JFS Wealth Advisors

10/15/2026

Summer doldrums arrived for global financial markets in the third quarter as the combined pressures of rising interest rates, ongoing Mideast conflict, and persistent inflation worked to slow robust gains from earlier in the year.

3rd Quarter Market Update: inflation, interest rates, oil prices drive equity, bond markets; AI aids stable if not robust employment & economy.

10/14/2026

Most estate plans break down for unglamorous reasons. A beneficiary designation nobody updated. A trust that was drafted and then left unfunded. A document that made sense before the business, the second home, or the grandchildren.

Estate planning carries complexity and emotion at the same time, which is part of why it keeps getting postponed. Our advisors who focus on estate planning and trusts help with both sides: coordinating assets and ownership interests, building gift and wealth transfer strategies, incorporating life insurance and buy-sell agreements where they belong, addressing estate tax with in-house knowledge, and serving as trustee through our fiduciaries when a family needs one.

The aim is straightforward. Your intent holds up, and your family knows what to do.

See how we approach it: https://jfswa.com/services/services-individuals-families/estate-planning-trusts/

10/13/2026

One common point of confusion about the FAFSA is that the process begins with your student rather than with you.

The student creates a StudentAid.gov account, formerly called an FSA ID, and everyone required to participate in the FAFSA needs their own account, including any parent who will serve as a Contributor. Identity verification is built into the account creation process, and some applicants are asked for additional verification. Hence, it helps to start on a laptop or desktop with a working camera and to have identification nearby in case it is requested.

Once the student has an account and has started the FAFSA, they invite the required parent Contributor by email; the parent then completes their portion of the form and provides the required consent and signature. If your student is considered a dependent student, a parent will generally need to provide information, so it is worth coordinating the timing rather than discovering the requirement at the deadline.

Barbara Glover, CFP®, CCFC, helps JFS families work through college funding alongside the rest of their financial plan: https://calendly.com/bglover-jfswealth/college-funding-call.

10/12/2026

The same company stock that built your wealth can quietly become the largest risk in your financial life.

For rising executives, RSUs, stock options, and other equity awards often become the cornerstone of net worth. Salary, bonus, equity, and career path are all tied to one employer. That concentration works in your favor on the way up. It works against you if the company stumbles at the wrong moment.

In his latest article, Austin Sambuco, CFP®, CEPA™, walks through how to unwind a concentrated position intentionally rather than by accident: setting a disciplined selling schedule, coordinating those sales with tax planning, holding enough liquidity for taxes and near-term expenses, and reinvesting the proceeds into a diversified portfolio. He also covers charitable strategies and the net unrealized appreciation approach for company stock held in a 401(k), plus the part that rarely gets discussed: how much selling company stock can feel like disloyalty after a long career.

Read it here: https://jfswa.com/insights/equity-compensation-concentration-risk/

10/08/2026

When you reach the asset questions on the FAFSA, knowing what to leave off the form is just as important as knowing what belongs on it.

The FAFSA asks for specific financial and asset information, some of which transfers directly from the IRS, while the family must enter the rest. That second category is where most avoidable mistakes happen. Certain retirement accounts and the value of your primary residence are treated differently from reportable investments, so before you answer anything in that section, read the instructions and the “Net Worth” help information built into the form itself rather than assuming that every account or asset you own needs to be reported.

Barbara Glover, CFP®, CCFC, also recommends saving a copy of the completed FAFSA along with any account statements or documentation you used to answer the financial questions, because your school may ask for that documentation if your FAFSA is selected for verification or if something needs clarification later.

Net Worth guidance from Federal Student Aid: https://studentaid.gov/help/current-net-worth

10/07/2026

Both are Roth accounts, but a Roth IRA and a Roth 401(k) don't work the same way.

A Roth IRA is one you open on your own. It comes with income limits on who can contribute directly and lower annual limits, but broad investment choice and no required minimum distributions during your lifetime. A Roth 401(k) runs through your employer, has no income limits to participate, and allows much higher contributions, which makes it useful for higher earners. One detail people miss: your employer match lands in a pre-tax bucket, even when your own contributions are Roth.

In this clip, Hannah Roth walks through how the two compare, and why the right answer often involves a mix of both.

Watch the clip below.

10/05/2026

A QDRO that is delayed, poorly worded, or not accepted by the plan administrator can create serious complications after a divorce is finalized. Disputes, unexpected tax consequences, and the need to redo the process entirely are all real possibilities. With QDROs, timing and accuracy are not details to overlook.

10/02/2026

Every year, families skip the FAFSA because they assume their income is too high to qualify for anything, and that assumption can cost them more than the hour it would have taken to complete the form.

The FAFSA determines eligibility for federal grants, work-study, and federal student loans, and many states and colleges also use the information to award aid from their own programs. You must complete it each year your student wants to be considered for federal student aid, so it is less a one-time task than an annual one.

Circumstances also change in hard-to-predict ways. A family that does not need financial assistance this year can find itself in a very different position twelve months later, and having a completed FAFSA already on file matters a great deal when that happens.

Barbara Glover, CFP®, CCFC, works with JFS families on college funding decisions, and her recommendation is the straightforward one: complete the form, and don’t wait until the last minute to do it.

Start here: https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

10/01/2026

Financial planning barely existed as a profession when Bob Jazwinski started JFS in 1986. Forty years later, the questions clients bring us have changed, and so has the work.

Our founder and Co-CEO, Robert C. Jazwinski, CPA/PFS, CFP®, joined George Grombacher on the Aligned Money Show to talk about how the profession got here. The conversation covers the principles that have carried the firm through four decades, the widening wealth gap and the financial literacy problem underneath it, where artificial intelligence fits inside an advisory firm, and the larger question of what money is actually for.

Worth a listen if you have wondered how planning went from a niche idea to a profession.

Listen here: https://audioboom.com/posts/8939536-the-evolution-of-planning-with-bob-jazwinski

09/29/2026

Effective planning for multigenerational wealth should of course focus on tax efficiency, risk management, and durable governance structures. But many of the most important factors in a successful estate plan involve matters that are not strictly financial: communicating core values, understanding the priorities of all stakeholders, and building commitment to shared values. Wealth Advisor Ernie Irwin shares some valuable principles.

Thoughtful multigenerational gifting strategies should support heirs while maintaining alignment with core family values.