Welcome! Bridget Sullivan Mermel and John Scherer talk introduce themselves and talk about why they started the channel, Friends Talk Financial Planning.

In this episode of Friends Talk Financial Planning, John and Bridget discuss insurance mistakes that can cost you thousands and how to avoid them. There’s health insurance, life insurance, renter’s insurance, home insurance, auto insurance, umbrella insurance, and more. How do you decide what types of insurance you need and how much of each type is enough? Tune in for key insights that can help you choose insurance and avoid costly mistakes! Understanding the Importance of In

In this episode of Friends Talk Financial Planning, we talk about how to protect yourself from identity theft, which continues to be a serious issue. One of the key strategies we recommend is setting up online accounts with the IRS and the Social Security Administration—even if you don't currently need them—so that scammers can't create accounts in you name. These accounts can be secured through ID.me , and it's a good idea to set them up not only for yourselves but also for

In this episode of Friends Talk Financial Planning, Bridget and John dive into a fascinating survey conducted by Northwestern Mutual, highlighting the top obstacles to financial security. From inflation and the economy to personal debt and savings, they offer insightful perspectives on how we can rethink these challenges and focus on actionable steps to achieve financial stability. Don’t miss their practical advice that can help you control your financial future! Link to the

In this episode of Friends Talk Financial Planning, John and Bridget discuss the truth behind guaranteed rates in variable annuities. They break down the complexities and shed light on important considerations for anyone considering this investment option. Other episodes that you might find interesting about annuities: Understanding Fixed Annuities: How They Work and Making Informed Financial Decisions: https://youtu.be/fVURWNUpDM0 Three Deadly Annuity Mistakes:...

In this episode, Bridget and John share six important questions to ask when hiring a financial advisor or financial planner. They discuss the significance of credentials, fiduciary responsibilities, tax advice, comprehensive financial planning, advisor experience, and transparent fee structures. (1). "Are you a CFP or certified financial planner?" (2). "Are you a fiduciary?" (3). "Will you give specific tax advice or will it be, I need to talk to my tax person about those th

In this episode of Friends Talk Financial Planning, John and Bridget discuss the increasing threat of cybercrime and share five important steps to protect your identity. They delve into the importance of multifactor authentication, the use of strong passwords or passphrases, and the risks associated with sharing sensitive information via email. Join them as they provide practical tips and strategies to safeguard your identity from cybercriminals. Don't miss out on this valuab

Giving money away can come with happiness or regret. Bridget Sullivan Mermel and John Scherer discuss how to avoid three flavors of donation regret. Stay tuned for our tips on how to feel more of the warm glow of giving, too! John uses his own stories to illustrate how donating can make you feel bad or good. He talks about how he thinks about being scammed by a charity and what he learned from the experience. We talk about public radio station changing formats, and fee

It seems like every day we hear about new scams and new scandals with people stealing our identity. On this episode, we’ll talk about actions you can take to protect your identity. Part of our work is helping people pay attention to what they should pay attention to and ignore the rest. We talk about email, passwords, sending codes to your cell phone, as well as how to handle calls from the IRS, Social Security or other government agencies. Feel safe, don't fall prey to

Buy A New Car from Dealer? This video, tells you everything Bridget Sullivan Mermel learned from her Dad about the process of buying a new car from a dealership. Buying a new car can be difficult. It's a large ticket item that you don't buy very often. The sales staff and dealer know a lot more about the transaction than you do. They do this all the time, while you do this every 3-20 years. This means you can be at a serious disadvantage when buying a car. We talk about

Too often, buying an annuity is a mistake. It doesn't have to be. Watching for 5 simple, easy to identify red flags can help you avoid a costly mistake. People buy annuities looking for a steady income stream and reduced risk. Unfortunately, too often, they get substandard products. Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA and John Scherer CFP(R) talk about how to sort it out. One of the big things is that—when you look at them, look at the number of moving parts. All annui

What's the difference between a Fee-only or fee-based financial advisor? It turns out, the difference is significant. We’ve talked in past episodes about how the financial industry using confusing language and half-truths; making if hard for real people to make informed decisions. On today’s episode of Friends Talk Financial Planning, we dig into another of these confusing topics: fee-only vs. fee-based. Listen to Bridget & John discuss how one word makes a huge differe

How do you avoid getting scammed? Investments can seem legit, but it’s a house made of cards. We discuss the tell-tale signs of Pyramid schemes and Ponzi schemes and other scams. Avoid getting ripped off by the unscrupulous Bernie Madoffs of the world. It’s not that difficult to identify, yet we can get sucked in. How do we know an investment idea seems too good to be true? Can you afford to pass it up? TRANSCRIPT Bridget: Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, investment scams

With Reddit, Gamestop, Koss, Citadel, and Robinhood all involved—how do you sort it out? What does it mean for your investing? Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP® CPA and John Scherer CFP ® talk about what they recommend that investors do. TRANSCRIPT Gamestop, Robinhood, and Your Money John : It's in the news. Everybody's talking about the short squeeze and what's going on in the market. What do you do about that stuff? Find out today on this episode of Friends Talk Financial Pl

CPA and CFP(R) Bridget Sullivan Mermel talks with CFP John Scherer about what they tell clients who are interested in buying silver and gold. With silver at all time highs and gold holding strong, more people are interested in the topic than ever! Also see Bridget's article on the topic here . TRANSCRIPT Gold and Silver: Is it Time to Buy? John: Gold and silver have been up over 50% the last two years. Does that mean we should invest in that? That's going to be our topic t

Why investments smell Our fridge finally died; we could also use a new dishwasher. So, when we found that a local retailer was...

Bert Whitehead writes about how to avoid Madoff-type schemes, as well as other traps and rip-offs. Don’t let you or someone you know...

I don't blame the Madoff investors for investing in his hedge fund. Truth is, we all make some mistakes when investing. But, like Ben...