Bedel Financial Consulting

Withholding is easy, but estimated tax payments may save you a penalty! Understanding how estimated quarterly tax payments work can help prevent an unexpected tax bill or potential underpayment penalty. Not everyone can rely on withholding from their paychecks. Business owners, independent contractors, retirees, and even traditional employees with income from other sources may need to make estimated tax payments throughout the year.

For many young investors, traditional wealth-building feels impossible. Saving a few hundred dollars monthly seems insignificant next to social media's overnight success stories. This fuels a gambling mentality! Young investors can easily fall into a gambling mentality when investing. This is the belief that achieving financial security requires a high-stakes bet. But wealth doesn't require finding the next big winner.

If you are considering early retirement, what planning needs to be done to make sure you are prepared to support yourself for the rest of your life? If you want to ensure you don’t have to go back to work, you need to be confident in knowing your expenses, income sources in the short- and long-term, and your health insurance coverage. Expenses Well before your last paycheck is deposited, you need to determine how much you need to maintain your lifestyle.

Top 100 Bedel Financial Named to CNBC’s Best Financial Advisor Firms....LEARN MORE If you’ve established a 529 college savings account for a child or family member, reviewing the account regularly ensures your strategy keeps pace with that rapidly approaching college start date. Here are three critical areas to review: 1.

Americans are very familiar with insurance. We insure our cars, our homes, our lives, and are increasingly insuring our pets. Despite this familiarity, disability insurance remains one of the most misunderstood and underutilized forms of insurance available today. The Case for Disability Insurance A 2025 survey conducted by Navigator Research found that 57% of American adults say they are living paycheck to paycheck. Amongst Millennial and Gen Z respondents, that percentage is even higher.

If you invested early in a stock like Apple, Lilly, or NVIDIA, you might not want to take the current tax hit from selling. Still, you also realize that your portfolio may have become overconcentrated in one or more stocks. Bull markets are fun. It’s always nice to see your portfolio increasing in value. But what if you bought one or more of the big winners several years back and have held onto them? You could be looking at sizable, unrealized gains in your brokerage account.

How do you talk with your family about financial issues? By fostering open dialogue and establishing intentional planning practices, you can help your family build confidence, reduce uncertainty, and prepare for life's financial decisions together. Break the Ice Start by having family conversations about money. Approaching this topic in a relaxed and informal setting reduces the anxiety and emotional stress that can come with financial conversations.

Last month, one of the most anticipated financial events of the decade unfolded: the long-awaited SpaceX IPO. Driven by massive demand, the stock rapidly vaulted past a $2 trillion valuation before pulling back. While watching a high-profile stock skyrocket and then drop can be unnerving, historical data shows that this volatile behavior is entirely normal.

As of mid-year 2026, Truemed reported that HSA assets reached $159 billion. Can you invest the funds in your HSA? Yes—but so far only a small fraction of HSA accounts are using investments. First, a quick refresher on health savings accounts is in order. HSAs are only available to those covered by a qualified high-deductible health plan (HDHP). The minimum deductible amounts are set by the IRS, and for 2026 they are $1,700 for self-only plans and $3,400 for family plans.

Paying tuition doesn't have to be complicated. Here are practical tips to make your first bill, and the ones coming after, as smooth as possible. Payment Due Dates For most colleges, tuition bills for the fall semester are due in August, and those for the spring semester are due in December. Keep in mind that deadlines vary by school, and some use rolling deadlines or different semester schedules. Bills are typically issued a few weeks before the due date, giving time to arrange for payment.