BFSG Blog

Financial Resources & News

How to Ignore the “Noise” When Investing: Recency Bias

How much "noise" is the media pushing out to us every day? And even more important, how often does this seemingly important "breaking news" that might impact markets today, actually have a long-lasting impact a long-term results? Find out more here and learn about recency bias, just one of the many biases and habits that lead to poor investing decisions. BFSG Shorts: Recency Bias Disclosure:...

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It’s Your Money Financial & Estate Literacy – “Investment World” Replay

BFSG’s CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals, Michael Allbee, CFP® and Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, were invited to be guest speakers for the “It’s Your Money!” workshop series. For the “Investment World” session, Mike and Paul focused on how the investment world gets compensated. Learn the differences between brokers versus advisors, what does the word “fiduciary” mean, how to find an advisor,...

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Avoid Making Poor Investing Decisions: Anchoring Bias

Behavioral investing has quickly become one of the most important topics for individual investors, whether talking about their retirement accounts or brokerage accounts alike. This video discusses anchoring bias, just one of the many biases and habits that lead to poor investing decisions. BFSG Shorts: Anchoring Bias Disclosure: BFSG does not make any representations or warranties as to the...

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Medicare Open Enrollment Is Here: How Are Costs Changing for 2023?

Medicare's Open Enrollment Period — which runs from October 15 through December 7 — is your annual opportunity to switch your current Medicare health and prescription drug plans to ones that better suit your needs. Just in time for Open Enrollment, 2023 Medicare premiums, deductibles, and other costs have been announced, and surprisingly, some of these costs are lower than they were last year....

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Some Good News – California Middle Class Tax Refund

If residents filing jointly made $500,000 or less in 2020, they could be eligible for a refund check of up to $1,050 with a dependent or up to $700 without a dependent. Here is a table outlining the exact amounts. Check it out to see if you’re eligible – if you are, California will be sending payments between October 2022 and January 2023! Disclosure: BFSG does not make any representations or...

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October is the Kickoff Month for Financial Aid

October is the kickoff month for financial aid. That's when incoming and returning college students can start filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the next academic year. The FAFSA is a prerequisite for federal student loans, grants, and work-study, and may be required by colleges before they distribute their own institutional aid to students. How do I submit the...

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Getting Future Growth Out of the Estate (Estate Planning Series Part III)

By:  Henry VanBuskirk, CFP®, Wealth Manager (This is part 3 of a four-part estate planning series) In part 2 of this series, we discussed strategic ways that you can get assets out of your estate. In this post, we would like to go over how you can capitalize on minimizing your estate tax, while your heirs enjoy the appreciated value of your asset, and how you are able to have some benefits...

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Catch the Replays of BFSG’s Summer Webinar Series

We concluded our Summer Webinar Series in August of 2022. We had a great turnout and thank you to our clients and friends that joined us live. The educational series covered great topics such as planning for loved ones, retirement plan basics, behavioral investing, Social Security and Medicare. We hope you learned something new to help you achieve your retirement goals. For those that were...

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What is the Estate and Gift Tax (Part I)

By:  Henry VanBuskirk, CFP®, Wealth Manager Our team at BFSG has done extensive research on the impact on the average American’s psyche when filing their income tax return and the results of our study concluded that there are two groups of people that don’t like paying taxes…Men and Women. This article will discuss tax planning from a federal estate and gift tax perspective and in future...

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Homestead Exemption – Protect Yourself from Creditors & Reduce Property Taxes

By:  Henry VanBuskirk, CFP®, Wealth Manager One of the most heavily quoted statements that I’m sure that you have heard at some point in your life is, “Nothing in life is guaranteed, except for death and taxes”. I’m not here to tell you about a magical snake oil that makes you live forever (since that of course doesn’t exist). We live in the real world where death and taxes are unavoidable. I am...

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Emergency Reserves Can Help You Stick to Your Goals

By:  Michael Allbee, CFP®, Senior Portfolio Manager Volatility or down markets only become a problem if you’re forced to liquidate at the wrong time. If you have enough cash to get you through, you’re going to come out fine on the other side most of the time. We generally recommend setting aside funds to cover 3-6 months’ (6-12 months’ if retired) worth of non-discretionary living expenses...

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Social Security: What Should You Do at Age 62?

Is 62 your lucky number? If you're eligible, that's the earliest age you can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits. Although collecting early retirement benefits makes sense for some people, there's a major drawback to consider: If you start collecting benefits early, your monthly retirement benefit will be permanently reduced. So, before you put down the tools of your trade, there...

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BFSG Short: Estate Planning Basics

What are the key estate planning documents? Who should have an estate plan? What are the differences between a will and a trust? Why do you want to avoid probate? This quick 3-minute video with BFSG's Senior Financial Planner, Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, breaks down the basics of estate planning. Watch here for more. Disclosure: BFSG does not make any representations or warranties as to the...

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All About Credit Scores

It's difficult to imagine functioning in today's world without credit. Whether buying a car or purchasing a home, credit has become an integral part of our everyday lives. Having easy access to credit goes hand in hand with having a good credit score, so it's important to know how to maintain a positive credit score and credit history. The importance of having a good credit score Your credit...

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Don’t be Sold Insurance

By:  Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, Senior Financial Planner At one point in my professional career, I sold insurance policies. I always joked that though I was raised a gentleman, I had to ask women the two things you are never supposed to ask, “How old are you?” and “What is your weight?” Luckily, we do not sell insurance at BFSG, which has saved me from having more of these awkward...

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