The Cost of Infertility: How to Navigate the Finances of IVF
By Erin Wood, Senior Vice President, Financial Planning and Advanced Solutions After my struggle with pregnancy issues, I was surprised by how quickly I found out I wasn’t alone. Friends, relatives, coworkers – people I’d known for years – were suddenly sharing with me a vital but private p …
How to do Your Estate Plan, Your Way
By Mike Gertsema, CEO & Wealth Advisor This is going to be an unusual blog about estate planning because instead of discussing the dos and don’ts or going into a lot of legal documents and procedures, I want to discuss estate planning on how I’ve witnessed it with my clients over the la …
Knowing Your Why in Finances (and the Rest of Life)
By Mike Gertsema, CEO & Wealth Advisor I’ve just finished the book Start with Why by Simon Sinek after it was recommended to me several times by friends and colleagues. It helps you think deeply about why you do the work you do.
When the Unthinkable Happened – Phase 2
By Jackie Heater, Director of Operations In my previous blog, “5 Tips I Wish I’d Known When the Unthinkable Happened,” I talked about the immediate things that need to be taken care of: funeral arrangements, bills, insurance, bank accounts, investment accounts and various other finan …
Are You Guilty of “Peanut Butter Philanthropy”? How to Overcome Your Best Impulse and Give Strategically
The so-called “Peanut Butter Manifesto” written by a Yahoo! Executive in 2006 gave us a term that hasn’t worn thin yet. The “Peanut Butter Approach” is a derisive term used in business to describe spreading anything – money, energy, time – too far and too thin to be effective or useful.
The Power of ‘Emotional ROI’ Through Charitable Giving
Return on Investment (ROI) is a term you learn about 5 minutes into your first class in business school. Maybe the business model is elegant and the organization is streamlined, but that all begs the question: what is the ROI? How much will we make?
5 Tips I Wish I’d Known When the Unthinkable Happened
By Jackie Heater At Gertsema Wealth Advisors, we often talk about retirement planning “what-ifs.” The death of a spouse is an especially difficult “what-if” scenario to discuss. Many people never plan for this, and while you’re never ready for it, there are a few preparations that can help …
5 Steps to Protect Your Identity in the Digital Age
Identity theft is increasingly common and severe in today’s digital world. Although many organizations now provide services for credit monitoring, how can you make sure you’re adequately protected? Also, if you work with industry professionals, how can you feel confident your information is …
Are You 10 Years From Retiring?: 5 Easy Steps for Retirement Preparation
Ladies … listen up!… there’s still time … Ladies, if you’re nearing the retirement chapter of your life, listen up! Have you thought about what that time looks like? If you could paint a picture of this part of life, what would be included? Does your picture contain lots of color or is it grey?
I Finally Found the ‘Why’ in My Career. You Can, Too.
Published by Grant Nieland, CFPⓇ At some point in all of our working lives, we ask ourselves “Why am I doing this job?” or “Why did I choose this career?” I have asked myself that question at every position I’ve held over the past 10 years and it was hard to find answers. That is, …
Leaving a Larger than Life Legacy
Published by Andrew Rogers, Strategic Opportunities Associate History books are full of extraordinary people, individuals whose singular achievements transcend time. Figures like Martin Luther King, George Washington, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln; these men need no introductio …
