Connell Financial Group, LLC

09/18/2026

Karen Connell Wheeler started the week representing Connell Financial Group at the Make-A-Wish Central New York Golf Tournament and finished the week sharing a Make-A-Wish donut with me! Great finish to a great week!!

09/18/2026

I had a fun Friday morning visiting the Fairmount Dunkin to buy a dozen blue sprinkle Make-a-Wish donuts. Donate a $1 for any donut at participating Central New York Dunkins and all of proceeds go directly to Make-A-Wish Central New York! Help us deliver a wish to every child that deserves one!! And the donuts are good!!

09/18/2026

Wednesdays have been date-night for Kathleen and I for the last 5 years. We may go to dinner, take in an event, or go for a hike. This week we did dinner on Wednesday and a hike at Tinker Falls on Thursday night. It started out kind of dark and rainy, but ended with a beautiful sunset!

09/16/2026

We had an amazing time at the Syracuse Mets game with 50 friends and clients on the 3rd Base Patio at NBT Bank Stadium! Great weather, great venue, and great group of people! Thank you for turning out!!

07/01/2026

Last Tuesday, we held a workshop for our clients, 7 Ways to Avoid Internet Scams & Fraud.

Today, I received a phone call that shocked me.

A client who gave me permission to share this anonymously, had been contacted by someone claiming to be from the Chase fraud department. The caller asked whether she had made a $1,700 purchase from a fi****ms-related company.

When she said no, they told her that because fi****ms were involved, they had to transfer her to the FBI.

Then the story escalated.

The supposed FBI agent told her she was under investigation for money laundering into a foreign country. They said she was guilty. They threatened detention. They swore her to secrecy because, according to them, bank officials and law enforcement officials could be involved.

They kept her on the hook for more than four weeks.

They eventually got her to provide account names, account numbers, and balances.

Then came the big ask.

They told her she needed to liquidate her investments and open a new account at Bank of America. They even told her to make up an excuse to give me so I would send her the money.

That was the breaking point.

She told them she couldn’t lie to me.

Thankfully, no money was lost.

I’m sharing this because this is what scams look like now.

They are not always obvious. They are not always rushed. Sometimes they are patient, detailed, frightening, and very convincing.

This one used:

A fake bank fraud alert
A fake FBI transfer
A fake money laundering investigation
A fake arrest threat
Secrecy
Fear
One piece of real information to make the story sound legitimate

This is why these conversations matter.

06/09/2026

Last week my son Matt and I had the opportunity to attend a luncheon in Rochester featuring former Navy SEAL Philip Koontz.

Phil served on SEAL Team 10 and participated in 78 combat missions during his military career. Today he spends much of his time speaking, coaching leaders, and helping organizations think differently about preparation, leadership, and performance.

One of the things that struck me was how much of their success came long before the mission ever started. Phil said his team spent roughly 97% of their time preparing and only 3% actually executing missions.

That number really stuck with me.

Whether it's military operations, running a business, planning for retirement, or simply raising a family, success often comes from the work nobody sees.

It was a great afternoon and even better getting to share it with Matt.

Thank you to Ted Malone, CFA for inviting us!!

05/13/2026

I opened my phone this morning and clicked on an article in Inc. about Jensen Huang speaking to the graduating class at Carnegie Mellon University.

He said:

“No generation has entered the world with more powerful tools or greater opportunities than you. We are all standing at the same starting line. This is your moment to help shape what comes next. So run, don’t walk.”

I think this is amazing advice, and honestly, I feel the same way.

But I also recognize that this is not the message most people are hearing from the media right now. There is so much negativity surrounding AI right now.

I know that there will absolutely be some negative consequences and disruptions from AI. Every major technological shift has created both opportunity and uncertainty.

But I also believe the positive impact could be transformational.

So why is there such a disconnect between the positive possibilities and the fear?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

02/02/2026

Research shows super-agers don’t share a similar diet or lifestyle, but they share one vital trait. You can copy it.

01/06/2026

What are Wall Street’s best and brightest looking for in 2026? If you toss out the highest and lowest, you can see that the other forecasts settle into a pretty tight range for the year. What the table doesn’t show is that there will be highs and lows during the year. There will be times when stock prices look invincible. And there will be times when you wonder why you invest in stocks at all.

11/19/2025

10 Money Tips for Newlyweds (and not so newlyweds)

Couples may be able to head off many of the problems in a marriage that money can cause.