Plan2Retire

10/16/2026

In 2008, stocks alone fell 51%, but a balanced 60/40 portfolio only fell 29% and recovered faster. 📉 Here's why diversification matters 👇

10/16/2026

Fidelity's 2025 wealth transfer study found that roughly 67 percent of parents age 55 and older have never told their adult children what they will inherit, or whether they will inherit anything at all.

About 33 percent would prefer the kids are kept in the dark about the amount.

Their reasons should feel familiar:
✔️ Worry that a specific number will dampen a child's drive
✔️ Discomfort talking about money at all

The same study found:

Most adult children say they are ready to handle whatever they inherit and would rather shape things while their parents are still around to explain the "why" behind decisions.

Families who have inheritance strategies share some similar habits:

💬 Kids know who the financial professionals are and how to reach them
💬 Everyone knows where the estate documents are
💬 They try to manage any surprises well ahead of time

So, do you tell your children or not?

There's no single right answer here.

Sharing exact numbers isn't necessary, but most families find that a broad discussion can help with priorities and expectations.

10/14/2026

💡 What if scientists could use light to switch specific brain cells on and off?

That idea helped earn the 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine for Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel. Their work helped create the field of optogenetics, which combines light and genetics to control selected neurons in living brains.

The breakthrough grew from research on a light-sensitive protein in green algae. Scientists found that when the protein was introduced into certain brain cells, light could be used to activate or silence those neurons with remarkable precision.

That has given researchers a powerful way to study the brain circuits involved in behavior and disease. The technique is already informing research into conditions including blindness, depression, addiction, dementia, autism, and schizophrenia. 🧠

A discovery that began with algae has become one of neuroscience’s most important tools.

The Nobel Prize in medicine has been awarded to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help unravel how the brain works.

10/14/2026

Your child may already have a Trump Account. That doesn’t mean it’s set up.

The Treasury Department says automatic enrollment now covers every eligible child with a valid Social Security number. But a parent or legal guardian still has to formally activate the account, either at trumpaccounts.gov or through the program’s app.

📌 Babies who are U.S. citizens with a Social Security number and were born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, may qualify for a one-time $1,000 government contribution once the account is claimed.

A few details families are weighing: Yearly contributions are capped at $5,000, though government and charitable contributions don’t count toward that limit. The money generally can’t be touched until a child turns 18, and earnings are taxed when withdrawn. That’s a key difference from 529 accounts, which grow tax-free but are limited to education costs.

Which account fits best depends on what a family is saving for, and that’s a conversation worth having with a financial professional.

Your child may be enrolled in a “Trump Account” whether you realize it or not. Rolled out earlier this year, the Trump Accounts program allows parents to claim special investment accounts for children who are 18 years old or younger.

10/14/2026

A mother in California picked up the phone and heard her daughter's voice, panicked, saying she'd been kidnapped and needed money immediately.

What she'd heard wasn't her daughter. It was an AI-generated clone of her voice.

In a 2025 study, scientists found that when people heard a cloned voice, they correctly identified the voice as AI-generated only about 60 percent of the time.

The FBI attributed more than $890 million in 2025 losses to AI-enabled fraud, and voice cloning is one of the main drivers behind that number.

It is not only older adults being targeted. Younger family members get these calls too, often framed as a sibling or friend in trouble. Older adults just tend to lose the most per incident.

Two ways to protect your family.

🔐 Agree on a private code word or question with the people a scammer is most likely to impersonate (kids, parents, spouse)

📞 If a call like this comes in and you have not set up a code word yet, hang up, then call the real person back

When in doubt, slow down and verify.

10/10/2026

⚠️ Money is one of the most consistently cited sources of stress in America.

For caregivers, that weight often increases! 😮

Having a clearer picture of where things stand can help ease some of the uncertainty that makes financial stress feel heaviest in the first place.

There's no clean solution to money stress.

Most of it is caused by the unknown. The uncertainty.

World Mental Health Day recognizes just how deeply finances can impact our well-being (and vice versa).

If financial stress has been sitting in the background of your life this year, a conversation with a professional can go a long way, be it a mental health professional or a financial professional. Pursuing comfort, understanding, and compassion is a team sport.

10/09/2026

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an opportunity to prioritize health.

Early detection through regular screenings is one of the most effective tools we have in the fight against breast cancer.

Here are a few small things we can do this October:

✅ Schedule your annual screening if you haven't yet

✅ Educate yourself and others on risk factors and preventative lifestyle habits

✅ Support research and organizations dedicated to advancing breast cancer prevention and care

Taking charge of your health today makes all the difference for tomorrow. 🎗️

10/07/2026

More women than ever are starting and running businesses, and they're doing it faster than the market overall. Census data show women now own more than 14 million businesses nationwide, up 26 percent since 2012, compared with 19 percent growth for businesses as a whole.

It also means millions of women are making key decisions from scratch:

💼 How income gets paid (salary, distributions, or owner draws)
💼 Which retirement vehicle fits, and how much they can contribute
💼 How healthcare, disability, and other insurance get sourced without an employer default
💼 How the business gets valued, and what a sale or transition would look like
💼 How personal finances stay separate from the business's

The hats keep stacking up, and this month we want to tip ours to two women-owned businesses we're proud to call part of our community:

🏋️‍♀️ LA Fit Lab LLC, owned by Leah Routzahn. Leah is a personal trainer who runs her business right here in our office, in our gym space. We love seeing her at work down the hall!

💇‍♀️ Kalon Salon, owned by Gina McFarland and Melissa Schriver. Gina and Melissa are building something great together, and we're cheering them on.

Happy Women's Small Business Month to Leah, Gina, Melissa, and every woman doing it all at once. Consider stopping by and supporting them this month!

10/05/2026

🌠 October is bringing a little celestial entertainment! The annual Draconid meteor shower is expected to peak on the night of October 8–9, with excellent viewing conditions thanks to an almost moonless sky.
Unlike many meteor showers that are best viewed in the early morning hours, the Draconids are an evening event. This year's peak is expected around 9 PM EDT on October 8, so there's no need to stay up until dawn. 🌌
Here's how to make the most of it:
🔭 Find a dark spot. Head somewhere away from city lights with a clear view of the sky.
✨ Give your eyes time to adjust. Allow about 30 minutes to get used to the darkness.
🌙 Leave the equipment at home. You won't need a telescope or binoculars. Just look up and take in as much of the sky as possible.
The Draconids typically produce around five meteors per hour under ideal conditions, although they've surprised skywatchers with spectacular displays in the past.
The shower runs from October 6–10, so you may have several opportunities to catch a shooting star, weather permitting.
Will you be watching? 🌠

Good news! The Draconid meteor shower peaks under almost moonless skies on Oct. 8-9.

10/05/2026

US stocks have led for most of the past 15 years, but zoom out to 25 and international stocks came out on top 44% of the time.

Market leadership rotates, and no one can predict where it goes next. That's the case for investing globally. Full breakdown at the link 👇