Fox Financial

10/31/2026

Not every monster wears a costume this month. Some show up as a text pretending to be your bank. 👻

Three cybersecurity myths worth burying this October:

🎃 "Some of my accounts are too small to bother with." False. Most attacks aren’t personal. Automated bots test thousands of accounts at a time, looking for a weak spot.

🎃 "Only older adults fall for scams." Absolutely false. FTC data has consistently shown adults in their 20s are reporting fraud, too.

🎃 "I'd know a phishing email if I saw one." Maybe once. AI-generated phishing has erased the classic tells: broken grammar, misspellings, and awkward phrasing.

This time of year, it's worth taking a moment to look past the obvious scares and pay attention to the sneakier ones, too.

10/29/2026

Nationwide's 2026 study surfaced three key lessons from parents:

🎯 Not starting early enough.
More than 25 percent of recent retirees wish they had started sooner. Fifteen years of compounding early in a career can make a HUGE difference.

🎯 Not raising the contribution rate as your income grows.
Thirteen percent of recent retirees wish they had contributed more to their savings each year.

🎯 Claiming Social Security at 62.
More than a third of boomers plan to claim benefits the moment they become eligible, even though doing so cuts the monthly benefit by 25 to 30 percent for life.

According to the SSA, waiting past full retirement age adds 8 percent per year, up to age 70.

Across the research, three things seem to matter most:
1️⃣ Starting early
2️⃣ Getting an outside perspective rather than relying on instinct alone
3️⃣ Treating retirement as something that unfolds over decades rather than a single date on the calendar

10/29/2026

Always Growing. Paula Fox Derwick Awarded 2026 Presidential Award on 10/8/26.
By Belle Martinelli. Paula Fox Derwick likes to consider her work story one of good nepotism.

“In order to get out of cleaning my house and doing chores at home, I went to work for my dad,” she joked. From middle school on, Fox Derwick joined her father, William Fox, at H&R Block. Her father established the H&R Block franchises in the area when they first opened in the 60s.

“I was a numbers person,” she said. “It was just natural. I never questioned what I wanted to do career wise.”

Fox Derwick is the 2026 recipient of the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce Presidential Award. She was honored at the Chamber’s 120th Annual Dinner on Thursday, October 8, alongside Paula Snyder and Solepoxy, Inc., respectively.

“I had enough fortune to be in a family that had a business that I was interested in,” emphasized Fox Derwick. “It wasn’t all on my back.”

After graduating from the State University of New York at Geneseo with a degree in business and finance, Fox Derwick relocated to Rochester for three years, until fate would bring her, her husband, Scott Derwick, and their one-year-old, Alex, back to Olean.

Fox Derwick and her father were simultaneously working on their Certified Financial Planning designations, when he asked if they wanted to open a financial planning firm in Olean together, Fox Financial, and the rest is history.

*2026 Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce (GOACC) Presidential Award: The Presidential Award recognizes an individual, business, or organization that has become an integral part of the greater Olean, New York community. The recipient is selected by the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Listing in this publication and/or award is not a guarantee of future investment success. This recognition should not be construed as an endorsement of any financial professional by any client. No compensation was provided directly or indirectly by the recipient for participation or in connection with obtaining or using the third-party rating or award.

Securities and advisory services offered through Cetera Advisor Networks LLC

10/28/2026

Could a Roth conversion make sense for your financial plan? In this video, Kaden explains the potential tax benefits and key factors to consider when deciding if a Roth conversion is right for you!

See more videos from Fox Financial here: https://www.fox-financial.com/videos

10/28/2026

The average college senior graduates with credit card debt. How will your kids manage money?

You taught them how to read and how to ride a bike, but have you taught your children how to manage money?

10/27/2026

Weddings add up fast. Use this calculator to map out your budget by category, set priorities, and see what your big day might really cost.

Estimate total wedding costs and see how different choices affect your overall budget.

10/26/2026

How many years before you are ready to be "retired"?

It's one of the most important numbers yet.

TIAA's 2026 longevity literacy research found that workers who expect a shorter retirement save less consistently than those who expect a longer one.

That makes sense, but it also means the people who assume their retirement will be short are the same ones who may be building portfolios with shorter time horizons.

Once someone has already reached 65, the numbers shift.

According to Social Security Administration data:

📌 A 65-year-old man has roughly a 24 percent chance of living past 90

📌 A 65-year-old woman's chances are higher, closer to 35 percent

📌 For a 65-year-old married couple, there is about a 50 percent chance that at least one spouse lives past 90

The practical implication is not "assume you will live to 100."

It's that a retirement income strategy built around the "average lifespan" often assumes a person will die on schedule. Most people do not.

If retirement is on your horizon, the question to ask is, "What happens to my income strategy if I live to 95?"

10/26/2026

Who you gonna call? This week, CIO Gene Goldman is joined by two very special guests as he suits up for Halloween with his baby twins in a Ghostbusters-inspired edition of .
Beyond the costumes, Gene breaks down the biggest event on investors’ radar: the upcoming Fed meeting. Will policymakers hold rates steady, signal a December hike, or surprise markets? Tune in as he explores inflation trends, Fed messaging, and the key signals investors should be watching this week.

“Cetera Financial Group” refers to the network of independent retail firms encompassing, among others, Cetera Advisors LLC, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Cetera Investment Services LLC (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions or Cetera Investors), and Cetera Financial Specialists LLC. All firms...

10/25/2026

Stocks vs. Bonds: A Clear Guide for Olean, NY Households

What Are Stocks and Bonds? Stocks represent ownership in a company, while bonds are loans you make to an organization, usually a corporation or government. Both can play a role...

Read more:

What Are Stocks and Bonds? Stocks represent ownership in a company, while bonds are loans you make to an organization, usually a corporation or government. Both

10/25/2026

The question everyone has: Will Social Security be around for you? Read this.

Some people wonder if Social Security will remain financially sound enough to pay the benefits they are owed.