As families face aging, illness, or recovery, the need for in-home healthcare has become more common, and more personal. Finding the right professional to care for your loved one is more than a logistical task. It’s an emotional and financial decision that directly impacts your family’s quality of life.

You may have heard the term Financial Wellness tossed around on the web over the past few years—especially since the onset of the pandemic. I have always believed in this concept and am happy to hear it has gained a lot of traction—if one doesn’t feel financially well it can lead to all sorts of stresses and impact one’s mental health.

Our MEIRA clients are increasingly utilizing charitable giving by donating to charities through Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from their IRA Investment accounts (if you’d like to learn more, please let us know). In some cases, we’ve had clients who wanted assistance in identifying a charitable organization, so I developed a bit of a how-to-guide below.

I was blessed to have been raised by a mother who believed in spending less than you make. Thankfully, that belief is ingrained in me and particularly came into play when my older child went off to a private college four years ago! I reexamined our monthly expenses and was determined to find ways to save money.

In April 2018 the college decisions started rolling in. My daughter—first born—applied to 15 universities (she worked super hard in high school and was determined to go to school up North). She had been thinking about going to university since 5th grade. Now, looking back at that time, fifteen applications was way too many—too much work and each application costs $$. The good news is that she got into 10 schools!