Bernicke Wealth Management

09/03/2026

Once a year, we shut down the laptops and swap work mode for a day of fun, food, games, and a little friendly competition at our Annual Employee Appreciation Event! 🎉

Our Party Planning Committee knocked it out of the park this year with a co****le tournament, games, great food, and plenty of laughs along the way. Most importantly, it gave us a chance to simply enjoy time together as a team.

Congratulations to our co****le champions, Steven Latham and Brady Carrell! 🏆

09/02/2026

After sitting across from over a thousand people planning their retirement, Ty Bernicke, CFP®, President and CEO, says there are things he wishes every one of them understood before it was too late to change course.

In his latest video, Ty shares seven harsh truths about retirement that many people only learn after the damage is already done, including the one he says might be the most important of all.

✅ Why a single number can tell you your real odds of a successful retirement
✅ How overlooking one detail can cost thousands in unnecessary health insurance
✅ Why small investment changes can add up to a massive difference in lifetime taxes
✅ How to tell if you're delaying retirement for the wrong reasons

Watch the full video below.

Schedule a free 15-min call: ➡️https://ty-bernicke.showrunner.one/r...

08/27/2026

We want to wish Sadie Bernicke all the best as she heads back to the University of Minnesota for another school year!

Sadie has been an incredible Operations Intern this summer, and we’re so grateful for the enthusiasm, hard work, and positive energy she brought to the BWM team. We’ll certainly miss having her around the office!

Wishing you a wonderful and successful school year, Sadie!

08/25/2026

Many retirees are terrified of required minimum distributions (RMDs), and after sitting across from hundreds of them, Ty Bernicke, CFP®, President and CEO, says the fear is often bigger than the reality.

In his latest video, Ty walks through a simple three-step way to find out whether RMDs are actually going to be a problem for you, using two retirees with identical starting numbers who end up in very different situations.

✅ Why the moves people make to avoid RMDs are often more costly than the RMDs themselves
✅ How to forecast what your RMD will actually look like before you get there
✅ Why two people with the same IRA balance can land in completely different situations
✅ What actually determines whether RMDs are worth worrying about in your case

Watch the full video below.

Schedule a free 15-min call: ➡️https://ty-bernicke.showrunner.one/r...

08/20/2026

Are today's high S&P 500 valuations something to worry about?

In this month's market update, Steve Latham, CFA, CFP®, Chief Investment Officer, breaks down what the numbers are actually showing:

📊 The valuation gap between the 10 largest S&P 500 companies and the other 490 has nearly closed, something we haven't seen since the mid-2010s
📊 Rising bond yields are making it more expensive for growth companies to fund AI spending through debt
📊 Some of the largest AI companies are turning to debt and stock issuance to keep funding growth, adding further pressure on valuations

Watch the full update below.

Valuations for some of the market's biggest growth companies have b...

08/19/2026

$2 million sounds like enough to retire at 57. Whether it actually is comes down to a few key decisions made in the right order.

Ty Bernicke, CFP®, President and CEO, walks through the exact situation of a 57-year-old couple with $2 million who want to retire today. Get those decisions right and the math works. Get them wrong and even $2 million isn't enough.

✅ How one assumption about inflation moved a retirement plan from a 3% chance of success to 99%
✅ Why retiring at 57 creates a unique challenge with health insurance and taxes before Medicare kicks in at 65
✅ Which accounts to pull income from first and why the order matters more than people realize

Watch the full video below.

Schedule a free 15-min call: ➡️https://ty-bernicke.showrunner.one/r...

08/17/2026

Congratulations to Mitch on celebrating his 5-year anniversary with Bernicke Wealth Management! His dedication, hard work, and commitment to serving our clients have made a meaningful impact. We’re grateful to have him on the BWM team and look forward to many more years ahead!

08/12/2026

Save the date for our Annual Secure Shred Event!

This is the perfect opportunity to clean out old paperwork while keeping your personal information protected. Gather the documents you no longer need and bring them to our Altoona office for convenient, secure shredding.

📅 Wednesday, September 2 | 2:00–4:00 p.m.

📍 1565 Bluestem Blvd
Altoona, WI

08/12/2026

Many people treat early retirement like a math problem: save enough, hit a number, done. So they spend years chasing a target that keeps moving, working one more year, waiting until it finally feels safe enough to stop.

Ty Bernicke, CFP®, President and CEO, says after nearly 30 years helping people retire before 62, the target itself is often the real problem. In his latest video, Ty shares the one thing about early retirement that changes the entire math, and almost nobody talks about it.

✅ Why many people work longer than they actually need to
✅ Why traditional retirement planning may overestimate what you actually need to save
✅ What to know about taxes and liquidity if you retire before 59½
✅ How to avoid overpaying for health insurance before Medicare kicks in

Watch the full video below.

Schedule a free 15-min call: ➡️https://showrunner.one/r/9d20784c85d...

08/11/2026

⛳️ Our MN teams had a great time hitting the links at the Excelsior - Lake Minnetonka Chamber of Commerce Golf Outing at Deer Run yesterday! We’re grateful to be part of a community that brings local businesses together.