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Interested in Personal and Financial Planning?
Welcome! Bridget Sullivan Mermel and John Scherer talk introduce themselves and talk about why they started the channel, Friends Talk Financial Planning.
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How the Wealthy Avoid Taxes (and how You Can, Too)
In this episode of Friends Talk Financial Planning, we talk about some ways that the wealthy use to pay less taxes. Whether or not you...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Sep 30
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Is Home Ownership Slipping Away From Americans?
In this episode of Friends Talk Financial Planning, John and Bridget discuss the concerns facing many Americans today regarding home...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Apr 15, 2024
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Smart House Selling: Expert Tips and Strategies from Financial Planning Pros
In this episode of FTFP, John and Bridget discuss the challenges of selling a house and offer their insights and advice. From pricing...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Nov 27, 2023
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Navigating the Current Real Estate Market: Lessons Learned from Bridget's House Purchase
In this episode of Friends Talk Financial Planning, Bridget shares her personal experience of buying a house and the financial planning...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Oct 23, 2023
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Tax-efficient Giving | Make Your Kids and Grandkids Happy!
When you've reached a point in your life when you know you've got more than enough, you may think about passing along your financial...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
May 16, 2023
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Avoid These Estate Planning Mistakes: You Can't Undo These When Dead
Avoid These Estate Planning Mistakes. You can only do estate planning when you're alive. When you're dead, it's too late. Not wanting to...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Aug 29, 2022
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How Do REITs Work in a Portfolio? | REIT Investing Explained
Real estate investing can be made easy with REITS, or real estate investment trusts. But many people don't know how REITs work in a...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Jun 16, 2022
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Thinking about Renting Out Your Vacation Home? Consider this!
Bridget got a question this week--what are the pros and cons of renting out your vacation home? John is a CFP® who owns a vacation home....

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Aug 2, 2021
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Is Real Estate a Good Investment? The Pros and Cons of Owning Rental Property
These days people talk about the pros and cons of rental property. People refer to this as passive income, dreaming of checks showing up...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Jul 5, 2021
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Should I buy a house now? Avoid Becoming House Poor!
The real estate market is hot in many areas right now, with sellers getting multiple offers. What’s a buyer to do? How can you approach...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Jun 17, 2021
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Video: Save money on taxes when you retire in Chicago
Saving money on state income tax, property tax and other Chicago fees when you retire in Chicago--that's what Kyle Harvey and Anne...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Oct 15, 2020
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Buying a house? Avoid these five pitfalls
The biggest mistake people make when buying a house is over-buying.

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Jul 15, 2019
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Buying a House? Talk to Kojak
Terri and David came in for a meeting with me. They were expecting a baby and wanted to buy a house. They had their eye on a $500,000...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Jul 15, 2019
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The Truth about Why to Invest in Real Estate
Don't buy real estate because you think it's an easy way to make money while in your underwear watching TV while eating Cheetos.

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Jul 9, 2019
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Wall Street Journal Weighs in on Refinancing
Following up on my post about what to ask mortgage brokers, the Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on the current state of...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
May 19, 2010
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Wall Street Journal Weighs in on Real Estate Prices
This article from the WSJ covers how the housing market varies by region: Home Sales All Over the Map And this Article from August 3,...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Aug 2, 2009
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How to Think about Real Estate Prices
I'm not very interested in predictions about how long the current economic downturn is going to last. What I'm interested is in the...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA
Jul 17, 2009
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