Jeopardy! for the Win!!! While watching Jeopardy! a few weeks back, there was a young woman, who just became that rounds new Jeopardy! champ. To her shock and disbelief after winning Final Jeopardy!, and being declared the new Jeopardy! Champion winning roughly $32,000 for that night, her reaction was, “I can pay off my student loans”. Jumping forward a few weeks later, this young lady is still the Jeopardy! champion, has qualified for the next tournament of champions, can pay off her student loans more than 10 times now, and all at the age of 23. First, I want to say congratulations to her on this accomplishment, but second, I want to point out the forethought of this 23-year-old. After winning just over $30,000, her immediate thought was to pay off her student loans. With the current discussion of possible loan forgiveness, and the recent extension for some loans to be postponed until September, the idea of using her winnings to pay off her student loans is the exact mindset everyone should be taking with their loans right now. Yes, there is talk of student loans being forgiven by the current administration. But that talk has been happening for quite a while now (this being the 6th extension granted since the Covid-19 Pandemic started two years ago), and is not a sure bet. Have ever heard the saying, “Don’t count your chickens until the eggs have hatched”? Regardless if you have or haven’t heard this saying, it is something you should keep in mind while planning on how to pay off these loans. Because you cannot plan on these loans being forgiven, or even extended again. So rather than feeling the purse strings tighten, and a sense of anxiety come over you when they finally do activate payments again, wouldn’t you rather feel more at peace knowing you have money in the bank, with a plan of attack? What is my plan of attack? Of course, we all wish we could win $32,000 on a game show and not need to worry any further, but unfortunately, that doesn’t seem like the likely scenario for many of us. Our advice at Whitaker-Myers Wealth Managers is to continue to save and put money towards those student loans during this time “off”. If you can afford it, take the minimum payments you owe each month on your student loans, and put those dollars in a sinking fund titled “Student Loans”. House your money in this savings account, knowing it has a short-term purpose. This way, you are setting aside the money you will eventually have to pay (mind you without the interest tied to it at this time), and putting it in a place with a purpose, not tempting you to spend it on something for the here and now. If you have other bills or debt that you would like to try and pay off during this grace period, that is fine and understandable, but we suggest you still try to put a little something away each month towards these loans to give you a leg up vs. trying to rearrange things once they become active again. Remember, every little bit helps for the big, long-term goal. Why should I save now if I don’t have to pay now, or they will just be forgiven in the end? Because only 1 of 2 positives will come from this. Let’s review each scenario and see how putting money aside today, will be a benefit to you in the future. Scenario 1: Loans are not forgiven but activated in September 2022 Let’s say your minimum loan payment is $450 a month. This is the beginning of May. If you put $450 away each month through May, June, July, and August to start paying in September 2022, you have saved $1,800 interest free dollars that you can throw at your loans right away. You’ll actually be ahead with paying off your loans, because you’ve been able to throw a large dollar amount at them with no interest attached to it, saving you more dollars in the end. Scenario 2: Loans are forgiven and you do not need to pay on them anymore Let’s go with the same details as above. Your minimum loan payment is $450 a month. This is the beginning of May. If you put $450 away each month through May, June, July, and August 2022, you have saved $1,800 interest free dollars. You can now put this right into your bank account – OR – You can now apply this to your debt snowball if you have any other outstanding debt. The end lesson is – it is still a win-win scenario for you. But you still have to put in the work. As I have said earlier, you cannot bank on your loans being forgiven. All you can do is plan accordingly and give yourself the best advantage of this time “off” opportunity. Yes, I am sure many of those who have this time “off” are daydreaming of other ways they can “spend that money now”, but the reality is, it should still be going towards those student loans. Because when the time comes around that they reactive those loan payments, are you going to still be okay with the purchases you made with “all the extra money” you had these last few months, or are you going to wish you had started to put it aside to pay off the loans that are now knocking at your front door again? If the answer is no, or even an “I don’t know”, the solution is to start saving and putting money aside today. So then when, and only IF, that day does happen that they forgive your student loans, it’s like you’re giving yourself an unforeseen bonus with all that money you have already set aside. If you have questions about how to handle your specific student loans situation or you need help prioritizing your debt, or finding ways to save in your monthly budget, visit our website and see how our financial coaching can help you today!

The year was 2007. I was a fresh, motivated young man. I was about a year and half away from finishing college and received a job offer with a super-regional bank, in their private banking group, that was going to push me towards my ultimate goal of becoming a Financial Planner. What could stop me, right? How about the entire financial world getting taken to its knees because of the mortgage crisis? The stock market making a nearly 50% drop, large national banks like Wachovia, Washington Mutual and Penny Mac becoming insolvent. Long standing Wall Street Firms Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers collapsing. And here I was, 22 and trying to make sense of it all. There were so many positives and negatives to starting my career during such a tumultuous time, however the one thing that still sticks with me today is how one particular Advisor I worked with, seemed to always stay positive and his clients LOVED him for that. As a matter of fact, irrespective of the crisis they were living through, clients were referring their friends and family, to this gentleman at a breakneck pace. “Come invest and do your financial planning with my guy” they’d say, “the stock market isn’t good but he'll get you on the path to success when it rebounds.” And the great thing was – they believed and trusted him. And guess what – it did get better. Of course, I had to know his secret sauce and he was gracious to give me sage advice. It was simple: Faith and The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. This Advisor told me, “This book will help you to improve your personal and professional relationships, break the habit of worry and develop the power to reach your goals. These are all things your clients will appreciate in you.” He was right! As I searched the Scriptures, I came to learn the mentality of positive thinking is Biblical. I’m not talking about prosperity gospel positive thinking, however the type of positive thinking that helps me to understand everything is going to be ok and not worry about the uncontrollable. Let’s dive into some positive, critical thinking below, regarding today’s markets. First, I’ll set the table for where we’re at today. As I write this, May 9th 2022, the market has certainly taken a breather with Growth Stocks (Nasdaq) down 25.71%, Aggressive Growth Stocks (Russell 2500) down 18.64% and the S&P 500 (blend of Growth / Growth & Income) down 16.26%. Even the safer side of a retiree’s investment portfolio (Bonds / Fixed Income) has seen a 10.11% loss YTD. Much of this year’s pain has been brought, as a result of rapidly rising interest rates, which serve as competition to stocks. January 3rd, the 10-year treasury was trading at 1.52% and today it closed at 3.12%. This is a level we haven’t seen since November 5th, 2018, which interesting enough was the middle of another 20% drop (which subsequently recovered early in 2019). That’s a big move for interest rates in less than 5 months. Despite the headwinds, I continue to believe that stocks provide our clients the best opportunity for long term returns for their retirement and non-retirement investment portfolios. Simultaneously, we believe for retired clients, stocks, along with a diversified fixed income portfolio and potentially real estate exposure (either through your primary residence, rental properties or commercial real estate REITS) provide you with a diversified basket of assets for long term planning. Much like the book, The Power of Positive Thinking, taught me your circumstance today does not define you indefinity, the stock market losses today do not negate its long-term wealth building power! Remember, it’s giving you the ability to invest in some of the greatest companies the world has ever seen! Let’s dive into a few pieces I found instructive regarding the forward-looking outlook. First Trust: Reducing Our Stock Market Forecasts Granted, I understand the title might scare you a bit. However, to start 2022 almost every investment firm had a positive price target on the S&P 500 for 2022. Early on, the market looked promising however that quickly faded. Now nearly 5 months into the year, firms are starting to reassess their 2022 Investment Outlooks. First Trust, to start the year, had a price target for the S&P 500 at 5,250, which seems extremely unlikely at this point, including in their own updated models. They use a Capitalized Profits Model which takes into account future expected corporate profits and current invest rates to put a fair value target on the market. They like many did not see The Federal Reserve, being so aggressive with interest rates in 2022 to combat ongoing inflation, and therefore have now updated their model to include a 10-year treasury at or around 3.13% which has given them a fair value on the S&P 500 at 4,100 (today it closed at 3,991). When their model says the stock market is fairly valued – as it is today, that means there is an equal chance it could go up or down from here. However, they point to a few reasons they feel it may outperform to end the year: Recession: The market is pricing in a recession soon however employment is strong, wage growth is happening. There seems to be little consensus among experts there will be a recession in 2022. Most of the research I’m reading expects a recession in the neighborhood of summer 2024. War: Investors are still concerned about World War III. It seems Russia has understood that invading Ukraine has cost them and their economy so much already, they won’t escalate their aggression into other countries, consequently triggering NATO’s call for mutual defense. As it becomes more clear Russian aggression will be contained within Ukraine the market should price that in. Republican Sweep: First Trust expects the House to take 247 seats which would be near the post-World War II high water mark. Additionally, they expect the Republicans to take 53 Senate seats. They don’t mean to say here that just because Republicans win, the stock market will rise however, they realize this will create divided Government with a Democrat in the White House and the corporate tax agenda would become dead on arrival in the legislature, protecting the Job and Tax Act of 2017, including corporate tax cuts. Add those three market positive events along with their Capitalized Profit Model and they currently expect an equity rally to end the year, perhaps reaching 4,900. That’d be a 25% increase from today’s closing price You can read the full report from First Trust here. JP Morgan Guide to the Markets Charts Each month JP Morgan updates their Guide to the Market. It’s an extremely valuable tool, if you like to look at charts to understand where things are at economically or from a stock market point of view. For this month I’ll highlight three charts I found instructive: Corporate Profits and Sources of Total Return The chart can be seen here. We know the primary reason a stock will rise long term is the growth of the companies’ earnings. Just as your income, is what allows you to build wealth, a company’s earnings are what will move their stock price up or down, long term. You can see going into 2023 and 2024, currently the consensus of analysts is a fair amount of earnings growth, nearly reaching $275 / share by 2024. Additionally, you can see on the chart to the right, so far in 2022 we’ve seen 5.2% earnings growth, however a negative S&P 500 of 13.33% at that point, which is tied to the higher interest rates we spoke about above. Sources of Earnings Per Share Growth The chart can be seen here. To date in 2022, Earnings Per Share Growth has reached 8.8% primary driven by revenue growth and a slight bump because of share buybacks (share count). Improvement in profit margin, which was extremely high last year thanks to inflation allowing companies to pass along much more price increase than they actually had within their business, has taken a breather this year, but overall, earnings per share growth is within a historical norm. Annual Returns and Intra-Year Declines The chart can be seen here. As Dave Ramsey says, “if the material I’m presenting can make it from your head to your heart, your life will be changed.” That’s how I feel about this chart. The average intra-year decline, meaning how deep a negative got within any given year, over the last 42 years, was -14% (we are currently at -16%). The stock market was still positive in 32 of those 42 years. In 2010 the market dropped 16% only to end the year up 13%. In 2011 the market dropped 19% only to end the year flat. Point is, you don’t know where the market will end the year, but you do know over time, companies have proven their ability to drive growth and improve their earnings, which will make its way to their stock performance. The only guarantee, is the guarantee of a loss, if you were to sell today. Don’t jump off the roller coaster in the middle of the ride. Don’t make a decision you’ll regret in 10 years. The market is dynamic and there are many things that are unknown in the future. However, what you can control is your mindset, just as I learned so early from a great mentor and wonderful book I try and read every year. Remember above when I mentioned positive thinking is Biblical? Let me explain why. Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.” Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Americans are not saving enough! Based on the latest statistics from a large national investment company, Americans savings are far below what your means will be at the ideal retirement of your early to mid 60s. This article will focus on what the data shows, what you will need to retire, how you can increase your savings, and what tools and services Whitaker Myers Wealth Management provides to help! Below you'll find the average savings rates and current amount saved, on average, for Americans in their 30's, 40's, 50's & 60's. The numbers present an upside down situation. Meaning, savings rates increase with age, but in reality the more you can save at younger age, the less you have to save when you're older. Remember Dave Ramsey's example of Ben & Arthur? Let's see what Americans are currently saving.... Age 30 The average savings in retirement is $38,400 with a contribution rate of 8%. At this point in your life, you should be in a field or job that you will stay in till retirement. Not saying that you should not leave and follow your dreams. But if you are to change careers, it should be a step up from your current position. Aka, more money, better benefits, higher positions. But at this stage, you should have your career field established and working to be the best (fill in the blank) to ever do it! Age 40 The average savings in retirement is $93,400 with a contribution rate of 8%. This figure is very low for this age bracket. If you are following the Dave Ramsey Baby steps, your debts should be paid off and have a minimum 15% put away in the retirement (Baby Step 4-6). At this stage in your career, you are established and have progressed in your field to a respectable position. With said progress, promotions and pay increases have increased your wealth. While not suggesting all of the additional wealth goes into savings, your annual contribution should be higher than that ten years ago. Age 50 The average savings in retirement is $160,000 with a contribution rate of 10%. You are getting close to the finish line in your work career. Do you have enough in savings? According to this data, no way! Did you notice how contribution rates increased between the age groups of 40 to 50? It went from (on average) 8% to 10% contribution rates? People are getting nervous about their savings and noticing that they do not have enough to retire. Therefore their reaction is increasing their contributions. Age 60 The average savings in retirement is $182,100 with a contribution rate of 11%. Can you retire on $182,100? It depends on your lifestyle but this amount of assets would only produce $600 / month of income (based on the 4% rule) therefore with a Social Security Benefit of $2,000, you’d better be debt free. A savings amount at this level, could force you to continue to work into your later years, which is ok for some individuals. But you should not need to work in your 70s and 80s. Get Back on Track - 15% of Income Towards Retirement What if I review the data above and realize that I am currently average? There is a plan! It’s called the Baby Steps and we recommend you begin to follow those steps with gazelle intensity. The sooner you work through Baby Steps 1, 2 & 3, the sooner you’ll be able to start contributing 15% of your household income towards retirement and getting those retirement numbers up to where they need to be. However, the older you are, there is less time to leave to chance, which is why we recommend hiring a Financial Coach. Whitaker-Myers Wealth Managers has a Ramsey Solutions Master Series trained coach on staff to help you work through Baby Steps 1, 2, & 3 and be that in house accountability partner you and your spouse are looking for! “Financial Coaching is all about helping you become better with your finances. In the world where most financial advisors have a minimum investment size finding someone who can help you deal with the burdens of debt, help you achieve money goals outside of investing or just help you improve your marriage, because as we know money fights and issues are one of the major causes of divorce in America, financial coaching is here to help! Whitaker-Myers Wealth Managers Mission states that we, "strive to have the heart of a teacher, so that we can empower and equip people with the knowledge and tools they need to be able to achieve their goals and feel confident about their financial future. We do this by providing integrity-based financial planning and investment advisory services that are tailored to the specific needs, goals and values of each client." Hence, to further this mission, we launched Whitaker-Myers Financial Coaching to help those individuals and families that had no investable assets but wanted to improve their lives financially and holistically.” -Whitaker Myers Website Our Certified Ramsey Solutions Master Coach, Lindsey Curry, will work with any unique situation and develop a plan to get you debt free and build wealth. Yes, there is a subscription cost. Think of a health coach. You’re paying for someone to help you get healthier and for them to develop a personal plan to reach your goals that you cannot get on your own. Not to mention the experience and knowledge they can provide. Lindsey provides just that, just in the realm of your personal finances. For more information, please visit our financial coaching website to view in more detail. You may email Lindsey at lcurry@whitakermyerswealth.com or call her at 330.345.5000 ext. 317.

What is Taking Place in the Economy and Markets? The year 2022 has reminded us that markets can be volatile. So why now are we seeing such high volatility in the markets for the year 2022? This one word that we, the consumers, are feeling on a day-to-day basis, Inflation. Since the Covid-19 pandemic begun here in the United States, the Federal Reserve began stimulating the economy, as we all remember those months in 2020 where only “essential workers” reported for work, stimulating the economy was deemed appropriate. We saw this in the form of stimulus checks, the increasing amount and pre-payment of the child tax credit, forgivable paycheck protection loans (PPP loans), dropping interest rates, and the consistent buying of bonds from the Federal Reserve. These accommodative actions have put more cash into Americans’ pockets, and with a record high savings rate in the months of 2020, Americans were ready to spend. As a result of the stimulus and supply chain issues, we are seeing the highest inflation since 1981 (8.5% year-over-year based upon the latest CPI data released on April 12th, 2022). Most noticeably, in the housing market, the used car market and energy market. The Federal Reserve has now committed to stopping the stimulus and combat inflation as one of its core missions. So, it will begin to tighten the economy, which we have seen by raising interest rates and the tapering/final purchase of bonds the Federal Reserve was making. This is now having its effect on asset classes. Stocks and Fixed Income Stocks The reaction to the Federal Reserve’s talks of tightening the economy has led to stocks catching their breath in 2022, seeing modest declines from the index's all-time highs. As of 4/15/2022, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, down –6.8%. The S&P 500 Index, which tracks the 500 largest companies in the United States, down -8.8%. The NASDAQ, which tracks large growth companies and predominantly tech, down –17.2%. And the Russell 2000, which tracks small companies, down –18.6%. Fixed Income With rising interest rates, comes rising yields, and fixed income has taken a hit this year. In its fundamental form, the reason that fixed income prices fall in the environments of rising rates, is because when yields rise, purchasers sell off their current fixed income at low rates, and then purchase the new issued fixed income offerings at higher rates. So, in the short-term, this does adversely affect bond prices, but in the long run, the purchaser will begin seeing the benefits of rising yields. The Vanguard Americas Chief Economist, Roger Aliaga-Diaz, states “Investors should stay forward-looking: At current higher yields, the outlook for bonds is actually better than before yields went up. Bear in mind that the upside of higher yields—greater interest income—is coming. Also, the odds of future capital losses decline as yields increase. So now is not the time to abandon bond allocations.” What Should You Focus On? Volatility happens in markets, and it’s not easy to watch your portfolio go through the market’s choppiness. So, focusing on the following sure helps: Staying Focused on the Long-Term Dave Ramsey says “make decisions now, that you would be proud of in 10-years.” Can equities be choppy in the short-term? Of course. History has shown staying patient in the markets and having a diversified strategy that aligns to your goals pays off. Making emotionally driven decisions has hurt investors, which is why discipline is such an important factor here at Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers. Say No to Market Timing It seems like everybody has their own special way of timing the market and getting in and out, and this will somehow save you. Market timing is entertaining, do you know what is not? Disciplined investing. Buying and holding diversified funds that line up with your risk tolerance and goals, isn’t talked about too much on social media, or mainstream platforms, ever noticed that? It’s almost like foundationally strong, disciplined investing is boring. So why has disciplined, long-term investing worked even though, time and time again, there has been a reason to get out investing your wealth? See below for an article on focusing on the long term by Josh Brown, the CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management. Victims - The Reformed Broker Achieving your Financial Goals Market volatility may grab your attention. But do not let it shake you from achieving the financial goals you have laid out for yourself in the short-term. If your goal is to build your retirement, cut through the noise and save that % of your income that you had made a goal. If you are planning your estate for generational wealth, continue to update and complete your estate plan. If you are aiming to be debt free, keep that gazelle intensity when pushing yourself. If you’re saving for education, continue to fund that education savings vehicle. Whatever your unique goals are, strive to accomplish them, be in control of your plan. What is Your Wealth Management Team Focusing on? Rebalancing as Scheduled Rebalancing is just as important now as it ever was. The reason we diversify portfolios is because we aren’t willing to take our guess as to which sector of the market will outperform the others. So, when the economical landscape changes, rebalancing allows you to align your portfolio equally to each of the sectors within your investment strategy. Positioning the client more appropriately for market cycles. Distribution Planning A significant role advisors play, pulling back the curtains and monitoring fund management within the portfolio. For those taking distributions, avoiding sequence of return risk is vital, that is, avoiding selling funds at a loss and hurting the long-term compounding effect on your portfolio. So, strategically analyzing the funds within the portfolio and preparing distributions becomes vital. Roth Conversions You may be thinking how do Roth conversions and market volatility play hand-in-hand? When there are periods of negative stock market returns, it lowers your overall account value, something none of us want, but it's inevitable when investing in the markets. At these lower dollar amounts, Roth conversions become much more attractive as you convert them to a vehicle that will allow for tax-free growth and recovery with the market, so long as it is a qualified distribution. As this is a case-by-case basis, it is important to understand your applicable tax bracket when converting any portion of your account as these conversions are taxable. Consult with a tax professional before converting pre-tax funds into Roth funds. Tax-Loss Harvesting Tax-loss harvesting is applicable for a taxable investment, such as a brokerage account. When volatility in the market presents itself, it allows for more flexibility of the selling and buying of funds in this brokerage account. In example, if Fund A was bought at $1,000 and over the last year it has grown to $1,200, when sold, the gain of $200 would be taxed as a long-term capital gain and added to your taxes as applicable and according to the long-term capital gains tax rate. If within this same portfolio, you had Fund B, and you purchased at $1,000, a year later fell to $800, you can simultaneously sell fund B resulting in a long-term capital loss. When these two sales are combined, it results in no taxable capital gains for the year ($200 gain and $200 loss offset each other). This could allow for proper rebalancing of a taxable account without incurring large capital gains across the board. The IRS allows for $3,000 a year for an above-the-line tax deduction when reporting capital losses, while the rest is carried forward, allowing for tax planning opportunities. Sales of funds within a brokerage account should not be acted upon without consulting a financial professional and understanding tax consequences. All that to say, investing in the markets can feel like a roller coaster (thank you for that saying Dave Ramsey), keeping a cool head, knowing your goals, understanding the level of risk you’re taking, as well as your time horizon will allow you to prevail choppy times. As the old saying goes, “time in the market, beats timing the market”. Staying consistent with your plan will pay off. Links used to comprise this article: Current US Inflation Rates: 2000-2022 | US Inflation Calculator Victims - The Reformed Broker Rising rates don’t negate benefits of bonds (vanguard.com)

Working for a publicly traded company and having the opportunity to purchase company stock in your retirement plan has many benefits. Not only do you get to reap the benefits of your hard work but knowing you have a stake in the company directly leads to working harder and taking more pride in your work and pride in your company. Your company knows this; that is why they offer company stock in your retirement plan. Being proud of your work and company you work for is great but it often leads to biases that can be detrimental and sometimes catastrophic to retirement assets. “My company won’t go out of business.” is probably the most common sentiment of people who are grossly overweight in their own company stock. The fact of the matter is that companies, no matter how profitable they are can and likely will fail. Even Jeff Bezos, Executive Chair and founder of Amazon.com was quoted during an interview saying “I predict one day Amazon will fail”. When a company becomes financially upside down and their assets outweigh their liabilities to a point of no return, they will file for bankruptcy and their stock price goes to zero dollars. That means, any stock you have in that company all of the sudden has no value. If this is stock in the company you work for, not only are you out whatever your investment was but you likely will be laid off at the same time. Some factors that cause companies to fail include: economic issues, management decisions, fraud, competition, technology, legislation, consumer interest changes, etc. Here are a few examples of corporations that filed for bankruptcy much to the surprise of many investors AND employees: Lehman Brothers Total assets at bankruptcy: $691.1 Billion Date of bankruptcy: September 15, 2008 Lehman Brothers at the time was the fourth largest investment bank in the United States, employed 25,000 people and had been in business for 158 years before filing for bankruptcy in 2008. Their downfall came from 3 factors. They were involved in the sub-prime mortgage lending crisis, assets were downgraded by credit agencies and consumer confidence was lost causing the stock price to drastically fall forcing Lehman Brothers to file for bankruptcy. Worldcom Total assets at bankruptcy: $103.9 Billion Date of bankruptcy: July 21, 2002 Worldcom was the second largest telecommunications company in the United States and employed 80,000 people. The corporation was caught up in an accounting scandal where they were using illegal accounting methods to hide a loss of earnings. The consequence of these illegal practices led to the company filing for bankruptcy. General Motors Total assets at bankruptcy: $82.3 Billion Date of bankruptcy: June 1, 2009 Poor management decisions basically led to General Motors failing. According to Harvard Business Review, they were too slow to innovate because of their size, they were too bureaucratic and unable to adjust to changing markets and their dealer network was too large. They were almost forced into bankruptcy in 1991 when they posted a $4.45 billion loss. In 2009 they did not have enough cash flow to stay afloat during the 2008 recession. They received a $40 billion bailout from the United States Government which caused them to have to re-structure the entire company. Even if a company does not go out of business or seems “too big to fail” (which the previous examples should close the book on that) they can still falter during your lifetime. If you are overweight in any stock including your own company stock, one of these falters at the wrong time can be detrimental to your overall portfolio if not still catastrophic. So, how much of your retirement portfolio should be allocated to company stock? A general rule of thumb is no more than 10%. The correct allocation for you will depend on your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon. If you are younger, have a longer time horizon to retirement and willing to take on more risk; 10% of assets allocated to company stock would be fine. If your risk tolerance is low, you are older or already retired and need to focus on asset preservation rather than growth then your allocation of company stock should be lower. If you are a client of Whitaker-Myers Wealth Managers, you likely know your current goals, risk tolerance and time horizon. If you are a prospective client, let’s schedule a meeting and discuss these topics and how it pertains to your particular situation. Goals, risk tolerance and time horizon also change throughout your life. Having an advisor in your corner to keep your portfolio in check with these factors is crucial to a successful retirement plan.

The time has come to make the next big decision for your future. You have a steady job, making a decent income, and either want to start putting money towards your retirement, or already have and maybe want to contribute more so you know you have enough for your future. But you also have a looming cloud over your head called debt. And you’re trying to figure out why sometimes even just making monthly payments, and juggling money seems like a confusing hassle. Are you trying to do too much all at once? Trying to do it all may makes you feel like you are running in circles. And you are not alone in this as many Americans struggle with trying to get out of debt, “Keep up with the Jones’”, and just try to get by from paycheck to paycheck. But what if you don’t want to live like this anymore? What if you want to be in control of where your money goes, how it’s spent and where it’s saved? Are you asking yourself “How do I accomplish this? What should I do? Or how do I do this?” If you are familiar with Dave Ramsey and the 7 Baby Steps, you already know the answer. If you aren’t familiar with the Dave Ramsey plan, check out the article Crawl, Walk, and then Run to Financial Peace which can be found in the “Blog” area on the Whitaker-Myers website. In the meantime, below are the 7 Baby steps listed in order: Baby Step 1: Save $1,000 for your starter emergency fund. Baby Step 2: Pay off all debt (except the house) using the debt snowball. Baby Step 3: Save 3–6 months of expenses in a fully funded emergency fund. Baby Step 4: Invest 15% of your household income in retirement. Baby Step 5: Save for your children’s college fund. Baby Step 6: Pay off your home early. Baby Step 7: Build wealth and give. As you can see, paying off all your debt (other than your mortgage) is listed as number 2 in his plan, and comes before investing for retirement, and any children’s college fund(s). The reason for this is because you want all the ancillary income you have, to go straight to your debt, throwing everything you have at it. Trying to get out of debt as quickly as you can. We’re talking running as fast as an animal racing for its life mentality. Which is why you must be a gazelle first before you can be “king of the pride land”. If I want to be “king of the pride land”, why must I be a gazelle first? So maybe saying you want to be “king of the pride land” is going a little far (and maybe pulling from a 1990’s Disney quote), but the metaphor is there. You want to be in power of your surroundings, feeling comfortable with your home, and maybe being able to indulge in a luxury or two as a king would. Meaning, you have NO DEBT to worry about and can enjoy the finer things (or even day to day things) in life more care free. So, the question, why must you be a gazelle first though? Come with me and I’ll explain…… Similar to a gazelle trying to out run the lion, cheetah or even the leopard to save its life, you must throw all of your energy into trying to pay off debt. The first place to look when trying to pay off debt is going to be your budget and start asking yourself these questions: Where am I overspending? Where can I decrease spending? Can I cancel this subscription or membership until my debt is paid off? Can we cut back on groceries by $25 or more this month? Am I able to limit myself to going out to eat just once or at most twice a month? Do I really need to buy that shirt this week? But a question a lot of you may not be asking yourself is…… Should I stop investing while I pay off my debt? The answer is not always cut and dry for everyone. And to some, it might seem counter-productive. “Not save for my future? How will I be okay?” Obviously, we know taking care of your future, and investing is something we at Whitaker-Myers Wealth Managers will always encourage someone to do. However, taking a short time to pause and focus on throwing everything you can at your debt to get that paid off, could be more beneficial than trying to invest and pay off debt at the same time. Let’s do some simple math: Your combined debt is $20,000 (this includes student loans, credit card, car payment, etc.) with an average interest rate of 6%. You spend $250 a month towards your debt and $250 towards investments (total $500 monthly). To pay off the $20,000 debt, it would take you just under 8.5 years to pay off (101 months to be exact). Take the same $20,000 of debt and 6% interest rate. Now spend $500 a month towards your debt while you are pausing your investing. To pay off that same $20,000 in debt, now it will only take you just over 3.5 years to pay off (43 months). You literally gained 5 years of being out of debt! That is HUGE! Now you are able to take that now freed up $500 (that you were putting towards your debt) and start putting THAT towards investing. And that is just with the money you stopped putting towards your investments. What if you became REALLY gazelle intense? What is “Gazelle Intense” again? Remember gazelle intense is “running for your life to get out of debt” mentality. Which means, you start doing things to get yourself out of debt as fast as possible. You cut back on your eating out budget to ZERO. You figure out a way to make your grocery line budget come down $100 a month by adapting the “rice and beans” menu planning and seeing where you can save by creating less expensive menus. (For tips on this check out another article on our blog called Gas. Groceries. And Growing Price Increases!) You start selling things around your house you no longer need or want. You pick up a side hustle cleaning houses on the weekends, or driving for UBER or LYFT. Have any natural talents like playing the piano? Maybe start teaching lessons for extra side money. The point is, start seeing where there are extra ways to put money in your bank account today. I’m not saying some of these are going to take away some extra free time, or be hard work, but if you can sacrifice doing these for 1-2 years to be out of debt faster, wouldn’t it be worth it vs. being stressed out, wondering if a check is going to bounce or not as you pay off your debt for the next 8-9 years? And once you are out of debt, you can start to resume your investing, not only earlier, but also at a higher dollar amount than you were before, which in the long run, is setting yourself up for a more comfortable and safe feeling future. So, if you find yourself asking the question: Pay off debt, or save for my future? The key is running the numbers, talking to your trusted financial advisor, and ultimately doing what is best for you. However, if you do decide to pause on investing to focus on paying off your debt, remember to do it with gazelle intensity. As Dave says, “Your income is your greatest wealth-building tool”, so make sure you are using it to your advantage and using all that is available for you to build and save, rather than seeing it go towards others as you slowly pay off your debt. If pausing your investments sounds like something you’d like to do, we encourage you to talk to one of our financial advisors. You can view and schedule a meeting with them at a time that works best for you and your schedule by visiting the Whitaker-Myers website.

The financial world can be notorious for a reputation of confusion, conspiracy and corruption. While such a status will follow any occupation, when it comes to finances, we are most vulnerable and any fraudulent advice can cause a devastating ripple effect. Almost everyone has heard a horror story of an innocent client who had placed their complete investment savings and trust in an advisor just to find out that he or she was completely taken advantage of by self-serving investment recommendations that could only benefit the advisor. Such dishonesty and deception swindled the client out of life savings which would ultimately lead to a loss of livelihood. Thankfully, these stories can be far and few between, but so many are not exempted from such exploitation. My personal “horror” story comes from my grandpa. A financial advisor told my grandpa that the stock market was to volatile and that he needed to invest a significant amount of his savings for retirement in rare coins, multiple insurance products, and inappropriate single stock recommendations. The financial advisor persuasively convinced my grandpa that this was sound investment advice and it was the only way to bring stability to his savings for retirement and to secure his financial future. Several years later, as my grandpa was preparing to retire, he was devastated by the hundreds of thousands of dollars lost through undelivered and underperformed investments. As of today, there are approximately 8,000 different mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETF) to choose between. According to CNBC, out of those 8,000, 92% of the funds underperform their targeted index. Armed with this knowledge, it begs the following questions; What type of advisor places clients in these underperforming funds? How do the underperforming funds survive in the market? The answer is quite easy, kick-backs! Many of these underperforming funds provide advisors and companies profit sharing and other benefits to place clients within these funds. To help protect innocent clients, the Securities and Exchange Committee has created different standards of care for advisors to follow. Suitability Standard Advisors who follow the Suitability Standard are required to place you in investments that are “suitable”. Unfortunately, this still allows advisors to place you the client within funds that are performing poorly, but, provides them with a great commission. Fiduciary Standard Advisors who follow the Fiduciary Standard are Legally bound to act in your best interest. Fiduciary advisors charge a transparent flat rate fee, generally billed quarterly. This prevents them from using funds that give advisors kickbacks. When it’s broken down, the only way for the Fiduciary advisor to get a raise, it to place you the client into funds that are going to increase your assets. At Whitaker-Myers Wealth Managers, we follow the Fiduciary Standard for caring for our clients and managing their assets. In doing this, we make our fee structure easy to understand and don’t hit clients with unnecessary fees or commissions. This flat fee is based on the amount of Assets that we manage for your account. No transaction fees, No hourly fee for meetings, No Per-Plan Fee, No flat annual fee. On top of having no hidden fees, we do not have any incentive to place you in Mutual Funds from specific companies. Our only incentive is to put you in a fund that has a history of outperforming its targeted index. This is truly what is BEST for clients! If we want to increase our pay, it does not matter how many trades we make, or kickbacks from Mutual Funds. Our revenue increased by making your assets increase. Commission Advisors: There are plenty of well-meaning Financial Advisors out there who work under the Commission model and have to follow the Suitability Standard. The problem as a consumer who uses a Commission based advisor is the constant questions: Are the making this trade in my best interest? Are they making more trades than a traditional financial advisor? Which then starts to add doubt to the integrity of the advisor, then has you as the consumer constantly concerned about the finances you plan on using in retirement. Adding undo stress and anxiety to your current life. Forbes - 5 Things To Look For When Picking a Financial Advisor US News - How to Choose the Right Financial Advisor Investopedia - Finding a Financial Advisor or Planner

There are so many cliches I could start out with, when thinking about writing this article. Would you ever sail the Atlantic without a map? Would you ever begin a road trip across the country without some variation of guidance (phone, map, GPS)? If you went to college, typically your guidance counselor or academic advisor gave you the road path of classes that would lead to your eventual graduation. Yet, the “investment” community, wants to you to invest with them, many times without ever creating or planning for your future. If they do create a plan, it does with little ability to teach you, the main focus of the plan, what you need to do now and in the future. We’ve always tried to buck this trend, regardless of the size and complexity of the client. Sure, the client that has more assets has quite a bit more planning complexities and opportunities for the advisor to add value, however the person that is right out of debt (Baby Step 3-4) should, in our opinion, still be given the right to understand exactly how their retirement funding should be allocated (Baby Step 4) in a very specific manner (what amount to Roth IRA vs 401(k) vs. non-retirement bridge (brokerage) accounts. Additionally, all of them should be given an idea of the approx. net worth range they can expect when executing baby step 4. Let me dive into how we specifically try to serve clients across the most common Baby Steps. For a complete list of the Baby Steps and an explanation for each please click here. Baby Step 1 & 2 Here you’re still in debt and need to complete your debt snowball before moving onto the more exciting wealth building stage. As Dave Ramsey and his team consistently remind you: it’s not about the interest rate of your debt, it is about the feeling of getting small wins, which create a motivation and intensity inside of you, that allows you to move the needle more than you ever thought possible. That is called Gazelle Intensity. Watch this video here for a great Dave Ramsey Gazelle Intensity moment. One way to ensure you’ll pay off your debt as quickly as possible is to free up ALL your income that is not needed for the basics and throw it at your debt. This means GASP, stopping your 401(k) or employer sponsored retirement plan, for a short period to fully focus on the debt. I can’t believe a financial advisor is saying this!! Well, if we were only looking at math, you (and I) wouldn’t be in debt in the first place. To help clients feel more comfortable with stopping their 401(k), to allocate all available cash flow to their debt, we use financial planning! That’s right, our Financial Coach, will work with clients, that have no money to invest, for as little as $99 /month and one, of the many things, she will do is run basic retirement projections for you, showing you stopping all retirement contributions while in Baby Steps 2 and 3 and then restarting them when your expected to arrive at Baby 4, with a full 15% of your income going towards retirement, will still allow you to retire. This helps give you the confidence that stopping your plan, for a short period of time, will only help you pay off the debt faster and not slow down your long term retirement planning. If you’re in Baby Steps 1 or 2, considering connecting with Lindsey today! Baby Steps 3, 4, 5 Now you’re most likely ready to start saving for retirement. But the question is how and with what accounts? This is where financial planning can really provide clarity now and for the future. Our advisors are taught to not only teach clients how they should execute Baby Step 4 (15% of your income into retirement) but give them a break out of how much they should be doing in their 401(k), vs their Roth IRA vs. other retirement vehicles available to them. We strive to answer the why, where, how much per paycheck or month, of Baby Step 4 so you go into this very important step with COMPLETE clarity. Once the clarity is provided in regards to what your Baby Step 4 should look like, we then build this out in our financial planning software so you can see if this actually even works for your retirement goals. Our retirement spending projections are second to none considering we have an in-house Medicare Advisor, who gives us accurate expectations for your health insurance premiums in retirement. Our Tax ELP helps us incorporate accurate tax projections so we can ensure we’re accounting for the impact of taxes in retirement. We also introduce the impact of inflation along with other techniques to really show you how much you’ll need to spend in retirement and if your assets will support that spending. Then this is the basis for our reviews together. Instead of regurgitating investment results that you see monthly (or maybe daily) we think it’s a better use of our time and your time to review your financial plan and projections. Are you still on track based on how the investments preferred or is a course correction necessary? Always knowing where you stand from a retirement perspective is invaluable information, in our opinion. Baby Step 6 You have now paid off the house. Hallelujah, Amen & Praise the Lord! Now is the time to start saving that house payment in a non-retirement brokerage account or as Dave calls these, “bridge accounts”. These are basically savings accounts that are invested in mutual funds and ETF’s, instead of sitting in the bank. Your financial plan can really quantify for you now, how quickly you’ll be able to save for that second home, home upgrade or whatever large expenses that may be on your bucket list, with the help of non-retirement investment accounts. Additionally, the brokerage account now gives your advisor the ability to add in a different level of tax planning because brokerage accounts allow for specialized opportunities like tax loss harvesting, which means selling funds when they take a loss to generate tax losses. Also, these accounts can allow you to donate appreciated securities to your church or charity, which can provide unique gifting opportunities. These are just a few financial planning ideas but you probably get the point, your financial planning has hit another level! Baby Step 7 You’re ready to live and give like no one else. This is the Baby Step where you change your family tree and you change the lives of others. You make an impact for the Kingdom of Christ like you would have never imagined. But giving money away can sometimes create the question of, “Am I giving away money that I might need one day?” Your financial plan can help answer those “what-if” questions. Your Financial Advisor will now have the ability to discuss the most tax advantageous ways to give money away, such as the Qualified Charitable Distribution, which I wrote about a few months back. The point is, in this Baby Step, you still need financial planning to help ensure you’re executing your giving in a manner that is prudent and wise. We love walking clients through these Baby Steps and like Dave, we have seen many people become Baby Step Millionaires. Regardless of what step you’re in today, let’s use financial planning to give you clarity and comfort on your journey!

Did you know that April 1st is 401(k) day? Okay, maybe 401(k) day isn't a real holiday but it might serve as the motivation you have been needing to evaluate your 401(k) (or retirement savings in general). The Advisors at Whitaker-Myers Wealth Managers help clients plan for their retirement and that includes creating a plan for which retirement plans to use and what investments to use. In this article, I'll walk through three things you might want to think about or evaluate if you haven't before or it's been a while. Make Sure You Are Taking Advantage of the Match If I offered to give you a dollar if you saved a dollar, I imagine you would do that all day long. That's exactly what an employer match is - they give you money as long as you are saving money. When planning for your retirement savings, we always prioritize making sure you get the match (free money) first and foremost! If you signed up to contribute the amount to get the match originally but it's been a few years, it might be worthwhile to check to see if anything has changed. We all know that the pandemic has changed many things and employer match percentages are no exception. So, if you haven't checked in a while, take a look to see what your match is. Did You Pick Your Investments in Your 401(k)? If you didn't specifically select your investments inside your 401(k), chances are, you are in a target date fund. This often means you are allocated to bonds even if you are in your 20’s or 30’s. This also means you are not likely diversified in the 4 categories of mutual funds that you hear Dave Ramsey talk about. All 401(k) plans offer target date funds as an investment option if you want them to "do the work for you" or you can choose to "manage it yourself" by selecting the mutual funds you would like to invest in. Often times we hear from clients that they are not sure how to pick their investments. As your advisor, we are more than happy to help you with this. Using a platform called Pontera, your Whitaker-Myers Wealth Managers advisor can manage your 401(k) for you. This includes picking your investments (from the options provided by your plan) for you as well as rebalancing when it is appropriate to do so. This is a new service that we are able to offer so if you are interested in hearing more, be sure to reach out to your advisor! I hear from clients all the time that they would love to see all their accounts in one place and would also like me to be able to review it on a regular basis and Pontera is the solution to this request! Maybe you did pick your own investments or your advisor made recommendations for you, 401(k) day might be the reminder you need to make sure those are still the best investments for you! Fund managers change which in turn can affect the performance of the fund. Also, 401(k) plans have the ability to add and/or take away fund options. For all of these reasons, it's good to check in and make sure you are still in the right funds for your goals and stage of life! If your advisor is managing your 401(k) for you through Pontera, they will be alerted when fund changes happen and will be able to reevaluate your investment options in a timely manner. Our Chief Investment Officer just wrote an article discussing the ways that having help in managing your 401(k) improves the performance of your account. It is a very interesting read and you can check that out HERE. Are you saving enough? This could also be a great time to evaluate whether you are saving enough or not. I often tell clients that the financial plan is the answer to “Am I going to be okay in retirement?” Which means it is also the answer to “Am I saving enough to reach my goals?” If it has been a while since you and your advisor met to discuss your financial plan, maybe 401(k) day is the reminder you have needed to get something scheduled. Also, if you are not a current client with Whitaker-Myers and have questions about your finances and your retirement, please do not hesitate to reach out to one of the Financial Advisors. We would be more than happy to help!

If you are a fan of Dave Ramsey, you are likely aware with the concept of spreading out risk with long-term retirement investing by utilizing 4 categories of mutual funds and ETFs that include Growth, Growth & Income, Aggressive Growth, & International funds. One of our very own advisors, Logan Doup, explains the basics of these 4 categories in-depth in a previous article. You can read that article here to indulge yourself with building a simple foundation of knowledge for the concepts I eagerly dive into below. It is important to note that we are convicted in the potential value of this strategy involving spreading out roughly 25% of stock market investments (whether stock market investments comprise of all or only a part of your comprehensive investment portfolio) to these respective 4 categories through mutual funds and/or ETFs, regardless of fellowship or lack thereof with Dave Ramsey. Whether this strategy makes sense for you could very well be a question worth investigation of goals, understanding, fit on a case-by-case basis, etc. However, what is less arguable, is that falling into the trap of recency bias has historically been harmful regardless of the specific underlying strategy. For the sake of these case studies, let’s stick with it. In all examples, let’s assume you are sitting with a portfolio that is 25% allocated to the entire Growth segment of the market, 25% to Growth & Income, 25% to Aggressive Growth, and 25% Internationally as of ‘YEAR 1. Case Study 1 YEAR 1 – 1995 Investments made into account at 25% Growth, 25% Growth & Income, 25% Aggressive Growth & 25% International Allocation. YEAR 12 – 2006 Out of the 4 categories, Growth was the best performing 4 years in a row from 1995-1998. It was the 2nd best performing category out of the 4 possible in 1999. Consequently, it was the 2nd worst from 2000-2002 and the absolute worst 2003-2006. Let’s establish an informal definition of recency bias with this first example à HYPOTHETICAL: You would have had recency bias in 1999/2000 by assuming that the Growth category would continue to outperform the overall market simply because of a previous 5-year trend of that being the case. A PROBLEM: Not re-balancing My goal is to drive home these two common and potential problems with investing in relation to just this 1st case study, BUT the concept should continue to make sense in the following examples even without specific illustration from me. Re-balancing would consist of “chopping gains” off of out-performing categories (or respective specific funds) and re-allocating these gains to recently under-performing categories at some point in time. This is one of the simplest ways to “buy low, sell high” which is commonly regarded as intelligent investment behavior, in a general sense. With the assumptions of no re-balancing from 1995-1999 and starting off with 25% allocation to the 4 categories in YEAR 1, you are left with this basic breakdown at the end of 1999: 37.69% allocated to Growth 24.83% allocated to Growth & Income 21.09% allocated to Aggressive Growth 16.40% allocated Internationally Consequently, you head into the 21st century significantly over-funded to the Growth category in which you experience the 3 following years of that being the 2nd worst category and 4 additional following years of Growth being the worst place to be. Experiencing these 7 years (2000-2006) with somewhere close to 25% in Growth to start would have meant a world of difference in comparison to almost 38% with no re-balancing at any point. Inversely, International out-performed U.S. Growth in 6 of those 7 years. Heading into this time period with only 16.40% allocation instead of somewhere close to 25% would have also been a mistake, essentially creating a double-edged sword. Note: Growth & Income and Aggressive Growth also generally out-performed Growth from 2000-2006, for 7 out of the 7 years and 5 out of the 7 years, respectively. AN EVEN BIGGER PROBLEM: Speculation Never re-balancing would have been less drastic of a mistake in comparison to using recency bias to further fund the Growth category, sometime around the turn of the century. This bias would have told you to sell Growth & Income, Aggressive Growth, or International investments (or any combination of the 3) to invest additionally in Growth, due to the fact that these 3 significantly under-performed relative to Growth for a number of years. Since we can now look back in time, it’s easy to see how much of a mistake falling into this common trap as an undisciplined investor would have been. Case Study 2 YEAR 1 – 1999 Investments made into account at 25% Growth, 25% Growth & Income, 25% Aggressive Growth & 25% International Allocation. YEAR 5 – 2003 The Aggressive Growth category was highly volatile during this 5-year window (let’s define more intrinsically as ‘small growth stocks’ for this example). 1999 – 43.09% return, best of 4 categories 2000 – 22.43% loss, worst of 4 2001 – 9.23% loss, best of 4 2002 – 30.26% loss, worst of 4 2003 – 48.54% return, best of 4 For 5 straight years, the only definition of consistency here involves this category going from either “best place to be” to “worst place to be” or vice versa, throughout. Any decision that reasonably involved recency bias during this time period and with this category in particular would have likely resulted in a significant mistake! Case Study 3 YEAR 1 – 2017 Investments made into account at 25% Growth, 25% Growth & Income, 25% Aggressive Growth & 25% International Allocation. YEAR 6 – 2022 Growth was the best performing category for 5 straight years, from 2017 to the end of 2021. The market has struggled thus far in 2022 in a general sense, although some recovery being experienced in the past few weeks as of 03/29/2022. Out of the 4 most commonly used U.S. market indexes/indices, the NASDAQ Composite Index best represents the Growth category. For the majority of 2022, this index has been hit the hardest, sitting at nearly 15,833 on Jan. 3 all the way down to roughly 12,581 on March 14 (over 20% loss for this time period). As of mid-afternoon 03/29/2022, we are looking at significant recovery with this index alone, currently sitting in 14,550-14,560 range. With a harder initial downfall, on the reverse this specific recovery has been more drastic than with the other indexes/indices for the past few weeks. Concluding thought à with the market being as widespread, large, and available as it is, combined with the advance of technology… it may be reasonable to conclude that these market shifts and cycles will continue to become more drastic in frequency and the level of loss or gain per whatever time period you are looking at, but less drastic with how long these shifts last… all the more reason to not speculate and potentially get burned by recency bias or some other investment-related negative behavior with something as important as saving for retirement or other goals over the long-term. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your personal Financial Advisor. If you are not currently a client of Whitaker-Myers Wealth Managers, we are always open to questions. You can use the chat feature on our site or reach out by phone/email to any of our advisors. DISCLOSURE: Past performance does not guarantee and is not indicative of future results. There are limitations to using historical data and calculations, and trends in general are not implied to neither continue nor change. You can view the information used for these illustrations from the Prudential Periodic Table of Investment Returns here. See website disclosure for more information.

Do the current prices at the gas pump have you contemplating pulling out your old 10 speed bike buried deep in the back part of the garage? If the thought has crossed your mind recently, I don’t think you would be alone as gas prices have increased drastically in the last few weeks, reaching a national average of $4.28 according to AAA national gas prices on Friday, March 18, 2022. The lowest areas are reporting just below $4.00 a gallon, where the highest areas are coming in near $6.00 a gallon. With gas prices not looking like they will be decreasing anytime soon, here are a few cash saving things you can do to save you some dollars when it comes to paying at the pump. Gas Buddy App If you don’t already have this app downloaded, do it now. It shows all the local gas stations with their prices near you when you enter in your location. It also has a search feature which allows you to put in a future location to see what gas prices are there, to compare along the way. This is a great feature to use if you’re good on gas right now, but know you will need gas during, or at the end of your travel destination. Grocery Stores Rewards Perks Some grocery store chains have a loyalty card membership. And some of these memberships are paired with gas station chains. With this loyalty card, not only are you getting discounted rates on groceries at your local store, but you can also be saving on fuel by earning credits. All programs are different, but check out your local grocery store and see if their loyalty card can get you discounted gas somewhere. If a loyalty card can save you money on both groceries and gas, why not sign up for it? Gas Station Rewards Perks Similar to grocery stores, gas station chains have adapted the “loyalty card” mentality. By joining their membership program, you can save somewhere between 6-10 cents off each gallon of gas. The only draw back to this, sometimes that specific gas chain isn’t always on your travel route. However, if you pass a gas station that has one of these rewards programs in place on your way to work every day, it may not be a bad idea to stop in and ask some questions about the program. If you routinely get gas from that gas station chain weekly, that could be a huge yearly savings for you. Pair Your Fill Up with A Car Wash Again, gas stations have thought of another way to help you choose them over the neighboring gas station across the street. Need a car wash? Some gas stations have a program where if you purchase an automatic car wash with them at their facility, you can actually save 10-15 cents off each gallon of gas. To do this, make sure you fill-up BEFORE you get your car wash. The prompts on the screen will ask you if you’d like to purchase a car wash, then based on the level you pick dictates how much off each gallon of gas. *Hint* the more premium the car wash, the more savings for each gallon of gas you can receive. Once you are finished pumping your gas, you’ll get a receipt printed out with the car wash code on it. Sometimes the codes are good for several days so be sure to note that when you purchase the carwash. This is a nice feature for gas stations to offer. Especially if you need gas today, but don’t want your car washed today because it’s raining, but it is supposed to be a sunny day 3 days from now, here’s your sign to save money and buy the car wash package today. Just be sure to remember the code on the receipt and don’t throw it away. Bulk Wholesalers Membership Only Programs If you have a Costco or Sam’s Club membership, you could be saving money at the pump. These bulk chain wholesalers have Members Only Gas stations at discounted rates. You have to use your membership card before you start pumping, or you will have to ask the friendly man driving the black Honda CR-V at the pump in front of you to borrow their card before you can start filling up. I do not speak from previous experience…… So, take a look around your area (using your newly downloaded Gas Buddy App), and see if there are any loyalty program associated with any of the gas stations near you. I bet there are some ways you can start saving on your gas budget today that you didn’t even know about!

I’m sure you have seen the rise in gas prices lately. They started out slowly, increasing gradually, but this past few weeks how can you miss the bright red lights showing a price increase as to almost $0.40 to the gallon! Oh, and then the $0.30 increase over night two weeks ago?!?! One contributing factor we can thank for this price increase is inflation. The US Inflation rate in January was 7.5%, which is a 40 year high, the largest move up since 1982. And the gas station isn’t the only place you can see pretty high price increases. Have you been to the grocery store lately? (Curb side pick-up counts too!) Because if you have done any type of grocery shopping in the last year, I am sure you have seen the steady increase in prices as the price of groceries have jumped a record 7% in the past year according to a News Release from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The main contributing factors for driving the inflation increases this past year have been rent, food, and energy. And with inflation rates not looking like they are going to decrease anytime soon, budgeting, meal planning (and some creativity) are the key tools you can use to make your dollars count the most right now. Put your budget to work for you. Now is when we need to call on all of our budgeting skills to make sure every dollar is being accounted for, and being used to its most potential. At Whitaker-Myers Wealth Managers, we suggest using a Zero-Based Budget. But budgeting may not be the only trick you need to pull out during these times. Below are some ways we suggest saving a dollar to two on your grocery bill this month. Meal Plan At the start of each week, sit down with your spouse, roommate, kids, or even your dog, and think through your week’s meal needs. Plan out your menus for each night; each meal should include your main entrée, and sides. Make sure you’re accounting for if you know you are doing anything one night of the week (i.e., eating out for someone’s birthday, or at a family members house, etc.) as this will affect how you meal plan. Also, don’t be afraid to account for a “leftovers night” later in the week. This is where you take all the leftovers from the week and have a buffet from all the previous nights. If you and your family do not care for warmed up left overs, as you think through your week’s meals, are there ways to use the leftovers for another meal, but in disguise that you wouldn’t even think they were leftovers? Or does one night’s menu have the same ingredient in another menu for a different night you can use up before it goes bad (think veggies and herbs here! - things that don’t have a long shelf life). Then as your complete the menu, create your grocery list with the items for each meal throughout the week. Meal Planning is a great way to create a targeted grocery list so when you go into the store (or click the online order buttons), you’re not just aimlessly browsing. You have a purpose and know what is needed for these meals. The temptation of impulse buys decreases as you know where to go, what to get, and this also helps cut down on time in the grocery store. Meal planning also eliminates the hassle of the daily question of “What do I/we make for dinner tonight?”, and decreases the mid-week grocery store runs. And with gas prices increasing, the fewer trips made, means fewer trips to the pump hopefully. Double up on Ingredients As I mentioned before, using some of the same ingredients for one menu to use in another for a different day is a great way to save on groceries as well. Get creative here! You don’t have to have the same meal three times just because you have the leftovers. Here are some examples of doubling up on ingredients we use in our house to liven up leftovers by using a pork shoulder roast, buns, BBQ sauce, and a red onion for multiple meal options: Meal idea one – Traditional Pulled Pork Sandwiches All you need is a nice toasted bun, and any sauces you want to top your sandwich off with. Personally, I like to enjoy the flavor of the smoked pulled pork and go plain! Meal idea two – BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza You can either buy a premade crust, or I’ve found at our grocery store has a $0.99 bag crust you make by just adding water and some oil, then letting it rise. We keep a few of these on hand in our pantry for a weekend pizza night! Add BBQ sauce as the “pizza sauce” (from meal idea one), dice up a red onion, sprinkle cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, add pineapple if you are one of those people that believe pineapple belongs on pizza (It’s me, I’m “one of those people”), then layer on the pulled pork. Top it off with a quick swirl of BBQ sauce and bake! Meal idea three – Pulled Pork Cuban (inspired) Sandwiches Pull out the toasted buns from meal idea one dinner, add your pulled pork, slice your red onion from meal idea two, put on some pickles, layer it with some Swiss cheese slices, and top it off with some mustard. We like to add peppers to ours too, there are no rules here – just have fun with it! Have lots of veggies laying around that need used up before they go bad? Here are some ways to use them differently throughout the week other than just steaming them or making a veggie tray: Roast them! After you have cut them all up, lay them on a sheet pan, drizzle olive oil with some salt and pepper to taste, bake on 375* for about 15-20 minutes and you have a healthy and tasty side option. Go Asian and make Stir Fry! Just add some beef, or chicken (or shrimp for my seafood lovers) along with your stir fry sauce and skip the takeout costs! For this we typically use celery, bell peppers (any color will work), onions, mushrooms, broccoli, water chestnuts, and carrots. Taste the rainbow of your vegetables and make Pasta Salad! You don’t have to wait for a summer picnic to make this colorful side dish. Plus, you can use up a lot of vegetables if needed for this yummy side dish. Lastly, veggie soup…..hello! “Veggie” is in the name! Through in all the veggies that are about to go bad in your fridge and save them from the garage can. Add some ground beef or turkey, vegetable stock, tomato sauce, and let all those flavors simmer all day. All these ideas are ways to help you use the same products but in various way throughout the same week. So, as you plan your meals for the week, think of the items you need for one meal, and how can you then turn around and use them in another capacity later that week. This way that one thing (or multiple items) doesn’t go bad because you forgot about it in the back of the fridge, or can’t think of how else to use it besides as the initial meal idea. Go Food Network Channel on your Pantry (and Freezer!) What does this even mean? So, if you are like our house, Food Network is one of the like 6 channels we watch. Some of the shows they have had on lately are premised around the idea of the “creating something out of nothing” idea. Meaning they tell contestants at the supermarket to make an upscale dinner, but by only using frozen food. Or make the judges a burger not using any type of bread. Another show has contestants buying groceries from unknowing customers as they exist the store to make their themed dish for that round, and whatever is in that grocery haul is what they have to make the meal. For some, this is probably anxiety overload. But the idea I’m going for here is to take a deep dive in your pantry and freezer and try to “make something out of nothing”. What’s in there that you have over looked for a while now, or never thought of using it in “that way” …. And, try to make it fun! If the meal doesn’t work out, you’re only out one bad dinner night, right? Have iceberg lettuce in the fridge, and tired of salads? Use the large leaves as your hamburger bun or go Mexican and make it your taco wrap! We’ve used the frozen cauliflower rice not only for our “rice” in our stir fry, but have also added some grated cheese and egg to it and made pizza crust out of it! *Bonus* did you notice these were all HEALHTY substitutes?!? You can thank me later. Have bread, cheese, lunch meat, various condiments and toppings? Make a “Build your own Panini Bar” for dinner. Kids love to do this and gets them involved in making choices about food. You can make this a fun weekend dinner night option for them too. All you need besides your food ingredients is a griddle, or pull out the George Foreman. Many of my college grilled cheeses were made on the Foreman grill and it works great for this! You can also settle the old age debt on if Manwich or homemade Sloppy Joes are better (team homemade here). For this, you need ground beef, diced onions, and you can get a $0.99 seasoning packet from the store. OR our family prefers to use just KETCHUP! Yup, you heard me. Just ground beef and ketchup (salt and pepper to taste). Don’t Skimp on Dessert Just because you’re on a budget and watching the grocery bill doesn’t mean you can’t indulge on dessert. Some money saving tip desserts I’ve used before, often start with just one simple ingredient. Boxed cake mixes. Of course, you cake make cake. Or cupcakes, and even cookies with this mix. But you can switch things up by adding different ingredients to it to change things up. I love making seasonal dump cakes or even cobblers by using boxed cake mixes! Also, remember instant pudding just doesn’t mean plain pudding. Put it in little dixie cups, add a popsicle stick to them and then freeze. Now you’ve got yourself a puddin’ pop for a summer day treat! Also try layering multiple kinds of pudding with some fruit, whipped cream and crumbled graham crackers, and you have a fancy trifle. Does Grandma’s famous cookie dough recipe make like 7 dozen cookies that you know you can’t eat all at once? Freeze the dough in individual balls and pull out a dozen (or just a handful) at a time as you need cookies. Saves both time, and money so you don’t have to buy frozen, store bought, cookie dough! Try to Out Budget Yourself – Make it a Game! I have heard of people on tight budgets who play a little game with their grocery budget. If they are under their targeted budget, they get to treat themselves to have a coffee or a snack. If you are a competitive person, this game is for you! Or if you are a snack driven person, this game is for you too! Who doesn’t like coming in under budget, but also an afternoon treat? Sounds like a win-win to me. For more ideas, check out this article from our friends at Ramsey Solutions How To Save Money On Groceries | RamseySolutions.com for even more money saving tips and tricks when it comes to grocery shopping!