Blogs
Understanding Risk Tolerance for Smarter Investments
Why Risk Tolerance MattersUnderstanding your risk tolerance is a crucial step in financial planning. It involves balancing potential gains with possible losses and factoring in your psychological reac
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Is Your Invest Strategy Irrational … Or Are You ‘Slow Thinking’ It?
The recent passing of the renowned behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman got me thinking about the important role emotional intelligence plays with money management. Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winner in
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11 Important Points for Saving Money in US Government “I Bonds”
U.S. Government Series I Savings Bonds, or “I Bonds” were introduced in 1998 as a way for average Americans to save while ensuring their money retains its purchasing power. I-Bonds offer the advanta
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Choose One Financial Improvement for 2024
Oftentimes, when we face too many tasks, we freeze and complete none of them. This is especially true when we aren’t quite sure which task is most important to complete first. Then nothing gets done
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Tilly Adds One-Time Meetings
Do you have a financial question? If so, look no further. Book a one-hour video meeting with a Tilly Certified Financial Planner (CFP)®. Booking an appointment is simple. First, contact Tilly today
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Ready to Maximize Your Employer Benefits?
It is open enrollment time! Have you reviewed your choices to make sure you are taking advantage of your company benefits? Here are a few points to consider. Healthcare Options How do you decide wh
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7 Financial Strategies That Will Help You Come Out on Top – Part 2
In our previous blog, we provided the first seven financial strategies to help you come out on top. But we aren’t done yet! Here are seven additional actions to take now to secure your financial fut
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7 Financial Strategies That Will Help You Come Out on Top – Part 1
In the classic tale, A Christmas Carol, the mean-spirited Scrooge appears to spend all of his time managing and worrying about his wealth. While there’s no need to act like Scrooge in real life, mos
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7 Pivotal Benefits of Tilly
Today, we’re sharing how Tilly clients benefit from working with us. Clients pay only $800 per year and in exchange secure these vital services. 1. Experienced Financial Decision-Making: Do you have
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Tilly’s Glossary of Account Types
Are you confused or unsure about which type of account you should open? The rules are subtle, and the differences can be confusing. To help you navigate the financial landscape, we created this glos
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4 Steps to Get Ahead When Restarting Student Loan Payments
The federal student loan pause that started back in March 2020 is coming to an end. The Supreme Court also has ruled against the Biden administration’s student loan relief package that would have ca
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7 Ways to Get Motivated and Take Control of Your Finances
Have you been putting off getting your old employer’s 401(k) rolled over into an individual retirement account (IRA)? Are you ignoring the fact that you should transfer your savings into a higher-yiel
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Expert Tips for Managing Vehicle Costs
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation households spent an average of $10,961 on transportation in 2021, which is second only to housing. Sixty-eight percent of this transportation expense
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How Much Should You Save in a Roth 401(k) Versus Traditional 401(k)? | Tilly
Friends, this title is a common question! Let’s begin with the basics. With a Roth 401(k), you pay taxes upfront — then save. With a traditional 401(k), you avoid paying taxes upfront, but instead, yo
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Just What is Tilly, Anyway? | Tilly
Tilly’s mission is to drive down the cost of fiduciary advice and make it accessible to all Americans — not just the rich. So many Americans are sold high-cost financial products under the guise of “f
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A Bucket Budget Makes Saving Simple and Streamlined
Budgeting can be a real beotch. Most of us dread the process, and very few of us use a system that consistently works. Software programs such as Quicken and Mint can help us look backwards at what we
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Why It’s Important to Save Outside of Your 401(k) | Tilly
You’ve heard the advice: “Save as much as you can into your 401(k).” This recommendation is mostly true, but before we write it down as absolute gospel, let’s dig a little deeper. A 401(k) account (or
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How Tilly Advises Clients Who Invest in Stocks | Tilly
Many of us enjoy investing in stocks. Let’s face it: Selecting successful stocks can be a fun exercise. Some of us like to “buy and hold” stocks so we can watch the firms grow and prosper. Others trad
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Are You Keeping Too Much Cash in the Bank? Here are Three Low-Risk Alternatives | Tilly
Banks today are flush with deposits, therefore they don’t need to pay much interest on that money. According to the FDIC, the average interest rate paid on bank checking accounts, savings accounts, mo
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Financial Planning Strategies to Consider Before Year-End | Tilly
Mid-November is the perfect time of year to get your financial affairs in order. The holiday busy season hasn’t cranked up yet, but the days are shorter and many weekend days are rainy and cool. This
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How to Look at the Long-Term Cost of Purchasing Vehicles
People swear by their preferred method for buying a vehicle. “I always lease my car because I get the latest models and have no repair costs.” “I always purchase a used car and drive it into the groun
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9 Tips for Managing Your Retirement Plan | Tilly
How much money will I need to retire and enjoy retirement? Am I saving enough and investing the savings properly for success? Here are nine tips to keep in mind to make sure your retirement plan is in
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How to Understand and Calculate Your Net Worth
One of the most well-known measures of wealth is net worth. Net worth is calculated by adding up the value of your assets (stuff you own) and subtracting that amount from the value of what you owe (de
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How to Save Time Creating and Maintaining a Personal Budget
“WE NEED A BUDGET!”Almost everyone agrees they need a budget but most of us don’t have one. The biggest reason most don’t have a budget is that the process is a major time suck. This blog explains how
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“The Best Tax Deal in Town!”
Car dealerships, grocery stores, and furniture stores lure customers in with the slogan, “The best deal in town!” I’m skeptical, however, that their offers are truly the best deal in town — better rea
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The 11 Elements of a Financial Plan — Tilly
A financial plan details your current financial situation and outlines strategies for reaching your goals. Without a plan, we often feel chaotic and unsure — constantly questioning how one financial d
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Analyzing Mutual Fund Investment Performance | Tilly
How do you know if your mutual funds are any good or not? Do they beat “the market”? What is “the market”? These can be shifty, confusing questions to answer. Investment professionals mainly compare m
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Saving More Cash, 4 Simple Tips | Tilly, Virtual Financial Advice
One of the most common questions I hear is “How much cash should I maintain?” I encourage Tilly clients to save lots of cash because cash is needed for emergencies and you need cash to make smart inve
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Simple Financial Tips to Start 2020 on Track | Tilly, Virtual Financial Advice
It’s a new decade!Today is an excellent time to reevaluate your financial situation. Here are 13 simple financial tips for assessing your financial situation and making sure you aren’t missing anythin
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Create a Top-Down Budget in Three Steps | Tilly, Virtual Financial Advice
The story behind a top-down budgetBefore marrying my wife, I’ll never forget our Minister counseling us about money and budgets. He quizzed us, “After charity, guess what my wife and my most important
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Your Dividend Met Another and Phht! It Was Gone… | Tilly
Back in the day, the hillbilly TV Show Hee Haw song, “You Were Gone” is about a boy wanting his girl back. You might could say the same thing about wanting your dividend back when you gave them all aw
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How to Research a Mutual Fund | Tilly, Virtual Financial Advice
In a recent blog post, I discussed how to select the right retirement fund. You may have noticed I also provided data about various mutual funds. Where did I find that information? Are only “Registere
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Selecting the Right Retirement Fund for You — Tilly
Here are six suggestions for how to select the right retirement fund for you.A friend recently texted me the following question: I currently have 100% (of my retirement account) in a Vanguard target r
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4 Alternatives to Traditional Investment Fees — Tilly
Last week, I wrote about how expensive percentage under management fee structures can be for the average investor — especially when they’re also paying mutual fund companies a hefty fee as well. I poi
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3 Ways Investment Advisory Fees Could Be Ripping You Off — Tilly
Most people look at “percentage under management” as a fair fee structure to share their investment returns with their financial advisors. After all, the advisor makes the investment choices, so if th
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Investing is Highly Personal. Don’t Always Listen to the Pundits. | Tilly
Investing pundits, mainly financial advisors, have this “formula” for financial success that looks something like this: Invest 80% of your money into mutual funds. Over a long period of time — you’ll
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Cash is King So Keep Plenty of It | Tilly
Warren Buffett’s recent annual letter to shareholders stated, “In managing, I will make expensive mistakes … But I will never risk getting caught short of cash.”I interpret Buffett’s statement that hi
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Would You Write a Monthly Check for Investment Fees? | Tilly
As I explained a few weeks ago, over a thirty-year period, the true cost of a financial advisor can cost your retirement savings hundreds of thousands of dollars.To better understand the true cost, le
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How “Call” Options Work - In Plain English | Tilly
Many investors think of stock options as confusing and risky. Not always. Sometimes they can be used to reduce your risk — or earn you a nice profit.Here is how a common type of options work, called “
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The True Cost of Financial “Advice” | Tilly
One reason the investment advisory business is so profitable is because most people don’t understand how investment firms charge for services.Investment fees are collected in a similar manner as your
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How to Value a Stock – Part 2 | Tilly
In Part 1 of this series, we discussed a stock price relative to financial metrics—such as market value per share, book value per share, earnings per share, and dividends per share. Today, let’s take
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How to Value a Stock – Part 1 | Tilly
Are you considering purchasing stock in a company but aren’t sure how to value it?For the price per share of a stock to be informative, it needs to be relative to or “in relationship with” something e
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What are Hedge Funds and Are You Missing Out? | Tilly
Are the rich getting richer by having access to hedge funds while the rest of us miss out?Hedge funds are similar to mutual funds because their managers pool and invest investors’ money. The main diff
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Breaking Down Financial Planning Professionals’ Titles | Tilly
Due to the financial industry’s ever-changing business models and regulations, its business titles are confusing.But first: Be warned! Your “advisor” may hold multiple designations/titles. For example
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Take Risks Only in What You Know — Tilly
Most savers are perfectly content with only risking their money in traditional investments such as mutual funds. But what if you enjoy and have a knack for the nontraditional investing?Some examples o
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Half as Long – Concise Financial Lessons | Tilly
Welcome to the first edition of “Tilly Tells All” — a short writing with straight-forward financial lessons.Each lesson will only be about half a page and will take you half the time to learn somethin
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