Six Minutes of Wisdom

On this month’s episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom, Ross and Cynthia are joined by Senior Estate Planner Jim Guckenberg to discuss some of the essentials to the estate planning process.

With the recent volatility in the market, Ross and Cynthia take this opportunity to discuss some of the reasons behind this volatility and how to appropriately handle it. 

Let’s play a game! In this month’s installment of Six Minutes of Wisdom, Ross and Cynthia discuss some common rules of thumb on managing finances and they both weigh in on whether or not these rules should be broken.

In this month’s installment of Six Minutes of Wisdom, Ross and Cynthia discuss the delicate balance between delayed gratification and spending your savings to reap the benefits.

May 29th is 529 day! Tune in to this month’s episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom where Ross and Cynthia discuss 529s, financial aid, and some of the recent regulation changes.

How much money do you need to retire? How long will it take to get there? Tune in to this month’s episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom where Ross and Cynthia discuss the topic of the “Magic Number”. Click the picture below to listen!

With tax season in full swing, this month’s episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom features Ross and Cynthia who discuss a few topics to consider when it comes to taxes.

On this month’s episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom, special guest Randy Stary joins Ross and Cynthia to discuss his transition into retirement.

Tune in to this month’s episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom. This time, Ross and Cynthia discuss some of the highlights and lowlights of last year and some things to look forward to in the year ahead.

As Randy’s time at Baird nears its end, he thinks back to some of the harder times and the lessons learned over the years.

It’s that time of year again! Tune in to this month’s episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom where the team discusses some of the things on their minds that they are grateful for this year.

You know what they say.. Hindsight is 20/20. Tune in to this month's episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom where Cynthia, Ross and Randy discuss some of the things they know now that they wish they knew then.

 Join Ross, Cynthia and Randy for a special episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom! This time, the group joins guest speaker Michael Antonelli as they discuss pickleball, investing and more! 

It’s almost time to send our kids back to school! With that in mind, Cynthia, Ross and Randy discuss a few different tax-advantaged strategies that can be used to save for college expenses.

On this month’s episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom, someone on the team is hitting an important milestone! Cynthia, Ross and Randy also touch on saving over time and the power of compounding.

This month on Six Minutes of Wisdom, Ross, Cynthia and Randy are joined by Preston to discuss the process of buying a home! The team discusses mortgage rates, house pricing and much more.

*Disclosure: Baird does not provide tax, legal or real estate advice and does not provide or service mortgages.*

This time on Six Minutes of Wisdom, Cynthia, Ross and Randy discuss the strategy of laddering bonds and CDs and how effective this can be in an environment with high interest rates.

Tune-in to this month's episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom. This time, Ross and Cynthia are on to discuss the topic of Spring Cleaning as it pertains to our finances and a particular tool that Baird provides to help with this.

Are you getting a tax refund this year? What will you do with it? Tune-in to this month’s episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom where Ross, Cynthia and Randy discuss taxes and what to do with your refund. 

Dentist appointments, physicals and the periodic oil change – there are many things in our lives that need our attention on a regular basis. One of those things that we should be checking in on is our 401k! In this episode, Ross, Cynthia and Randy discuss the importance of monitoring our 401k and what we can be doing to keep it running smoothly.

Randy’s retirement is now less than a year away! With that in mind, the team discusses the market outlook for the coming year and how a potential recession could impact retirement preparation. 

With the recent news of the FTX debacle, Ross, Cynthia and Randy discuss cryptocurrencies and other speculative investments and stress the importance of sticking to the meat and potatoes.

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us! In the spirit of the season, the team discusses everything they have to be grateful for, the benefits of being grateful, and how they practice this virtue in the workplace. 

With the recent market volatility, it’s easy to develop a negative attitude, but there are still things we can be doing to remain productive. Click the picture below to listen to Ross, Cynthia, and Randy discuss what we can be doing to make the most out of a bear market.

In this episode Ross, Cynthia and Randy discuss the common phenomena of a fidgety market in the month of September.  What might becausing this and how should we react?

Randy, Ross and Cynthia discuss how to name legacy contacts on various internet platforms.  What happens if you die?  Do your family members know how to access all of your passwords?  As our lives become more intertwined with the internet, we need to make preparations for our eventual passing.

Inflation seems to be tops on everyone's mind these days.  Ross, Cynthia and Randy discuss their inflation issues.  Whether it's buying groceries, clothes for the kids or rennovating a home, we are all feeling the impact on the family budget.

Cynthia, Ross and Randy discuss a fixed income investment that is available to everyone but you can't get from your financial advisor.  Better yet, it is the high rate, lower risk investment everyone asks for. 

Cynthia, Ross and Randy of The JS Group at Baird discuss how success with goals depends on good habits and discipline.  Randy learns what a "Vision Board" is.

Cynthia, Ross and Randy discuss some strategies to consider in December.  What should you do to shield income?  Getting a bonus?  Maybe there is something to consider to avoid additional taxes in April.

Ross, Cynthia and Randy of the JS Group discuss your benefit enrollment options and some things you should consider at this time of year when that enrollment email comes.

Ross was so worried about his greeting that he didn't introduce himself.  So, Ross Johnson, begins the podcast by talking about the time of year that is important to seniors.  Open enrollment.  Now is the time to check your premiums.

Cynthia, Ross and Randy of the JS Group discuss the tie-in between Social Security and your Long Term Care.

Cynthia, Randy and Ross discuss the issues you need to think about as you decide to start a business.

Ross, Cynthia and Randy discuss how they have uncovered opportunities for clients to reduce expenses and taxes.  They encourage you to ask your advisor for advice on many things you may not realize they can assist with.  If they can't assist from past experience, they may be able to refer you to a professional who can help.

Cynthia initiates a discussion with Ross and Randy regarding the  process Randy is using when assisting his father with the selection of assisted-living facilities.  We discussed the tone of the conversation as well as what steps needed to be taken so that the family member is in agreement with the ultimate transition.

Ross, Cynthia and Randy dissect a pay stub.  We review all of the pretax and after-tax withdrawals that occur before you finally see the final amount hit your bank account.  How can you maximize the benefits from some of these deductions?  We'll get into the weeds on that.

Ross, Cynthia and Randy of the JS Group at Baird discuss the advantages of participating in a HSA account.  Why should younger individuals be thinking about this as an important investment and tax avoidance tool?

While Ross tested his mental acuity by taking the CFP® exam, Cynthia and Randy discussed the recent hysteria over stock manipulation with social media posts.  Please don't try this at home!

Randy interviews the other members of the JS Group at Baird that own pets.  A recent Wall Street Journal article enumerated the many expenses of pet ownership and we discuss some of these costly surprises.

Ross, Cynthia and Randy discuss the pros and cons of freezing your credit and what the process is.

Debbie Loritz has worked for Baird for 40 years.  She came out of high school to start her career at the age of 18.  She recently was blessed with a little granddaughter and decided that spending more time with Charlie is her first priority.  We got a little history lesson and some heartfelt reminiscing from Debbie in this interview.

Cynthia, Ross and Randy discuss portfolio management with Max Mann.  Max is a CFA and portfolio manager for the Baird Specialized Asset Management team.  He provides insight into the role of a portfolio manager and how they manage investment assets in these interesting times.

Ross and Randy of the JS Group at Baird discuss the current real estate market.  They also delve into the difficulties first time home buyers are experiencing.  Why is it still a good thing to own your own home?

Randy sets up a rivalry between Cynthia and Ross by creating a game show atmosphere.  He asks them questions about the worst performing month of the year, the affect of the election on stock markets and how the deferment of the payroll tax works.

Cynthia, Ross and Randy interview Kelsey Clair.  Kelsey is Baird's Tax Strategist in the Financial and Estate Planning Area.  We discuss what we should be thinking about as it pertains to the CARES act and the provisions that allow some special situations this year only.  We also discuss the election and how that may affect your planning.

In this episode of Six Minutes of Wisdom, Ross and Cynthia discuss the overconfidence their children have around the pool and lake.  Some minor incidents are used as an analogy to be "in tune" with your emotions when investing and know what allows you to sleep at night.

Mike Antonelli is a Private Wealth Management Market Strategist at Baird.  We love the energy he brings to any topic.  Cynthia, Ross and Randy decided to chat with him a bit given the historic movements in the market since the end of February.  Our six minutes became fifteen minutes of wisdom, but this was too good to crop!

The JS Group shares their musings on what is important while we contend with our response to the virus.  Randy wrote an essay, "The Best Day Ever" and shares excerpts from that essay as a prelude to the inner thoughts of the rest of the team.

In this episode The JS Group is working remotely from home.  They discuss what they've been doing to remain sane.  They also discuss the new CARES Act and how it may benefit you.  You may have a little more time on your hands so we gave you 12 Minutes of Wisdom this month!

John Tierney and Roy Baumeister wrote the book, "The Power of Bad".  It's a book that delves into our compulsion to focus on the negative and how to turn that in our favor.

Cynthia and Randy, from the JS Group at Baird, discuss the ramifications of this effect and how to counteract it in an investing environment.

Ross has an issue with a mover.  They don't want to disassemble and reassemble bunk beds.  So Ross comes up with an innovative idea and it leads Randy to discuss an innovative way to "get around" the Roth contribution rules.

Ross sits down with Randy to discuss ways to model good financial behavior in your young and not-so-young children.

In our fifth episode, Cynthia and Ross get to interview the "experts on saving" (their kids and a nephew).  The kids range in age from 3 to 7.  It can never be too early to teach the concepts of saving money for a rainy day......or a toy or 100 toys!

The new addition to our team, Ross Johnson, did a little test on his children with marshmallows to hopefully teach them a little bit about delayed gratification.  Sorry we violated our six minute time frame by about 2 minutes, but the kids were too cute to cut off and Ross' bio is extensive!!

In this episode, Cynthia queries Randy regarding his cycling exploits and finds out he accidentally trashed his bike.  Now what?  They go on to discuss the purchase assurance and warranty extensions that most credit cards provide.

In this episode we learn a little more about Cynthia's haunted house.  More importantly, we tell you why it is so important to contribute to your 401(k) plan and the concept of dollar cost averaging which makes a 401(k) plan such a powerful savings vehicle.  We also discuss the employer match (free money) that you would forgo if you choose not to participate at the appropriate level.

Cynthia thinks she has a spirit in her house.  We discuss this concern and compare it to the current market environment.