Posts by Catherine Buck
Simplifying Your Estate for Your Loved Ones
Written by: Catherine Buck, CFP® Estate planning starts with the establishment of estate documents: Will, Health Care Proxy, and Powers of Attorney. However, if you have ever been the Executor(rix) of an estate you know there is much more complexity and many roadblocks to hurdle when organizing a loved one’s Estate. Of course, these…
Read MoreHow will Consumers Respond to Tariffs – Testing Economic Theory
Written by: Martin Shields, CFP®, AIF® Throughout my Economics Master program in Virginia Tech one of my favorite areas of study was consumer theory. The discussion was centered around how consumers reacted when the price or quality of a good and service changed. In some cases, they could control the variables and in…
Read MoreNarrowing the Gap Between Sentiment and Reality
Written by: Ryan Bouchey, CFP® Chief Investment Officer & Chief Strategic Officer One of the themes we’ve been discussing all year—especially since what we’ve referred to as “Liberation Day” on April 2nd—is the disconnect between soft data (consumer sentiment) and hard data (economic reality). For much of the year, what consumers were feeling didn’t…
Read MoreThe Big Beautiful Breakdown: What’s In the New Tax Bill?
Written by: Vincenzo G. Testa, CPA, CFP®, ECA On July 4th, 2025, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed into law, bringing with it the biggest changes to the U.S. tax code in nearly a decade. While the news coverage has focused on the politics, our priority is helping you understand what…
Read MoreParadigm Shift – The Goal of Life is NOT to Maximize Your Finances
Written by: Martin Shields, CFP®, AIF® For the first 13 years of my career, I worked in corporate finance for publicly traded companies. In this role, the primary goal was to maximize the productivity of the company’s assets to provide the highest level of future cash flow. When I started as a personal wealth…
Read MoreRecognizing Marty Shields for Years of Dedication to the Ronald McDonald House Charities
Picture Left to Right: Dan Miller (Current RMHC Board Chair), Marty Shields, Kimmy Ventner (RMHC CEO) Our Chief Wealth Advisor, Marty Shields, CFP®, was recently honored at the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of the Capital Region annual dinner for his 9 years of board service with two of those as board chair. Marty…
Read MoreFinancial Planning in a Forecast of Rain: Finding Stability Amid Weekly Storms
Written by: Scott Strohecker, CFP®, EA If you’ve felt like the weekends have been a wash – literally since last November, you’re not alone. From soggy Saturdays to damp Sundays, the near-constant weekend rain has affected everything from BBQ plans to local events. But there’s a silver lining hidden in the storm…
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