Tag: Personal Finance

FEATURE
How to Avoid Common Estate Planning Mistakes (Ep. 5)

How to Avoid Common Estate Planning Mistakes (Ep. 5)

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We’ve all heard horror stories, or know someone that wasn’t prepared and suffered costly consequences. 

Don’t be that someone.

In this episode, Michelle Gessner, CFP® delves into the world of Estate Planning by sharing stories of common mistakes and provides insight into how you can prepare for the unexpected.

Estate planning is crucial in order to ensure that your hard-earned assets are passed down to your loved ones and that your wishes are carried out. 

Join Michelle as she highlights:

  • The importance of having a sense of urgency when it comes to estate planning
  • Issues with boilerplate wills and why they’re not suitable for everyone
  • How outright distributions from a will can leave your assets vulnerable to lawsuits and creditors
  • The benefits of working with an experienced estate planning attorney to create a customized plan that meets your unique needs and protects your assets
  • And more!

Connect with Michelle: 

About Michelle Gessner: 

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, Michelle is passionate about building a life plan for her clients and helping them see that they have choices, which often comes to them as a pleasant surprise. She is an independent thinker and a huge advocate of her clients’ interests. Her greatest joy is working to do what is right for them and be their voice.

Michelle has a B.S. in Finance from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and an M.S. in Management from Boston University, Brussels. Growing up in Montana and moving to Colorado for college, she took out student loans and worked her way through all four years. After graduating in 1987 with honors, she accepted a job at Shell Oil in Houston, and worked her way up the corporate ladder to a management position before leaving in 1992 for Brussels, Belgium, where she lived for 4 years. In Brussels, she learned about different cultures and basic conversational French as well as pursuing and earning a graduate degree in management. 

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional,  she is held to the highest standards set forth in the industry. She surrounds herself with a back office of experts in tax and investment research so that her clients have the best of both worlds – the resources of a large firm with the caring, dedication, and personal service of a small firm. 

FEATURE
Reducing Tax Rate Risks for Your Retirement (Ep. 3)

Reducing Tax Rate Risks for Your Retirement (Ep. 3)

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In the world of retirement planning, taxes can be a significant expense that are often overlooked. 

In this informative episode, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner Michelle Gessner shares her insights, and dispels common myths about taxes and retirement. 

She highlights the prevalence of pre-tax money in retirement accounts and the mandatory Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from IRAs and 401ks – and potential solutions – so you can reduce tax rate risk. 

Michelle discusses:

  • Why taxes are one of the biggest expenses for retirees
  • How pre-tax retirement money is fully taxable
  • The benefits of Roth 401Ks/403Bs for retirees
  • What you can do now to potentially reduce your taxes in retirement
  • And more

Connect with Michelle: 

About Michelle Gessner: 

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, Michelle is passionate about building a life plan for her clients and helping them see that they have choices, which often comes to them as a pleasant surprise. She is an independent thinker and a huge advocate of her clients’ interests. Her greatest joy is working to do what is right for them and be their voice.

Michelle has a B.S. in Finance from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and an M.S. in Management from Boston University, Brussels. Growing up in Montana and moving to Colorado for college, she took out student loans and worked her way through all four years. After graduating in 1987 with honors, she accepted a job at Shell Oil in Houston, and worked her way up the corporate ladder to a management position before leaving in 1992 for Brussels, Belgium, where she lived for 4 years. In Brussels, she learned about different cultures and basic conversational French as well as pursuing and earning a graduate degree in management. 

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional,  she is held to the highest standards set forth in the industry. She surrounds herself with a back office of experts in tax and investment research so that her clients have the best of both worlds – the resources of a large firm with the caring, dedication, and personal service of a small firm.