Taurus Wealth Management

11/03/2026

One investment gained 270 percent in the first five months of 2026. Two months later, it gave back 67 percent. 😳

Why do smart people chase numbers like that? Psychologist Daniel Kahneman said it best: "Stories trump statistics." 🧠

A hot streak always comes with a story. The story is what sells. The math is what stings.

Riches to rags is an old pattern, and so is the reverse. When a return looks too good to be true, give the story the same scrutiny you'd give the number.

If a market headline has your attention, run it past us before it runs your portfolio. 💬

10/29/2026

Nationwide's 2026 study surfaced three key lessons from parents:

🎯 Not starting early enough.
More than 25 percent of recent retirees wish they had started sooner. Fifteen years of compounding early in a career can make a HUGE difference.

🎯 Not raising the contribution rate as your income grows.
Thirteen percent of recent retirees wish they had contributed more to their savings each year.

🎯 Claiming Social Security at 62.
More than a third of boomers plan to claim benefits the moment they become eligible, even though doing so cuts the monthly benefit by 25 to 30 percent for life.

According to the SSA, waiting past full retirement age adds 8 percent per year, up to age 70.

Across the research, three things seem to matter most:

1️⃣ Starting early
2️⃣ Getting an outside perspective rather than relying on instinct alone
3️⃣ Treating retirement as something that unfolds over decades rather than a single date on the calendar

10/26/2026

How many years before you are ready to be “retired”?

It’s one of the most important numbers yet.

TIAA's 2026 longevity literacy research found that workers who expect a shorter retirement save less consistently than those who expect a longer one.

That makes sense, but it also means the people who assume their retirement will be short are the same ones who may be building portfolios with shorter time horizons.

Once someone has already reached 65, the numbers shift.

According to Social Security Administration data:

📌 A 65-year-old man has roughly a 24 percent chance of living past 90

📌 A 65-year-old woman's chances are higher, closer to 35 percent

📌 For a 65-year-old married couple, there is about a 50 percent chance that at least one spouse lives past 90

The practical implication is not "assume you will live to 100."

It’s that a retirement income strategy built around the “average lifespan” often assumes a person will die on schedule. Most people do not.

If retirement is on your horizon, the question to ask is, "What happens to my income strategy if I live to 95?"

10/22/2026

Trust & Will's 2026 Estate Planning Report found that 56 percent of adults don't have core documents in place, including:

📝 A will: who gets what, and who is in charge of making it happen

🏥 A healthcare directive (or living will): what you want if you cannot speak for yourself

✍️ Two powers of attorney, one for medical decisions and one for financial decisions, each naming a specific person

📄 A letter of instruction: the practical map to where accounts live, who your professionals are, and what your kids or pets need

The friction is that estate work forces a family to sit with mortality, name specific people for specific roles, and make decisions that feel too permanent to rush.

Without something in writing, though, families are left improvising during one of the most difficult moments of their lives.

Most say they fully intend to get to it, but too many put it off until it's too late.

Don't put it off. Talk to a financial professional who can help.

10/19/2026

What happens to your cash flow when you stop earning a paycheck?

The 2026 EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey caught something interesting about that shift.

📊 Among workers, 33 percent say they turn to a financial professional for guidance.

📊 Among retirees, that number climbs to nearly 40 percent.

National Retirement Security Week (October 19–25 this year) is a reminder to check whether your strategy is evolving with your lifestyle priorities.

If retirement is within a few years, the practical step is not rebuilding the strategy today.

It's identifying the two or three moving pieces that are no longer theoretical, the day you stop working, and consider working with a financial professional who can help guide you.

10/16/2026

Have you talked with your kids about what they’ll inherit? 💭

If not, you’re in good company. Fidelity’s 2025 study found that roughly 67 percent of parents 55+ have never told their adult children what they’ll inherit, or whether they’ll inherit anything at all.

The reasons make sense: worry it’ll dampen their drive, or just not wanting to talk about money.

But most adult children say they’re ready. They’d rather hear the “why” behind your decisions from you, while you’re here to explain it.

You don’t have to share numbers. Even a simple conversation helps:
💬 Who are our financial professionals?
💬 Where are the important documents?
💬 What matters most to us, and why?

The conversation can be simple, but it does need to happen. 💛

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

Imagine your phone rings, and it’s your daughter’s voice, panicked, saying she’s been kidnapped and needs money right now. 😟

That happened to a mother in California. But it wasn’t her daughter. It was an AI clone of her voice.

These calls are getting harder to spot. In a 2025 study, people correctly identified a cloned voice only about 60 percent of the time. And it’s not just older adults who get them. Kids and young adults get calls about a “sibling” or “friend” in trouble, too.

Two simple ways to protect your family:

🔐 Pick a private code word with your kids, parents, and spouse. Agree on it in person.
📞 If a call feels off, hang up and call them back on a number you already have saved.

Slow down. Verify. And share this with someone you love. 💛

10/10/2026

Golden aspens, fresh snow on the peaks, and a reminder to pause. 🍂

Seasons change, and so do our lives. New chapters, hard chapters, and the unexpected ones often bring money worries with them. Those worries can weigh on our sleep, our relationships, and our health.

As a certified Behavioral Financial Advisor (BFA™), I’ve found that most money stress comes from the unknown. A little clarity can lighten the load.

This World Mental Health Day, take a beat. Acknowledge what’s shifting, and know that you don’t have to sort it out alone. Talking with a mental health professional, a financial professional, or both can help. 💛

10/09/2026

Breast cancer runs on both sides of my (Amanda's) family. A maternal aunt and a paternal aunt are both long-time survivors, and their stories are a big part of why October matters to me.

For years, my prevention plan was simple: regular screenings. Recently, I went a step further and had a full genetic panel done. The goal wasn’t to worry more. I wanted to understand my own risk well enough that my care could match it.

I approach financial planning the same way. Decisions get easier when you can see the whole picture.

A few small things we can all do this month:

✅ Schedule your annual screening if you haven’t yet
✅ Learn your family history, on both sides, and share it with your doctor
✅ Ask your doctor whether genetic counseling or testing makes sense for you
✅ Support the organizations advancing breast cancer research and care

To my aunts, and to everyone who has walked this road: thank you for showing us what strength looks like. 🎗️