Recently I heard a story from a 67-year old woman who had gotten divorced after twenty years of marriage. She had raised her daughter at home while she was younger and she didn't get much at all from the divorce. She is now collecting about $900 per month from Social Security income and working part-time to get by while sharing an apartment with others. She is fearful about her financial future because she has never managed money before and it's hard for her to find a job at her age. This

Have you ever wondered how to merge savings into your budget? What if there was a way to save efficiently without putting you in a panic about having enough money on hand to pay monthly expenses or for discretionary spending? Think about your spending habits for a second. Most of the time, we don’t even think twice about swiping a card or dishing out cash for smaller purchases and monthly expenses. If you live in an apartment, you pay rent. You might also have a car payment, utilities, or a

In October 2019 Echo Wealth Management moved to a new office suite at ATRIA Corporate Center in Plymouth, MN. Our Open House Celebration that was held on October 25th featured Fresh Sushi and Thai Food from Lucky Street, Virtual Reality Car Racing from Aventures with VR and the wonderful company and conversation of our clients, colleagues, family, and friends.

Nobody likes thinking about the end, or picking a guardian to raise your children, or having to pick which of your children would best at managing your money in your absence. But the thing about estate planning is, if you don’t do it, you lose your say in how things are handled when you pass away or if you are incapacitated and unable to speak on your own behalf. Without a will, your estate may end up in court, divvied up based on a judge’s decision—not your own.

The key to success in business and in life is confidence. Echo recently sat down with Suzanne Sena on her podcast, The Confidence Connection: Building Trust in a Virtual World, to discuss self-motivation and investing in yourself. 

Recently Echo sat down with the Business Credit and Financing Show to discuss how to safeguard and market-proof your financial portfolio in any crisis.

This podcast provides a savage approach to personal finance featuring financial professionals and subject matter experts. 

Imagine that you decide to go to see a new movie.  You hand the cashier at the counter a twenty-dollar bill. She gives you back a ten-dollar bill and a ten-dollar ticket. But when you get to the theater door, you realize you don't know where your ticket is. It's just lost. Do you think you'd pay ten dollars for a new ticket, or would you just head home? If you're like most people, you might be tempted to head home. In fact, when the psychologists Kahneman and Tversky presented this problem

A Health Savings Account (HSA) can be a powerful tool to help you save and invest, now, to pay for your qualified medical expenses (QMEs) during retirement.  The HSA has become popular as more and more employers move to high deductible health plans (HDHP) in order to reduce insurance premiums.  Employees must choose the HDHPs instead of traditional health insurance plans if they want to use their HSAs to fill the gap.  I have used HSAs personally for about 10 years and I

A recent study by DALBAR, a financial research firm, has confirmed that investors who try to time the stock market often dive into the market at the top and flee at the bottom. This fact has actually caused investor results to significantly lag the broader markets over the long haul. 

There is so much to consider when making investment decisions, especially when you’re working toward meeting specific short- and long-term financial goals. This is certainly true of the tax implications of your investment strategy, as taxes can reduce your investment returns from year to year and jeopardize your ability to achieve your goals. This is especially true if you fall into a higher federal income tax bracket, making it even more important to consider the impact of taxes when making

Do you have any non-qualified stock options (NSOs) granted to you by your employer?  NSOs are a common equity compensation feature provided to management-level employees as part of a compensation package. They give you the opportunity to potentially profit from the price increase in your employer’s stock.  An employee stock option gives you the right to purchase a specific number of shares of your company’s stock at a specific price – the grant or strike price – within a specific time