Financial Consulate

09/02/2026

Are you staying at a job you hate just for the health insurance? If you’re over 60, there’s a bridge strategy to Medicare that many people completely overlook.

The cost of your insurance on the ACA exchange isn't based on how much you’re worth. It’s based on your taxable income. This is the income vs. assets rule.

08/31/2026

Most people have an advisor and a CPA who never speak to each other. That's the norm, but it creates a gap.

At Financial Consulate, nearly half of our advisors are CPAs, backed by a dedicated tax team. When we plan your investments and income, the tax strategy is part of the same conversation, not an afterthought handled by someone else.

One team, working from the same page.

08/28/2026

Most personal finance advice is about saving more, spending less, and holding back. That is genuinely useful until you've already done it.

At a certain point, the work isn't convincing you to save, it's giving you permission to spend.

That's a surprisingly difficult conversation, and one we have with clients more often than you might think.

08/26/2026

You could own exactly the right fund and still be overpaying for it.

Many mutual funds offer multiple share classes—meaning the exact same basket of stocks or bonds is sold at different price points. Unfortunately, many 401(k) plans load their menus with higher-cost retail share classes, even though the company's collective buying power should qualify for the lower-cost institutional version of that exact same fund.

The fee difference might look small on paper (sometimes just a fraction of a percent), but that fraction compounds over decades and can eventually shave tens of thousands of dollars off your retirement nest egg.

Because individual employees can't just switch share classes on their own, fixing this requires the employer to upgrade the plan's investment lineup. When a company switches to a lower-cost share class, it requires zero changes to your actual portfolio strategy. It just stops the unnecessary drag on your returns.

08/24/2026

When the financially savvy spouse passes away, the surviving spouse is often left with scattered accounts, unknown passwords, and no road map. It's chaos at the worst possible moment.

In this video, we walk through what we focus on with clients to prevent this scenario, from getting both spouses involved in the plan to handling the unglamorous details that become critical when they're needed most.

➡️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk0GRqr4XRU&t=2s

08/21/2026

For 40+ years, a direct deposit hit your account every two weeks.

Retirement flips that.

Now the money goes out instead, and even a plan that shows you'll never run out can't fully settle that uneasy feeling at first.

The adjustment to retirement is emotional, and it's real. If you're close to retirement and already feeling some of this, you're not doing anything wrong. It's one of the most common adjustments we see, and you don't have to sort through it alone.

Schedule a complimentary intro call to talk it over with our team:

Connect with the wealth advisors at Financial Consulate in Hunt Valley, MD to discuss planning topics & services. Contact our team to start a conversation.

08/19/2026

Read your tax return like a story. It can tell you:

→ Whether income changed and made an impact
→ Whether investment income is starting to drive your tax bill
→ Whether itemizing still makes sense
→ Whether charitable giving is being captured the way you think it is
→ Whether there are “flags” to plan around next year

Most people sign and move on, but if retirement is getting closer, those numbers can help you make better decisions (Roth conversions, withdrawal strategy, Medicare costs, and more).

08/17/2026

We recently reviewed a client's Thrift Savings Plan. She had close to a million dollars in it, but there was no primary beneficiary listed.

People change jobs, get divorced, and lose track of old accounts. The paperwork doesn't update itself. Taking 30 minutes to review your beneficiary designations across every account you hold is one of the simplest things you can do to shield the people you're planning for.

08/14/2026

After a lifetime of building wealth, pulling back and getting conservative with your money feels like the responsible move, but if your money is parked so cautiously that it isn’t growing, inflation will work against you year after year.

The goal is to hold enough growth that your income keeps its value for as long as you need it.

08/13/2026

Have you recently welcomed a child or grandchild into the world? They might be eligible for a financial head start. Here’s how to open a Trump Account and access $1,000 seed money from the federal government. Link in the comments.

Mike McCarthy, an advisor at Financial Consulate, helps Hunt Valley, MD, clients to better understand the nuances of Trump Accounts.