“OMG, I have finally discovered what’s wrong with my Brain: on the left side, there is nothing right, and on the right side, there is nothing left…” ― Minion Quote

Speaking of food...And so the backyard barbeques will soon begin.  The celebrations of summer and both College and High School graduations will soon be in full swing.  Perhaps you have one of these events to attend, or simply attending makes you think of your own family situation with regards to college costs?  Even if your kids are grown, are they still paying down their own college debt, which prohibits them from saving for other goals? A few big questions might be, how much do I need to save, how much will college cost, what can be done to reduce those costs?  My goal this month is to educate you on these options. Throughout the month of May my theme will be focused on college planning.  

“#1-Make Money. #2-Use that money to make more money. #3-Repeat.”  ―Anonymous

I always look forward to the end of April, not for the reasons most people look forward to it, but I love this week because it's Money Smart Week.  The week where education about money takes a front row seat in the news.  Even better, towards the end of the week, on April 28th, it's “Teach Your Child to Save” Day.  Money is the leading cause of stress for Americans with nearly three out of four adults reporting that they feel stressed about money at least some of the time.  There is so much interest in this week that the Money Week Facebook page has over 38,000 followers!

Do you suppose when Roman philosopher St. Augustine (354 - 430) spoke those words that he could have ever imaged the world of travel today?  Where songs like, “On the Road Again,” are used to describe a way of life?  As Brent and I begin to plan for our Spring voyage back to New York, we talk about the travel hazards that might happen and what “the plan” will be if they do.  How many of you have a “travel plan.”  I’m not just talking about reservations, but alternative options should something go wrong prior or during your trip?

For example, what would you do if…

To many of my New York clients, happy Spring Break!  I love Spring, for me personally, it is the start of my “new year.”   This year is an exceptional new year too!  We are excited to be approaching the first birthday of Irvine Wealth Planning Strategies on May 9th.  This past year has been transformational and we are so very thankful for your support, business and feedback!  I want to give a special shout out to the Corning Gaffer District for their continued efforts to support the growth and visualization of the business; each quarter they continue to amaze me with their amazing designs in the Corning office windows - this quarter is an amazing tribute to Ernie Davis put together by a local student.   We hope you stop by and admire the display!

As we say goodbye to the month of March and the end of the first quarter of 2017, we want to say thank you for your business!  Irvine Wealth Planning Strategies is approaching its first anniversary in May - we have some fun planned around the anniversary, so stay tuned.

Wow, I can't believe it is Spring and less than a month away from Tax Day!!!

We have some pretty exciting news rolling out of Irvine Wealth Planning Strategies!

First we are very excited to announce that Debbie Konopski has joined the team!  In her part-time capacity, Debbie will be your service ambassador.  Upon our return this Spring, she will be working Monday and Wednesday at the office, which will allow for Brent to scale back to Tuesday and Thursday.  Debbie was born and raised in the Corning / Beaver Dams area and currently lives in Painted Post with her husband Kevin, whom she's been married to for 33 years. She is the proud mother of two grown children and an adorable one-year old granddaughter that is the light of her life. She has several amazing talents in addition to her personality, such as sewing, knitting, and crafts.  In fact, she helped in large part, decorate the office on Market Street.  We are excited to add her to the team and think you will love visiting with her when you call or stop by.

O’ the fun holiday of St. Patrick’s day will fall upon us at the end of the week.  This is a holiday where all of us find some Irish roots (or make them up for a day) and join in the festivities of all things green and the good luck of the Irish.  

Two months down!  It’s almost March - wow!  It’s time to think of that Spring cleaning, which should include password “cleaning” too!  Change those passwords, just like you change the battery in your smoke detector - not convinced this is necessary, if you get a moment, mozy on over to my website for the latest video on CyberCrime: 

Thanks for all the great feedback on last week's blog!  So now I know, comparing investing to food helps you understand and shows you all have a great sense of humor!  For those of you just joining in on the blog, in late January, I had a great conversation with a client about "learning" how to invest so that our conversations would be more engaging.  This prompted me to ask a few more clients if they would be interested in an investment 101 series for the month of February; the feedback I received was a resounding YES. So, I decided to break the series down into four-parts:

Happy Valentine's Day Eve!  Did you know that this "holiday" tradition started back in the days of the Roman's as a festival called "Lupercalia?"  Here's an interesting two-minute video on Valentine's Day Facts from this history channel:http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/valentines-day-facts.