Latest From Our Blog

A 90-second read by Anthony Benante: The first thing you need to do to see if you qualify for financial aid is fill out the FAFSA form: In order to apply for financial aid, you must complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form. There are certain criteria to first apply for financial aid – Go to the Federal Student Aid website – https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa to see that you meet all required criteria to apply.

A 60-Second Read by Anthony Benante, CFA: Though everyone’s financial situation, or what we call your personal economy, is different, developing the right investment strategy starts with identifying your risk profile. To do this you need to determine your willingness to take risk and your ability to take risk.

One of the easiest ways to gift money to a charity in your estate plan is to name the charity as a beneficiary on your IRA or 401(k). Upon your death, the beneficiary designated on an IRA or 401(k) will receive their percentage of the assets very quickly. In addition, the designated beneficiary is independent of the will.

You may have a stock in your brokerage account that has a very large gain since you originally purchased it. If you were to go and sell the stock, outside of a retirement account, you would pay taxes on the profit you made on the investment. This is called a “capital gain”.

For many of us, our four-legged companions have become a part of our families. Perhaps you have thought about whether pet insurance is something you should consider for your pet, but don’t know much about it.

This time of year it is not uncommon to find yourself burdened with an abundance of credit card debt. The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) provides this list of their top six tips to help you come out from under the weight of credit card debt.

Many young people face the dilemma of looking to purchase a home while still having student loan obligations. For example, you might question, is it better to pay off the student loan in its entirety and then work towards saving for a home purchase? Or continue paying off the student loan while saving for the home purchase?

A 30-second read by the Baron Team: At Baron Financial Group, we are committed to education and further advancing our knowledge of the industry to best serve our clients. In November 2018, one of our Baron team members, Victoria Cannillo, earned the CFA Institute Investment Foundations® certificate from the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst®) Institute to help with her role as a financial analyst as well as a member of our internal investment committee.

When you are planning to fund your child’s college education, the 529 plan can provide several tax-benefits for your savings. A 529 plan is a plan operated by a state or educational institution, with tax advantages and potentially other incentives to make it easier to save for college and other post-secondary training, or for tuition in connection with enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary public, private, or religious school for a designated beneficiary, such as a child or grandchild.

A 30-second read by the Baron Team: As Financial Advisors, it is our responsibility to protect all of our clients from financial abuse, if possible, but it is the senior client that may be the most susceptible and needs our protection. Unfortunately, they may become victims of financial abuse at the hands of their caregivers or family members. Often, abusers isolate their victims from loved ones or professionals in order to hide their fraudulent activity. If you have a client or know someone that you suspect is a victim of abuse (of any kind), Aginginvestor.com provided these “Three things to do if you think your client is being isolated from others”:

As you prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Florence, we thought this Red Cross checklist would be a helpful resource. If you click on the picture see the complete document.

A 30-second read by the Baron Team: What is a fake check scam?: According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a fake check scam is when “someone sends you a check with instructions to deposit the check and wire some or all of the money back.”