The Flyer:

As financial advisors we spend a lot of time talking about retirement planning, but we can also help you navigate a college savings plan that’s best for your family’s situation. Those who make a plan save, on average, twice as much as those who don’t. First, I want to stress that your priority should always be your own retirement savings. There are no loans available for retirement like there are for college. Being a financial burden on your future children is not a legacy you want to leave.

This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Roth IRA account type. We recommended them to clients for the entirety of their existence because of their potential for excellent tax savings and liquidity. It was an uphill climb for a very long time; but after years of pontificating, we finally see a general recognition of the account type and a new interest in utilizing it among our existing and prospective clients. Unfortunately, for the first time in the history of the Roth IRA, Congress is threatening to create new restrictions. This makes it even more important to include Roths in your retirement planning sooner than later.

Recently the inflation rate hit a 40-year high of 8.6%. Unfortunately, inflation is an economic force that's largely beyond our control. At the same time, inflation is personal. We all feel its effects differently depending on how we earn or spend.

In Black Fortunes, journalist Shomari Wills tells the story of the first six African-American millionaires in the United States. After emancipation, most of the jobs available to Black Americans paid poorly. Domestic labor and sharecropping made up the vast majority of available employment. How did these six people break out and find an opportunity to make their fortunes? Most found their way through entrepreneurship. Like many Americans at the time, they benefited from the various booms of the 19th century - the whaling boom in the early 1800s in Nantucket, the mid-century gold rush in California, and the oil boom and land grabs of the later 1800s in Oklahoma.