Drafting Your Team
The annual NFL draft recently took place. As a Houston Texans fan, it has been a bleak few years of fandom. I closely monitored the draft in hopes the Texans would acquire some much needed support toward building the foundation for a winning team. If you have never watched the NFL draft, it is quite […]
Are Credit Cards Yin or Yang?
Nearly two decades ago I had a conversation with a friend that elicited a memory that circles around often in my mind. Nancy and I were driving back from Kerrville. We had ridden together to drop our children off at church camp. We had engaged in typical conversation about our children, school, church and other […]
Financial Stewardship
Easter is one of my favorite holidays, perhaps even more than Christmas. The resurrection story brings me so much hope and refreshes my convictions each year. One such conviction is financial stewardship. Matthew 6:24 tells us, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he […]
Planting Seeds
Spring is a time of growth and renewal. I always enjoy seeing our flower beds come back to life in the spring after a cold winter. One springtime tradition that my family has is to take a road trip to enjoy the Texas wildflowers in full bloom (and often some Texas barbeque). One of our […]
Keeping Things Rolling
As a mom of young children and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, a thought that’s always at the front of my mind is how to best set my children up for their futures, especially in regards to their education. Before my kids were walking, they all had a savings account. Personally, my husband and I selected […]
Who Can Be Claimed as a Dependent?
It is everyone’s favorite time of the year, right? Maybe not so much. As a tax preparer, I often get questions during this time from family and friends regarding their own personal tax returns. Questions usually stem from the idea of “getting something back”, or often sound something like, “I paid for this during the […]
RMD Status: It’s Complicated
“It’s Complicated” is a relationship status used on social media by people when their relationship is full of tension and they find themselves in a mixed state. With Valentine’s Day next week and the recent passing of the Secure Act 2.0, I made the association between this term and the current status of Required Minimum […]
Preparing for Tax Season
The holidays have passed, the calendar has turned to a new year full of resolutions. January is Financial Wellness Month for those of you that resolve to get your finances in order. One way to get a jump start on this initiative is to get your tax documents together to file later this month when […]
Up in the Air – One-Time Student Loan Forgiveness Program
In March of 2020, I was in my final semester of graduate school, preparing for midterms and anticipating what I had hoped to be a relaxing spring break. At this point, there were only small rumblings about the Coronavirus disease. I left campus for spring break, eager to return in a week to finish my […]
Thoughts About Family and Planning
As I write this column, all of our family has joined us out of town for the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays. Four kids, two husbands, one fiancé, four dogs (plus our two dogs), two cats and maybe a partridge in a pear tree. No grandkids yet, and no pressure. We were married ten […]