sure you are doing ‘all of the right things’, except for you.
So, how do you know? Where do you start? As humans, we inherently believe we should know how to manage our money. We don’t. Some of us are better at it than others, but how do we know if we are on the right track or doing the right things? If this is a question you struggle with, so did I. Because I am the Retirement Plan Navigator, many people assume that I should know ‘all the things’? I don’t. Investing is not my favorite subject; taxes are not my forte, and Estate Planning is outside of my wheelhouse. I have learned that you can’t look at your planning in a silo, focusing on just one thing, like saving but not paying attention to investing, tax planning or estate planning. All of these aspects combined help create a successful plan but requires a co-pilot that knows what they are doing. Your ability to retire when and how you want to, will depend on your willingness to be vulnerable, to put in the hard work, roll up your sleeves and share the difficult details that may shape your future. My advice? Find a good planner that you trust to help guide you on your journey.
‘This year- the Year of the Fire Horse- brings daring adventures, fiery confidence and a little (fun) chaos.’ Wishing you a year of good fortune and…intentional planning.
Growth or Comfort?
Christina Powell, Digital Marketer
We are presented with decisions each day. In our families, our careers, our food, our money. We can make a choice. Decisions compound over time and whether that shows up as a fit body, a rested mind or a large bank account. It often comes down to one question- growth or comfort?
We can be parents who don’t cause friction, but what does that teach our children? We can feed our bodies convenience food every day, but what is that doing to the quality of our thoughts and health? We can continue to avoid uncovering what financial freedom would look like, but what quality of life would that lead to?
These decisions all tend to feel very “small” in the moment. However, they carry significant weight over time. The more we consciously view these decisions as investments, the easier it is to choose growth as they present themselves. There are certainly seasons for both, but fulfillment rarely comes from continuously choosing comfort.
This is your life; you get to make a choice.
Are your decisions preserving comfort or intentionally building what’s next?
Because over time, decisions compound.
