Schod, DeGroff & Associates

07/13/2026

Random finance tip:

Your dollars will go where you tell them to go.

Much like water that is flowing, you can divert it to different locations or pool it in certain areas.

And just as water will always find the path of least resistance, so will your dollars.

Picture a cup, with water flowing into it. Now let's imagine that this cup has a series of holes in the bottom.

The water will just flow straight through, right? We can’t keep any of that flow, and can’t control where it is going.

Those holes are our poor financial decision making and the lack of control we have over our finances. We can’t keep our dollars because we can’t control our spending. We aren’t telling our money what to do.

If we fill in those holes, what happens to the cup? Now, devoid of the obstacles, it will fill up and start to overflow. If we clean up the financial decisions we are making, we start to see our dollars grow.

Now we are controlling our cash flow properly, which is the first step of creating financial success, whether in business or our personal lives.

To further the point: Once the cup starts to overflow, we need to make sure we have other places to catch the water.

This becomes our asset location--the different areas that we are funneling our money to make sure that it does what we need it to do. Savings, investments, insurance, etc. We need to give our dollars jobs and then divert that money into the proper place for them to do their jobs.

When we start to dictate where our money is going, eliminating the run-off and catching/pooling the excess in accounts that we control, we begin to start winning with our finances.

If you’re a fan of action steps: identify the holes in your cup! This is best done by reviewing your spending from over the last ninety days or so. Once you look at the appropriate data, you will have a much clearer view of what the holes in your cup are.

04/07/2026

When you think of financial success, do you want the physical money or do you want the result of having that money?

Chances are, you want the result.

It’s not about having the few million dollars, it’s what we can DO with that few million dollars.

The freedom that comes from having those dollars. The flexibility it creates in our situation. The stuff it can buy. The good it can do. The peace it creates in your mind.

Money is a tool that helps us achieve a goal. But money itself should not be the goal.

Put another way, the entire purpose of money is to be the tool that helps us achieve the goals we want to accomplish. It isn’t the goal, but the tool that pushes us towards what we desire.

When we treat money like the goal, it becomes a carrot on a stick that we keep having to work towards.

This is why I’m not a fan of the way the financial industry promotes retirement planning above all else in the financial world. That carrot on a stick keeps us running into the wind, thinking “once I hit this number” or “once I hit this age” “I can finally live the life I want.”

This is no way to live.

When we treat money as a tool, and handle our finances the proper way and building our financial life from the foundation up, your dollars become the wind in your sails pushing you towards your goals, instead of the carrot that you are chasing.

04/02/2026

Got some mail today.

I officially received my CLTC® (Certified in Long-Term Care) diploma.

In my view, long-term care planning is one of the most overlooked (and misunderstood) areas in financial planning. Most people either ignore it completely, assume “it won’t happen to me,” or let it be one of those things that adds to anxiety, while not doing anything about it.

All of which are dangerous.

Extended Care events don’t just impact health. they impact cash flow, assets, family dynamics, and the legacy we hope to leave.

This designation is about sharpening our ability at Schod, DeGroff & Associates to help clients make smarter, more informed decisions around:

• Protecting assets
• Maintaining independence
• Reducing the burden on family
• Creating a plan before it’s needed

As I always say: discernment over dogma. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer here. But there is a better way to approach long-term care than sticking your head in the sand.

If long-term care planning hasn’t been addressed in your world yet, it’s worth a conversation.

04/01/2026

We aren't funny enough to make April Fool's jokes, so you don't have to worry about that from us!

That said, we are really good at financial planning. So if it's time to get a second set of eyes on your plan, reach out to us and lets chat!

02/02/2026

Productive day in Atlanta meeting with our Disability Specialist Joe Matia.

Refining our processes and getting better at our craft. Always working to better serve our clients from both the protection and growth sides.

01/29/2026

At Schod, DeGroff & Associates, we understand that getting the max rate of return isn’t the only factor in a good financial plan.

By building a strategy around tax efficiency, managing debt and cash flow appropriately, protection, and saving/investing the appropriate amounts in the appropriate places, our chances of financial success greatly increase.

How can we help you build your financial strategy?

01/23/2026

Chris and Bryan putting in some Friday morning work in the Winfield office.

01/19/2026

01/13/2026

At Schod, DeGroff & Associates, we believe that one of the most important decisions you can make with your finances is to figure out what the right first step is.

And without knowing your situation and the right data, we can’t help you there.

And anyone that doesn’t know your situation and have the right data shouldn’t be trying to tell you what to do or what is right/wrong for you either.

I will say this though: We see people making the wrong decisions a lot.

I’ll work with a client who seems to have a cash flow issue-no money left between paychecks, overdrafting the checking account from time to time, having to put money on credit cards that aren’t getting paid off every month, etc. But when we dig into their situation we find out that they’re putting 22% of their income into their 401k.

Now, that brings up a few more pages of thoughts, but to keep on point here: You should secure today before you secure tomorrow.

If someone is trying to max out their 401k but it’s causing them to over-draft their checking account on the regular, they’re doing finance out of order.

I believe that there is a sequence of finances that should be followed, and it’s pretty easy to follow:

First, you need to get organized. You need to know what you have, what it does, and where it is.

Balances, interest rates, premiums, etc. Pull everything out of your financial junk drawer and get organized.

This is a big step towards the stabilization of your financial situation. Being financially stabilized, to me, means that you have a positive cash flow, you are saving dollars first, and have enough left over money to work on paying down any debt.

Second, you need to protect your cash flow. What are the factors that could cause cash flow to leak off of your balance sheet? You could get sued, be in an accident, your house catch fire, you could pass away prematurely, or you could become sick or injured and unable to work.

Nobody really wants to talk about insurance, or spend too much on insurance, but these are important topics to address as you’re building your financial plan. Because your plan needs to be built on a strong foundation.

Third, you save and grow your money. We do this through strategically diversifying not just among different funds, etc.-but also through different taxable ramifications. We ideally want dollars growing in multiple different places that are taxed (or not taxed) in different ways so we always have a bucket of money that is ideally suited for whatever situation we are facing.

We set a target of how much we are going to save and invest, and build the structure behind it to allow it to happen.

We build out a growth plan with a well diversified mix of volatility and guarantees so we can stay aggressive regardless of what the economy is doing, and a good mix of liquid and non-liquid dollars so we can always be ready to take advantage of opportunities that may present themselves.

And lastly, we let our money do what it’s supposed to do-work for us. Because eventually you won’t have to work for your money anymore, the money you’ve accumulated will do that for you.

The money gets to a point where it has become the wind in your sails and is allowing you to achieve whatever destination you want.

The key here is, take the right next step, and build a plan that always allows you to have money when you need it.

Does your plan allow for this? If not, we should chat. Comment "Organize" if you'd like us to reach out and set up a chat.