Will Parker, ClearGrove Wealth Partners

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day

We are all so thankful for our Mommas. As Mother’s Day is approaching us, we would love to hear about one of your favorite memories of your mom. Here are some of ours:

Will - I appreciate her instilling in me the value of hard work, the importance of education, and a deep appreciation for family, faith, and the life lessons that come from the farm.
Justin - I loved seeing my mother in the stands supporting me when I played all my different sports.
Cade – I loved spending summer days outside by the pool with my mom.
Cindy – I love that my mom took us to church and told us about Jesus.
Gavin – My mom sets the bar high as one of my favorite prayer warriors.
We hope you all enjoy a great day with your moms, and you can celebrate her well. From all of us at Cleargrove Wealth Partners-
Happy Mother’s Day
www.cleargrovewealth.com

04/30/2026

You could spend years researching and reading the internet's top things you must know in finance. Honestly, when it comes down to it, there is really only one big thing you need to be concerned about.
Live within your means.
What exactly does that mean? Whatever your income, your expenses must remain lower.
I know that some people reading this will say that is too simplistic and obvious. But the reality is, most of the people I talk to who have financial concerns, that is their issue.
Even those who have millions of dollars sometimes struggle with this one principle. It may seem like having millions saved up for retirement means easy living, but there still must be a budget. If you spend more than the portfolio can make for you, it will begin to be depleted. That depletion is fine unless it is happening at a faster rate than possible to sustain a 20–30-year retirement.
That's why I think it’s so important to teach the next generation this idea. So, with your kids and grandkids help them understand the concept of living within their means. For some, this means giving an allowance or even earning an allowance through household chores.
Help them see the benefit of saving enough for a big item they really want. It’s a natural tendency to let the money burn a hole in their pocket, as the saying goes. Help them move outside of that tendency.
This includes not bailing them out when they've overextended themselves. If you can start doing that when the consequences they face are small, like not having enough money for that candy, then the lesson will not be nearly as painful as it will be down the road.

www.cleargrovewealth.com

04/28/2026

I truly believe this and have seen it happen first hand successfully again and again. I am lucky that I get to help people work towards their dreams every day.
In my experience, reaching those takes more than saving money, investing wisely, or planning ahead – critical as all those things are. It takes the ability to encounter obstacles and be willing to find a different route. It takes the fortitude to fall and then get back up. It takes the vision to look at a mountain and see a speed bump.

www.cleargrovewealth.com

04/28/2026

I love reading stories about people achieving their goals. After all, that’s what I help folks do every day! Usually, the stories I find are fairly recent, but occasionally, I learn about something that happened some time ago. Such is the case with this story – one of the most unique tales about “achieving your goals” that I’ve ever come across.
***
The hill was only thirty centimeters high, but it was enough to keep some of the world’s best scientists spinning their wheels. Literally.
NASA’s Opportunity rover was traversing the tiniest speed bump when its wheels became stuck in a sand dune. The dune was less than a foot high, but the rover just couldn’t get over it. For the scientists and engineers back on Earth, this tiny speed bump had become a serious obstacle. An obstacle to a dream that was several years – and $400 million dollars – in the making. If NASA couldn’t free it, the rover would never be able to complete its mission.
So, NASA set to work. After a lot of planning, they came up with two options to get Opportunity moving forward again.
1. Divert maximum power to the wheels
2. Direct the rover to turn its wheels back and forth, spinning just a few rotations at a time to free itself. This would require a lot of time and patience.
The second option seemed more promising, even though it would require an unbelievable amount of time and patience. So, over the next several weeks, the engineers painstakingly started the process of making small adjustments. Every turn was planned, every rotation monitored. To a casual observer, it might have seemed that nothing was happening. But bit by bit, the rover was able to move forward. Between May 13 and June 4, Opportunity’s tires “churned 192 meters (629 feet) worth of wheel rotations before gaining enough traction to actually move one meter.”1 In other words, it took about twenty days for the rover to move three feet!
The result? The rover explored Mars for another thirteen years – when it had only been designed to serve for 90 days. To this day, it’s considered one of the most successful missions in NASA’s entire history. And all it took was a few small adjustments.
Small…but powerful.
The reason I found this story so inspiring is because it shows two things:
1. Even small hurdles in life can seem like insurmountable obstacles.
2. Any obstacle, no matter how challenging, can be overcome.
When our wheels do start spinning, the answer is simple we will get to where we want to be. And where others see obstacles?
We will see Opportunity.

1 “NASA’s Opportunity Rover Rolls Free on Mars,” NASA, June 6, 2005.

www.cleargrovewealth.com

NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity rovers were identical twin robots who helped rewrite our understanding of the early history of Mars.

04/24/2026

“Thank you to Seth Morris for the invitation and for supporting Will’s ongoing professional development".

www.cleargrovewealth.com

04/24/2026

For a lot of us, many of our financial choices are based on the relationships we have with our families. I’m betting most of your finances are intertwined with your family. I’m also betting that you probably haven’t had a formal discussion about it with your family members. How do I know this?
Because many of my clients have not either.
Although my clients are open and specific with me when it comes to their financial plans for their family, I am finding that more and more clients of mine are not having this same frank conversation with their loved ones.
Money can be a sensitive topic. Add in generational differences and emotions, and now these discussions are challenging for anyone to have, especially family – but they are necessary.
How many people in your family are aware of the financial decisions that affect them?
I know that family meetings aren’t for everyone, no matter how you do it, but find a way to start the conversation!
If it has been a while or you’ve been avoiding the conversation, I’m happy to help in any way I can. If you need help answering these questions or setting up your family meeting, please give me a call.

www.cleargrovewealth.com

04/22/2026

Today we celebrate the one and only home to all of us. A little over 4.5 billion years old, weighing in at almost 6 billion trillion metric tons, and boasting over 70% water coverage on its surface… it’s the EARTH! There are so many ways we can support the Earth and make a difference. This year challenge yourself to do one thing to better the Earth.
Here are some ideas if you need a few:
- Reduce your use of plastics.
- Shop sustainable fashion.
- Volunteer at a local cleanup project in your community.
- Use your voting power to protect our environment.
- Plant a tree.
- Educate yourself on the importance and value of our natural resources.
- Use reusable shopping bags.
- Choose non-toxic cleaning chemicals.
- Use less water.
Celebrate the Earth today by showing it some attention and love!

www.cleargrovewealth.com

04/16/2026

Got a minute?
I sometimes feel that posting anything that doesn’t include a great quote or picture of a cute kid or puppy is asking not to be read.
But, as a financial professional, I want to use this platform to help everyone reading better understand this complex financial world.
So, can we talk about earnings season?
I feel it’s extremely important to understand three things about earnings season.
While statements on past earnings do inform investment decisions, the forward guidance is most important. It’s fascinating to me when news headlines point to poor PAST earnings reported as the sole reason for the lower future valuation. Why? Investing is about what’s coming in the future. The forward guidance gives you a measured glimpse into what companies are expecting. That has more to do with what we, as investors, not day traders, need to know.
Earnings season is a giant “game” of distracting the average investor and media while slipping in important facts. It’s become closer and closer to hearing a political press conference. You need to read between the lines of posturing to gather the real data.
Finally, often a single company will report, and the news media takes that report to mean the entire industry is faring the same. By itself, that company report will only give investment information for that company. I’ve made it a habit of holding off on industry-wide or economy-wide judgments until at least 80% of companies have reported. That number allows us to see the forward guidance of enough companies to make a more educated guess of what the future will hold.
If you ever catch a news headline or hear of earnings of a particular company and have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d be happy to help.

www.cleargrovewealth.com

04/14/2026

PUBLIC SERVICE AMMOUNCEMENT:

April is National Donate Life Month (NDLM), established by Donate Life America to raise awareness for organ, eye, and tissue donation. It honors donors and their families, celebrates transplant recipients, and encourages Americans to register as donors to help the over 100,000 people currently on the national transplant waiting list.

www.cleargrovewealth.com