Novak Financial Partners

07/14/2026

A couple weeks ago, Madi and I got married.

As we started planning for everything that comes after the wedding, we realized there are a lot of financial decisions that are easy to overlook. Updating beneficiaries, reviewing insurance, deciding how to combine finances, updating estate documents, and more.

So before we worked through everything ourselves, we put together a financial checklist for newlyweds. If you recently got married or know someone who did, we hope it's a helpful resource.

Link in the comments.

07/09/2026

One of the biggest mistakes we see homebuyers make is buying the house the bank says they can afford instead of the house they can comfortably afford.

A mortgage approval answers one question:
Will the bank lend you the money?

It doesn't answer the more important one:
Will this house still fit the life you want to live?

The right home should leave room for retirement savings, vacations, unexpected expenses, and the freedom to enjoy it.

07/07/2026

The typical homeowner spends $23,686 a year on non-mortgage costs.

Utilities. Property taxes. Insurance. Maintenance. Over a 30-year mortgage, that's $710,580 in costs that never appear on the mortgage statement.

It's why 45% of homeowners say homeownership costs more than they expected.

Your mortgage payment is the floor. Not the ceiling.

The typical homeowner spends $23,686 a year on non-mortgage expenses. That's $710,580 over 30 years. Here's where the money actually goes.

06/30/2026

You're doing most of the right things. Maxing out your 401(k). Backdoor Roth. Saving consistently.

And quietly, over the last two or three years, you've accumulated $150,000, sometimes $250,000 in a savings account with no plan attached.

This is the cash trap. A great problem to have, and one of the most correctable optimization opportunities at your income level.

We put together a framework for right-sizing your cash reserve and putting the excess to work.

A HYSA at 3.20% yields just 1.78 to 2.13 percent after taxes for a California high earner. Here's how to right-size your cash and put the excess to work in 2026.

06/23/2026

Most young families assume they are covered because they have life insurance through work.

Group coverage is typically one to two times your salary. Most financial planners recommend ten to twelve times.

On a $250,000 income, that is a gap of over $2,000,000.

We put together a guide on how to calculate what your family actually needs, why term beats whole life for most people, and one mistake almost every young parent makes with their beneficiary designations.

Most young families think they are covered because they have life insurance through work. Group coverage is typically one to two times your salary. Most families need ten to twelve times. Here is how to calculate the right amount and why term beats whole life for most families.

06/16/2026

Most young families have life insurance.

Far fewer have the documents that actually protect their kids if something happens.

No will means a court decides who raises your children. No trust means your assets go through a slow, public court process before reaching your family.

Outdated beneficiary designations mean the wrong person gets the money, regardless of what your will says.

We put together a checklist of the five documents every young family needs and the two mistakes that undermine even well-intentioned plans.

Most young families put estate planning off until someday. Here are the five documents every family with minor children needs, why a trust beats a will alone, and the two mistakes that leave families exposed even after the paperwork is done.

06/09/2026

Your business is running well. Your personal finances? Less clear.

Too much cash in the operating account. No retirement plan in place. Quarterly taxes catching you off guard.

We put together a 10-point checklist for small business owners in 2026 so you can sanity check your setup in under 10 minutes.

A 10-point 2026 financial checklist for small business owners. Safe Harbor 401(k), quarterly taxes, S-corp salary, succession, and more — built for busy owners.

06/04/2026

The financial advice industry has a problem it doesn't talk about enough.

Most advice never gets implemented. A RAND study found roughly two-thirds of people who received financial advice didn't follow it.

The bottleneck in financial planning has never really been the plan. It's been everything that happens, or doesn't happen, after the meeting ends.

We've spent years building plans that are technically sound. The math works. The strategy is right. And still, the hardest thing isn't knowing what someone should do. It's helping them actually do it.

So we borrowed from someone outside the industry. James Clear's Four Laws of Behavior Change have quietly become the backbone of how we run client relationships.

Make it obvious. Meetings end with a specific written action. Not "think about your beneficiaries" but "log into your 401(k) by Friday and change your beneficiary to reflect your trust."

Make it attractive. Every recommendation gets anchored to something the client actually cares about, not a spreadsheet number.

Make it easy. We remove friction wherever we find it, walking clients through forms in real time instead of sending homework.

Make it satisfying. We track progress so clients can see their own momentum.
Vague advice dies on the drive home. Specific action survives.

Clear wrote that you don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

The work is building the system.

06/02/2026

Business owners have access to retirement plans with limits far above what W-2 employees can contribute.

A Solo 401(k) allows up to $72,000 in contributions in 2026. A defined benefit plan can go well over $100,000.

The right option depends on whether you have employees, how much you want to contribute, and the complexity you're willing to manage.

We broke down the four main plans and how to decide which one is the right fit.

Solo 401(k), SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, and defined benefit plans compared for 2026. Updated contribution limits, a side-by-side comparison, and a framework for choosing the right plan based on your business.