Cresta Advisors

10/08/2026

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.

10/08/2026

Stocks finished the third quarter mixed. The S&P 500 gained 2.03%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.47%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2.70%. Halloween is next on the calendar, with U.S. consumers expected to spend \$13.5 billion USD this year and 6.26 million Canadian children in their trick-or-treating years.

Quarterly Market Insights | October 2026 U.S. and Canadian Markets Stocks were mixed in the third quarter as economic, geopolitical, and corporate earnings news pushed the broad market higher while weighing on the Dow Industrials. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 2.03 percent, while the Nasd...

09/30/2026

Will your future income keep pace with the life you are preparing for?

In October, the Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2027 will be announced.

The annual adjustment is designed to help benefits keep up with inflation, but the same principle can be applied more broadly.

Your retirement income may need to be adjusted as your life, expenses, and priorities change.

Healthcare, insurance, travel, home maintenance, and support for family members can all affect the income you may need to generate.

Ask yourself:

▪️ Has your expected retirement spending changed?
▪️ Are certain future expenses rising faster than you thought?
▪️ Does your income strategy account for inflation?
▪️ Are you strategizing for the lifestyle that you budgeted for years ago?

A thoughtful retirement income strategy should evolve as your life and expenses change.

09/29/2026

What would you tell your 25-year-old self about money?

Getting insight from people who’ve been in your shoes can be powerful when you are young.

Here’s ours:

💡 Time is more powerful than timing.

At 25, it can feel like you have forever to start investing. But the biggest advantage you have isn't picking the perfect investment—it's giving your money more years to grow.

If we could go back, we'd say:

🔹 Start investing before you think you're "ready."
🔹 Build sound habits over chasing returns.
🔹 Lifestyle inflation is sneaky; don't let every pay rise become a spending rise.
🔹 An emergency fund isn't boring. It can help when you least expect it.
🔹 You don't need to know everything to get started.

What would you add?

Drop your best insight in the comments. Someone who's 25 today may need to hear it.

09/23/2026

📱 More and more people are now using AI for financial questions.

And with tools like ChatGPT adding bank account integrations, personalized financial guidance is starting to feel more accessible than ever.

So yes, AI can help organize information, model scenarios, and answer technical questions faster than most people could on their own.

BUT… financial insight isn’t just a math problem.

AI cannot talk to you about the pros and cons of making a portfolio adjustment when stock prices are falling. It might struggle to fully weigh your family dynamics, health concerns, risk tolerance, competing goals, or what will actually help you feel confident in your decisions.

🧠 That is where human guidance still matters.

Vanguard’s long-running Advisor’s Alpha research highlights behavioral coaching as one of the most valuable aspects of a relationship.

Not stock picking. Not market timing.

Helping people manage emotion when the stakes are high.

🤝 The future is not AI vs. financial professionals.

The future is for those who use better tools while still bringing judgment, context, and a real understanding of the person behind the strategy.

09/11/2026

Twenty-five years ago today, the world stopped.

Never forget the lives lost. The families who carried on without them. The first responders who ran toward danger without hesitation.

And the unity that followed.

Some days aren't about lessons or takeaways. They're just about remembering.

09/07/2026

A long weekend gives us space to step back from work and reflect on the life we are building.

We honor the work our clients have done to build what they have. And we help make sure it actually serves their lives.

🗽 Wishing you and your family a meaningful Labor Day weekend.

09/04/2026

Markets pushed higher in August as AI-driven optimism helped investors look past softer economic data. The S&P 500 gained 2.62% and the S&P/TSX Composite rose 2.96%, even as softening retail sales kept consumer spending in focus. Back-to-school season adds another data point to that story, with spending expected to reach \$146.8 billion in the U.S. and \$4.5 billion in Canada this year.

Monthly Market Insights | September 2026 U.S. and Canadian Markets Renewed enthusiasm for AI pushed stocks higher in August as investors looked past mixed economic signals. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 2.62 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 3.93 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial...

08/27/2026

Two retirees can earn the same average return and have very different outcomes.

Why?

Because in retirement, timing matters.

An early market downturn in retirement can be more damaging than the same downturn later.

That is the sequence-of-returns risk.

The risk is not simply “the market went down.” It’s “the market went down while income still had to come out.”

A strong retirement strategy should look beyond average returns and address:

🔹 Where income will come from
🔹 How much cash or short-term reserves make sense
🔹 Which accounts to draw from first
🔹 When to rebalance
🔹 How RMDs and Social Security fit into the withdrawal strategy

Sequence-of-returns risk does not make many headlines.

But for anyone entering retirement, it can be one of the most important ideas to understand.

The goal is not to predict the next downturn. It’s about being prepared.

08/14/2026

Some professionals assume their financial strategy is in better shape than it is. Not because they're careless. Because they're busy.

Today is National Financial Awareness Day. Four questions worth sitting with:

▸ If something happened to you tomorrow, would your family know what you have, where it is, and what to do?

▸ Are you on track to replace your income in retirement, or are you assuming you will be?

▸ Has your financial strategy changed as much as your life has in the last 12 months?

▸ If markets dropped tomorrow, do you have written goals or a general sense of what you'd do?

You don't have to answer all four today. But if one made you pause, that's the one worth paying attention to.