Plain-language guides for the planning topics that matter.
Short, focused reads on the questions Sarah hears most often from business owners, families, and professionals.
Retirement, protection, investments, business planning, or a life change that needs order.
Sarah helps sort goals, accounts, insurance, risks, and timelines into a clearer picture.
You know what to gather, what deserves attention, and whether a broader plan makes sense.
Social Security retirement ages, made clear.
Find your full retirement age by birth year, compare claiming from 62 to 70, and see the factors that belong in the decision.
Build a retirement income plan.
A six-part checklist for coordinating Social Security, portfolio withdrawals, taxes, healthcare, and flexible spending.
Financial planning questions people ask before booking.
Life insurance, retirement, business owner planning, family planning, and working with an advisor in Waukesha or Milwaukee.
Start with education. Then talk through what applies to your life.
These resources can help you understand the topics. A conversation with Sarah can help organize the tradeoffs around your specific goals, family, and business.
A plain-language overview of term and permanent coverage, and why different policies can fit different needs.
A helpful starting point for thinking about income, debt, mortgage, education, and family obligations.
Explains common planning areas including goals, budget, taxes, retirement, insurance, investments, and legacy planning.
Covers longevity, income, health care, market risk, and withdrawal planning considerations.
A business-owner resource for cash flow, risk, succession, and connecting business health with personal planning.
A useful guide to what advisors do and how professional guidance can help organize complex decisions.
For Washington readers: the 2026–2028 decision window.
WAC 192-905-009 opened a rescission period from January 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028 for employees who previously received a permanent private long-term-care insurance exemption. The original 2021–2022 exemption application period remains closed. These reads are educational; confirm exemption and rescission questions with the official WA Cares program.
What WAC 192-905-009 opened for people who received a permanent private-insurance exemption — and what did not reopen.
Read moreA line-by-line review checklist for coverage purchased quickly to meet the original 2021 deadline.
Read moreHow Chapter 48.212 RCW defines supplemental long-term care coverage, and why existing policies may not meet that definition.
Read moreCoordinated, yes. One policy, usually no. A three-layer framework and what may or may not combine.
Read moreBring your 2021 policy, your exemption question, and your current plan to one educational conversation.
Read moreA calm first step to understand how much protection may be appropriate and compare term and permanent approaches.
An educational walk-through of an indexed universal life illustration — guarantees versus assumptions, caps, charges, loans — and how it compares with other approaches. Northwestern Mutual does not offer IUL.
Understand funding approaches, questions to compare, and how a care event could affect retirement and family.
A first-week triage for health coverage, employer life and disability insurance, and the four neutral 401(k) options.
Who the Roth catch-up requirement can apply to, what the IRS final regulations describe, and why it is plan-dependent.
Funding sources compared, the custodial versus skilled care distinction, and where official Wisconsin resources fit.
Conversion and portability deadlines, what group coverage actually replaces, and what to request in writing.
Seven decisions to review first — income map, Social Security timing, health coverage, taxes, debt, care risk, and purpose.
Earnings interruptions, retirement contributions, out-of-pocket spending, and protecting the caregiver's own plan.
Why simple income multiples are only a starting point, and how to inventory obligations, existing coverage, and goals instead.
Temporary and long-lasting needs, premium structure, guarantees subject to policy terms, and how accessing cash value works.
Why the nickname is marketing rather than tax code, how whole life is actually taxed, and how it compares with a Roth IRA in 2026.
A layered framework for what usually comes first, where permanent coverage earns a place, and when term is the better fit.
How underwriting generally works, why a truthful application matters, and the range of possible outcomes.
The household costs a surviving parent might have to purchase, and how to think about them without pricing a person.
Timing tradeoffs, how health and underwriting interact with age, and why there is no universal best age.
Standalone coverage compared with life insurance that includes long-term care or chronic illness features.
Skilled care versus custodial care, where Medicaid fits, and what that leaves families to plan for.
Start from monthly obligations, group benefit caps, taxation, waiting periods, and carrier participation limits.
Portability, definition of disability, taxation, offsets, and residual benefits — with the contract language controlling.
An income map, Social Security and Medicare timing, debt, taxes, insurance, and estate review on a five-year runway.
Own-occupation wording, group coverage gaps, and the contract provisions worth reading before protecting clinical income.
Benefit caps, variable compensation, residual disability, and portability for high-earning professionals.
Why benefits are not automatically tax-free, and how premium payment generally drives federal treatment.
A calm financial checklist for the first 48 hours and first two weeks after a resignation, layoff, or termination.
Documents to preserve, cash flow before and after, retirement plans and QDRO coordination, and who does what.
The five pillars of a durable family legacy, age-appropriate money habits, and a family conversation guide.
Planning for care you may give and care you may need, with Wisconsin resources and funding tradeoffs.
Four general options to review after a job change, with the questions to ask first.
National median care costs, what Medicare generally covers, and how Wisconsin families can prepare.
A simple checklist to help evaluate fit, approach, and trust.
How to think about personal and business finances as one plan.
How clients move from saving for retirement to drawing income from it.
Why coverage bought years ago may no longer fit today's life.
Planning that respects careers, transitions, and what matters most.
How priorities evolve from young families to multi-generational homes.