Wealth with Intention
Money Wisdom for Your Next Chapter
When Should You Take Social Security? 62 vs. 67 vs. 70 in 2026
By Leah Hadley, AFC®, CDFA®. Last updated September 2026 with the current Social Security figures.
"When should I start taking Social Security?" is one of the questions we hear most often from people approaching retirement. It sounds like it should have a simple answer. It does not, because the best choice depends on your health, your other income, your marital status, your taxes, and how long you expect to work. Let's walk through how the decision works and what to weigh so you can choose on purpose instead of by default.
The short version. You can claim Social Security as early as 62 or as late as 70. Every year you wait, your monthly benefit gets larger, and for someone with a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 70 pays about 77% more per month than claiming at 62. Waiting is often the better deal for people who expect a long life or who have a spouse who may outlive them. Claiming earlier can make sense if you need the income, have health concerns, or are working through a ga
...Back to the Investment Basics Part 5: Patience and Personal Persistence
By Leah Hadley, AFC®, CDFA®. Last updated September 2026.
So far in this series, we have looked at how recency bias pulls investors off course, why saving comes first, how to invest broadly in markets that are both robust and random, and why the price you pay matters.
Applied together, those give you a sturdy way to capture the returns markets have to offer. The last two basics are different. They are not about markets at all. They are about how you behave once the portfolio is built, and whether it fits your life.
The short answer. Patience means staying invested through downturns so you are still there for the recoveries. Personal means matching how much you invest to your own goals and timelines, not to the news or your neighbor. In practice, that comes down to three steps. Set aside cash or stable investments for spending you expect in the next few years, invest the rest for the long term, and automate as much as you can so fewer decisions are left for the moments when you feel
...Back to the Investment Basics Part 4: The Price You Pay Matters
By Leah Hadley, AFC®, CDFA®. Last updated September 2026.
In Part 3, we described markets as both robust and random. Today we turn to price. What does the price of a stock actually tell you, why are prices so hard to predict, and what does “the price you pay” mean for your own results?
The short answer. A stock’s price is set by the collective judgment of millions of buyers and sellers, which makes it a reasonable estimate of value in aggregate and a poor tool for predicting what happens next. The price you pay matters in two ways. What you pay for the investment itself affects your long-term returns, and what you pay to own it, through fund fees and trading costs, comes straight out of those returns. You do not need to outguess prices. You need to invest broadly, keep costs low, and stay put.
Why Does One Share Cost $763,600 and Another $509.77?
In mid-September 2026, one Class A share of Berkshire Hathaway traded at roughly $763,600. A Class B share of the same company traded a...
Back to the Investment Basics Part 3: Our Marvelous Markets
By Leah Hadley, AFC®, CDFA®. Last updated September 2026.
In Part 2, we covered saving, the first of five basics that have served investors well over time. Now that you have money to invest, the next question is where returns actually come from and what that means for how you should invest. That is the subject of Part 3.
The short answer. Stock market returns come from the ongoing work of real companies producing goods and services, which is why markets have rewarded patient owners over long periods. At the same time, which companies, industries, and countries lead at any given moment is close to random, and it changes without warning. The practical response is to own the market broadly and diversify widely, so you are in the winners without needing to identify them in advance. The S&P 500 fell 18.1 percent in 2022 and rose 26.3 percent in 2023, which is a good reminder that both ideas are true at once.
Two Ideas That Are Both True
Consider two ideas about the market that seem to...
Back to the Investment Basics Part 2: First Save, Then Invest
By Leah Hadley, AFC®, CDFA®. Last updated September 2026.
In Part 1, we looked at how recency bias pulls investors off course, and why the antidote is a handful of basics that have held up through every market scare. Today we start with the first one, and it is the least glamorous. Before you can invest, you have to save.
Knowing that does not make it easy. Saving means choosing less now for more later. It is also the part of investing you control completely. You cannot control what the market does this year, but you can control how much you set aside and how automatically you do it.
The short answer. Saving comes before investing because you cannot invest money you never set aside, and the amount you save often matters more than your investment returns in the early and middle years. The most reliable way to save more is to automate it, so the decision is made once instead of every month. A sensible order for most people is to build a starter cash cushion, capture any employer matc
...Back to the Investment Basics Part 1: Why This Time Always Feels Different
By Leah Hadley, AFC®, CDFA®. Last updated September 2026.
Every year comes with a headline that convinces investors this time is different. Right now it might be inflation that refuses to settle, a war that has pushed oil prices around, or a Federal Reserve that just raised rates. Whatever is at the top of the news feels like the biggest risk anyone has ever faced, because it is the one in front of you.
That feeling has a name. It is called recency bias, and it is one of the most expensive habits an investor can have. This is Part 1 of our Back to the Investment Basics series, and we start here because the other four basics only work if you can keep today's headlines from hijacking your decisions.
The short answer. Recency bias is the tendency to give the most weight to whatever happened most recently. In investing, it pushes people to buy after a market has already risen and sell after it has already fallen. The best defense is context. Since the end of 2021, investors have lived
...Year-End Financial Reset 2026: 6 Money Moves Beyond Taxes
By Leah Hadley, AFC®, CDFA®. Last updated September 2026.
Year-end has a way of arriving before we feel ready for it. The holidays fill the calendar, work wraps up or ramps up, and money decisions get pushed to "after the new year." That is usually when small things slip through the cracks.
Most year-end advice is a tax checklist. Taxes matter, and we cover them separately in our Tax Tips for the End of the Year. This post is different. It is about the parts of your financial life that a tax checklist misses, like how your money actually moved this year, whether your plan still fits your life, and who is protected if something goes wrong. Think of it as a year-end reset you can finish in a few evenings.
The short version. Before the year ends, do six things. Review where your money really went, check that your investments still match your timeline, use your benefits open enrollment window well, update your beneficiaries and legal documents, tighten your financial security, and set
...Interest Rates, Inflation, and Your Investments: What to Know in 2026
By Leah Hadley, AFC®, CDFA®. Last updated September 2026. Rate and inflation figures are as of mid-September 2026.
Interest rates and inflation are back in the headlines, and if you have been wondering what they mean for your savings, your debt, and your investments, you are in good company. The financial press tends to treat every Federal Reserve announcement like a breaking-news event, which can make it hard to tell what actually matters to you.
This guide pulls together what used to be a three-part series into one place. It explains what the Fed's rate really is, how it connects to the rates you pay and earn, why inflation behaves the way it does, and what a sensible investor does with all of it.
The short version. The Fed's target rate is the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans. It influences, but does not set, the rates on your credit cards, mortgage, savings account, and bonds. In September 2026, the Fed raised its target range by a quarter point to 3.75% to 4.00
...Tax Tips for the End of the Year
By Leah Hadley, AFC®, CDFA®. Last updated September 2026.
Most year-end tax content shows up in late November, which is roughly the moment it stops being useful. By then your open enrollment window has closed, your charitable strategy is whatever you happened to do, and your only remaining move is writing a check.
Right now you still have a little over three months and real options, which is why this is going up early.
2026 is also a year where the rules genuinely moved. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act changed how charitable deductions work, raised the SALT cap, and reshaped a few things that were stable for years. Some of those changes take effect for the first time on this year's return. A plan built on 2024 assumptions will miss them.
The short version: For 2026, the 401(k) deferral limit is $24,500 and the IRA limit is $7,500. Non-itemizers can now deduct up to $1,000 in cash gifts ($2,000 married filing jointly), while itemizers face a new 0.5%-of-AGI floor on charitable deduction
...Changing Your Name After a Divorce: The Complete Checklist
By Leah Hadley, AFC®, CDFA®. Last updated September 2026.
For many women, changing their name after divorce is one of the first tangible pieces of a new chapter. Some are eager to return to a name that feels like their own. Others keep their married name for their children, their career, or simply because it fits. Either way, the choice is yours, and there is no wrong answer.
If you do change it, the order you work in matters more than most people expect. Nearly every institution wants to see a name that already matches somewhere else. A mismatch between your Social Security record, your tax return, your employer, and your financial accounts can delay a refund, stall a rollover or transfer, and leave an old name on documents that should have changed. This guide walks through the steps in an order that keeps each one from stalling the next.
The short answer. Start with Social Security, because almost everything else checks against it. Then update your driver’s license, passport, and
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Leah Hadley, AFC®, CDFA®, MAFF®
Founder/Senior Wealth Manager
Leah Hadley is the founder of Intentional Wealth Partners and Intentional Divorce Solutions, sister companies based in Cleveland and serving clients nationwide. Intentional Wealth Partners provides financial planning and wealth management. She specializes in helping women and couples navigate major life transitions with confidence and clarity. She is also the author of Intentional Money: The Modern Woman's Guide to Building Wealth, Purpose, and Peace, host of the "Intentional Divorce Insights" podcast, and a sought-after speaker.
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