For the last ten years, it’s been difficult to look people in the eye and keep a straight face when telling them they need a savings account for emergencies.  Seriously, interest rates have been so low, I’d usually get a quip about “why bother” or “it’d be better off under ...

There are all kinds of different titles for financial services professionals, and even more credentials to complement said job titles.  This can make it difficult for consumers to tell the difference between the kinds of professionals offering financial advice, products, and services.  One of the easiest ways to wade through ...

Tires Can Teach Us About Picking InvestmentsI bought new tires a few weeks ago in anticipation of my annual state inspection.  I was killing time in the waiting room at the shop and I started to think about financial planning analogies.  How could new tires possibly have anything to do ...

College is expensive, and tuition only seems to go up.  American families looking to pay for a college education have a variety of choices when it comes to the best way to save for the cost of a diploma.  As a fee-only, fiduciary financial planner, I love giving people objective ...

I am thrilled to share that I have launched my own firm to serve as a fee-only financial planner in Philadelphia.  More specifically, Meaningful Wealth Management LLC is a fee-only financial planning firm in Philadelphia built to help millennials and Generation X locally in Philadelphia and virtually anywhere there is ...

Happy New Year!  It’s that time of year when people are setting their New Year's resolutions.  Financial New Year's resolutions are very common, and only slightly less popular than diet and exercise goals.  Save more. Spend less. Finally set aside the 4 hours it takes to do battle with negotiate ...

As a fee-only financial planner, I’m THRILLED to utilize the benefits your employer provides. Health Savings Accounts (HSA) are no exception, and you should strongly consider using them if you’re eligible. Unfortunately, not everyone can take advantage of health savings accounts because eligibility is dictated by their health insurance.  Simply ...

For those of you that are still figuring out what to get your significant other for Valentine’s Day, look no further than your friendly Philadelphia financial planner’s blog.  “Hey babe, let’s give each other the gift of tax-free earnings!” I know, I know. Thank me later. But seriously, if you ...

My name is Brendan Dooley and I’m a Philadelphia-based financial planner.  I’m also a bit two-faced. Let me explain. In my business, I evaluate and add new technology allll the time.  I’m always eager to add software that can help me serve my clients, add new services, or add time ...

Some people might consider discussing personal finance and volatility during a time like this to be insensitive.  But I’m here to encourage you to give yourself permission to think about how this will impact your financial future.  The markets are certainly reacting to a very fluid news cycle and with ...

Have you ever been to a fortune-teller?  Tarot card reader? A wizard? I will confess that I have not, but I know that it’s a tough business.  The whole premise is they’re supposed to be able to predict your future, and from what I understand, the juicy parts come just ...

The government stimulus package or the CARES Act that was signed into law last week was almost nine hundred pages.  This humble tome was only 10 pages in Google docs, so I’ve done my best to condense what’s relevant to you and present some planning opportunities.  I’m confident even people ...

Last night’s thunderstorm woke me up and I couldn’t get back to sleep.  I started thinking about Passover starting tonight and how Coronavirus has likely altered the Passover plans of my friends, neighbors, and clients, in addition to thinking about my own Easter plans that were changed.  Instead of gathering with ...

We’re all sitting inside our houses these days, waiting for the signal that we can move on from aggressive quarantine measures.  Folks have no choice but to be patient as we all give scientists, medical professionals, and public health officials time to figure out what the heck is going on.  ...

Around the beginning of March, I started getting nervous about Coronavirus.  At that time, it seemed like it was still not quite “real” here in Philadelphia with most of the known cases still in Washington state.  I had no way of envisioning what has actually happened, but I made a few ...

Here we are on the eve of the most contentious election mine eyes ever did witness.  That’s not much time, but I’m working on it every single day!  Regardless of your political leanings, I hope we can all agree that the end of the constant text messages, phone calls, social ...

It's Here It's Here It's Here It's finally here.  Six months of partisan bickering back and forth and we finally have a signed stimulus package.  Say what you want about our Congressional representatives, but they finally delivered a package that has a lot to unpack for individuals and businesses.  All ...

Here We Go Again The pandemic is over a year old now, and President Biden has officially signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP).  The ARP is the third major federal government effort to keep the economy afloat.  The purpose of this blog post is to examine some of the very ...

Happy New Year!  Today is the first day of Spring, so why am I just wishing you a new year now?  More on that in a minute. Can we talk about new year resolutions for a second?  The most popular resolutions usually relate to health/diet and money.  By now, most ...