Healthcare Costs That Catch Retirees Off Guard
Most retirees plan for the obvious retirement healthcare costs: Medicare premiums, prescription drug coverage, supplemental insurance, and possible long-term care. That planning matters. But some healthcare costs can still surprise retirees later. Industry estimates often place lifetime healthcare spending for a retired couple in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, excluding extended care. But even […]
2026 Tax Law Changes: What Individuals, Families, and Business Owners Should Know
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025, brought 2026 tax law changes across a wide range of rules for individuals, families, workers, business owners, and investors. Some provisions apply for 2026 and future years. Others remain temporary and expire after 2028 or 2029. Because the law includes several phaseouts, […]
Emotional vs. Strategic Investment Decisions
Information or instinct—which one guides your investment decisions? Emotional investing can lead to choices that do not match long-term goals. Many investors believe they have a natural ability to identify promising investments. But that instinct may reflect recent headlines, past experiences, fear of missing out, or confidence created by a rising market. These influences are […]
Eight Retirement Planning Mistakes That Can Derail Your Future
Building the retirement you want takes years of saving, planning, and disciplined decision-making. Unfortunately, a few avoidable mistakes can undermine even a strong financial foundation. Retirement planning involves much more than accumulating a certain account balance. You also need a strategy for generating income, managing taxes, addressing healthcare expenses, controlling debt, and creating a meaningful […]
Earnings for All Seasons: What Quarterly Reports Mean for Investors
Nature gives us four seasons. Wall Street gives investors earnings season four times each year. Earnings season is the period when many publicly traded companies release their financial results for the previous quarter. These reports can influence individual stock prices, entire industries, and sometimes the broader market. At True North Wealth Management, we believe investors […]
Do Your Kids Know the Value of Money?
You taught them how to read and how to ride a bike. You may have taught them how to drive, cook, study, work hard, and treat others well. Teaching kids about money can be just as valuable. But have you taught your children how to manage money? Money lessons often begin long before a child […]
Do You Owe the AMT? Understanding the Alternative Minimum Tax
The Alternative Minimum Tax, often called the AMT, was created to make sure certain high-income taxpayers could not use deductions, exclusions, and tax preferences to reduce their federal income tax too far. Today, fewer taxpayers owe the AMT than in past decades, but it has not disappeared. Certain income levels, deductions, incentive stock options, capital […]
Don’t Be Your Own Worst Enemy: How Investor Behavior Can Affect Your Portfolio
Benjamin Graham, one of the most respected investors of the 20th century, once wrote that “the investor’s chief problem—and even his worst enemy—is likely to be himself.” His observation still applies to investor behavior today. That observation still rings true. Markets can be volatile, unpredictable, and emotionally exhausting. But many poor investment decisions do not […]
Dog Bites Neighbor. Now What?
A dog bite can happen quickly, but the financial and legal consequences of dog bite liability may last much longer. Even a friendly family dog can react unexpectedly if startled, frightened, protective, or overstimulated. If your dog bites a neighbor, visitor, delivery driver, child, or another person, you may face medical bills, legal claims, insurance […]
Does Your Portfolio Fit Your Retirement Lifestyle?
When building a retirement portfolio, most investors start with three core questions: What are your goals?How much risk can you tolerate?How long will your money stay invested? Those questions matter. They help shape asset allocation, diversification, investment selection, and long-term strategy. But retirement adds another important question: How do you actually want to live? At […]