Taxes 101

In November of 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote to a friend to inquire about his health and give a brief update on his life. His letter included this line “Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” This […]
49 CARES

WHAT IS 49 CARES? 49 Cares is an employee resource group that leads the firm in our philanthropic efforts, which includes finding nonprofit partners for service projects and trainings like these stories captured in these videos. the employees shared how the work each of the nonprofits they served with are doing aligns with our mission […]
Focused Generosity

One of the things I’m most grateful for is a dinner I had earlier this year. While the food was fantastic, the memorable part of the dinner was the lesson I learned from a sage friend. Throughout our dinner, I had been airing my laments to my buddy. He stopped me and asked why most […]
Functional Generosity

November is the month when Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Historically, Americans celebrated the Fall harvest by “giving thanks” for the blessings. Whether the harvests were bountiful or scarce, the holiday was a time for people to practice gratitude. Today, very few of us are farmers. Society is much less agrarian, but the holiday remains intact and […]
RCU: What Report Cards Teach Us About Retirement

Recently, I was helping one of my kids clean out their room. In one of their drawers were some old report cards. Looking at these documents was like a stroll down memory lane for me. When they were 4, I remember they could “identify numbers” and had “empathy for their peers.” By elementary school, they […]
‘This model can scale’: How a Texas RIA turns college grads into skilled advisors

Travis Penfield believes two advisors are better than one. Such is the philosophy behind the operating model of his retirement planning firm, 49 Financial, which went independent in October of 2019 in Austin, Tex. before joining Thrivent Advisor Network in July of 2020. Each client is paired with a duo of advisors – […]