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I spent fifteen years leading the marketing department of a credit union. I launched new products, promoted loans and credit cards, and advertised savings rates. Sadly, I also had to educate members about people trying to take their money. That includes criminal fraudsters, but also friends and family. Older adults

For me, vacations are three phases of fun: The trip itself is bookended by the anticipation phase and the bragging phase. Anticipation includes research, discovery, planning, and, of course, buying clothes, travel nick-nacks, and packing accessories. The bragging phase is when the folks back home get to hear all about

Ted White, Principal at Arrivity, had an early fascination with financial planning. When I asked him why he chose it as a career, he told me about a newspaper column his parents used to read back in Dallas. “They would talk about Scott Burns and his advice for do-it-yourself investors,”

When Sandra got her mom’s message, it came as a shock. Mom’s back pain had become unbearable. Unable to get out of bed, she felt her quality of life slipping away. In her detailed text message – which was sent to all four sisters at once – mom said she

As a professional communicator, I’ve always been fascinated with the way words are used to influence how people feel about a particular topic. One example I find particularly interesting is how policy makers talk about estate taxes. Those in favor of them are fine with the standard terminology, since the

They’ve already started to arrive in my mailbox—forms with “Important Tax Information” in bold on the front. Puzzling machine-generated envelopes with multi-step opening instructions: “Unzip here first. Then here. Then here.” Yes, it’s tax season and if you’re like me you’re tossing all that mail into a 2025 Taxes folder

Every year around this time I talk to my tax person about putting money into an IRA (Individual Retirement Account). He tells me whether to invest in my traditional IRA or my Roth. I thank him, put a note in my to-do list, then google “the difference between traditional and

Talking to an aging parent about their money can be fraught with pride, confusion, suspicion, and complicated family dynamics. But gentle and helpful money discussions should be part of a caring relationship. My Mom has been on her own now for five years, but she depends on me to help

When I started investing for retirement, I learned the fundamental principle of diversification—investing money across a wide variety of companies, industries, and regions to create a balanced portfolio that’s resilient to risk. So I chose funds for my IRA and 401k plans that aligned with my risk tolerance and let

We’re excited to share one of the principals here at Arrivity Financial Planning, Ted White, CFP®, was recently quoted in Kiplinger on the topic of making the most of the early years of retirement—when you’re healthy and active. We’re proud to see his expertise recognized in the broader financial community!

I’ve heard about people taking entire two-week vacations this summer and tuning out the news. How do they do it? There’s so much happening. Sure, some of it is very far away. But there’s a lot of news that affects us here and now. Health insurance is one of those

I just signed up for a free class at the community college to learn about Medicare. It can only mean one thing: I’m getting closer to “that age.” Time to get serious about how I’m going to live in retirement. Not that I’m planning to retire as soon as I