Wealth with Intention

What should you do with a divorce settlement?

Park the money somewhere safe, wait 60 to 90 days before making any permanent decisions, and then invest it according to when you will actually need it. A settlement is not one pot of money. It is several different kinds of money with different tax rules, and treating it as a single number is the most expensive mistake women make in the first year after a divorce.

This article is about what happens after the decree is signed. If you are still negotiating, still waiting on a QDRO, or still deciding which assets to ask for, that is a different set of questions. Intentional Divorce Solutions covers that ground in detail, starting with how to divide assets in a divorce.

The first 90 days: do less than you think you should

There is enormous pressure to act quickly. Your attorney is done. The accounts have transferred. Everyone around you has an opinion about what you should do with the money.

Do less.

The only urgent items in the first 90 ...

Let's talk about something that trips up even the most financially savvy women I know: what to do with your 401(k) when you leave a job. Whether you just accepted an exciting new offer, walked away from a toxic workplace, or are navigating a divorce, your retirement savings deserve a thoughtful strategy rather than a panicked decision made under pressure.

A 401(k) rollover is simply the process of transferring your retirement funds from your old employer's plan to a new account. Done correctly, it's tax-free and penalty-free. Done incorrectly, it can cost you thousands. That's why I want to walk you through your options with clarity and intention, so you can make a decision that actually aligns with your financial goals.

What Are Your Main 401(k) Rollover Options?

You generally have four choices when it comes to your old 401(k):

1. Roll it over to an IRA. This is often my first recommendation for clients because it opens up a much wider range of investment options and frequently comes ...

Every year, the same question lands in my inbox from smart, accomplished women who are trying to do right by their financial futures: "Leah, should I just max out my 401(k)?"

It sounds like such a simple yes-or-no question. And the internet will happily give you a confident, one-size-fits-all answer. But here is the truth: it depends, and the details of that dependency matter enormously.

In 2025, the IRS lets you contribute up to 3,500 to a 401(k) if you are under 50, and up to 1,000 if you are 50 or older (thanks to catch-up contributions). Maxing that out sounds virtuous. Responsible. Like the financial equivalent of eating your vegetables. But blindly maxing your 401(k) without considering your full financial picture can actually work against you.

First: What Is the Case FOR Maxing It Out?

Let us give credit where it is due. There are genuinely compelling reasons to contribute as much as possible to your 401(k):

• Tax-deferred growth. Every dollar you put in reduces your taxable inco
...

Ever since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed off on the 1935 Social Security Act, most Americans have ended up pondering this critical question as they approach retirement:

“When should I (or we) start taking my (or our) Social Security?”

And yet, the “right” answer to this common question remains as elusive as ever. It depends on a wide array of personal variables. It depends on how Congress acts. It depends on how the unknowable future plays out.

No wonder many families find themselves in a quandary when it comes to taking their Social Security benefits. Let’s take a closer look at how to find the right balance for you.

Social Security Planning: A Balancing Act

For Social Security planning purposes, you reach full retirement age (FRA) between ages 66–67, depending on the year you were born. However, you can generally begin drawing Social Security benefits as early as age 62 (with the lowest available monthly starting payments) or as late as age 70 (for the highest available mont...

So far in our investment basics blog post series, we’ve explored the history of investing; how important it is to save (so you have money to invest); how to invest efficiently in broad markets; and why to avoid chasing or fleeing rising or falling prices. 

By applying these logistics, you’re much better positioned to let capital markets work their wonders on your investments. But there are two more essentials that can make or break even the most sensible portfolio, and neither of them are about market dynamics. They’re about you.

Once you’ve structured your investments to capture available, risk-adjusted market returns, you’ll need to stay on track as planned.

This calls for channeling your ability to be patient, and for ensuring your personal goals—rather than shifting market conditions—are driving your ongoing decisions. 

1.     You can’t invest if you haven’t saved. 
2.     Markets are inspired by ingenuity, tempered by diversification.
3.     The price you pay matters. 
4.     Patience is a ...

In our last blog post, we described our marvelous markets and how to account for their being both robust and random at the same time. Today, we’ll look at how stock pricing works, and why Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe was correct when he reminded us: “Asset prices are not determined by someone from Mars” (even if it may sometimes feel that arbitrary).

1.     You can’t invest if you haven’t saved. 
2.     Markets are inspired by ingenuity, tempered by diversification. 
3.     The price you pay matters.
4.     Patience is a virtue.
5.     Investing is personal.

Random Numbers, Efficiently Arranged

Why is Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Class A stock (BRK-A) priced at more than $400,000 per share as of mid-September 2022? Why do other stocks trade for pennies on the dollar? Why has Meta’s (META) share price dropped by more than half year to date, while Consol Energy Inc.’s (CEIX) has more than doubled?

As we touched on in our last post, we caution against trying to predict a stock’s next price based ...

In our last blog post, we introduced the importance of saving, which is the first of five basics that have served investors well over time. Today, we’ll look at where stock market returns really come from, and why that matters to your investing.

1.   You can’t invest if you haven’t saved.
2.   Markets are inspired by ingenuity, tempered by diversification. 
3.   The price you pay matters. 
4.   Patience is a virtue. 
5.   Investing is personal.

Markets Are Robust and Random

Before we describe where stock market returns come from, consider these two quotes: 

“Whether the currency a century from now is based on gold, seashells, shark teeth, or a piece of paper (as today), people will be willing to exchange a couple of minutes of their daily labor for a Coca-Cola or some See’s peanut brittle.” 

— Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett

“Whenever you think you’ve found the key to the market, some[one] changes the lock.” 

— E.F. Hutton & Co. Founder G.M. Loeb

So, which is it? Are market returns drive...

There’s been a lot going on this year - politically, financially and economically - from rising interest rates, to elevated inflation, to ongoing market turmoil.

So how will all this activity translate into annual performance in our investment portfolios? Markets often deliver their best returns just when we’re most discouraged. While we wait to find out the results, here are six financial action items that you can tackle before the year ends. 

1. Revisit Your Cash Reserves

Where is your cash stashed these days? After years of offering essentially zero interest in money markets, savings accounts, and similar platforms, some banks are now offering higher interest rates to savers. Others are not. Plus, some money market funds may have quietly resumed charging underlying management fees they had waived during low-rate times. 

It might be a good time to shop around. If you have significant cash reserves, now may be a good time to compare rates and fees among local institutions, virtual ban...

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.

It's August. You have four months and real options. That's the whole reason I'm publishing this now.

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.

You may be familiar with traditional retirement plans available to employees, but there’s a lot of confusion about retirement plans for self-employed or business owners. The great news is that if you are self-employed or own a business, you can create retirement plans for yourself and any employees you have. Having a retirement plan option for your employees can even benefit your business by attracting quality people who are in it with you for the long haul!

Either way, a huge advantage of having a retirement plan is that you’re able to begin saving for the future. The earlier you start saving, the better, but there is by no means a “wrong” time to start investing or contributing to a plan.

The Benefits of Having a Retirement Plan

Like I mentioned before, having a retirement plan could help you attract qualified employees who wish to stay with your company. This is true whether you have 2 or 200 employees.

Also, in the case of qualified plans and some nonqualified plans, a retirement ...