Abby VanDerHeyden, CFP®

A 529 plan is an investment account mainly for post-secondary education expenses. Money contributed is not deductible, but all earnings accumulate tax-deferred and are distributed tax-free if used for qualified education expenses.

Identity theft and online scams are becoming more prevalent. As a result, consumers need to remain vigilant of the personal information shared and stored via online accounts.

Some (not all) contributions to your 529 account need to be reported on your tax return, along with some (not all) distributions made from your 529. That's not confusing at all, right?

Determining life insurance needs with the help of a professional is a good option. Remember that level term life insurance is generally the appropriate type of coverage for most people. If you think you need additional insurance coverage – act fast!

To determine home equity, a homeowner first needs to know the home's current value. All lenders will require a home appraisal with costs normally paid by the homeowner.

Maybe you want to renovate your home to avoid having to buy a new house in today's cutthroat market. Perhaps you wish to pay off higher interest credit card or student loan debt. Tapping home equity can be a viable and beneficial financial strategy for many reasons but also comes with its fair share of risks.

You’ve likely seen ads and commercials for several different credit monitoring companies offering their version of monitoring. But what else can you do to protect your personal information? Should you pay for a credit monitoring service, or should you do it yourself?

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) has more than just stimulus payments to offer. If you qualify for the enhanced child tax credit, be on the lookout for the IRS portal rollout in a few months. Many families have benefited from child tax credits in years past, but the enhanced credit differs in several ways.

Evaluating the reasons behind a desire to purchase life insurance on a child can be helpful with the question "does it make sense?" If you are protecting against future un-insurability, it's hard to argue an alternative solution.

The tax savings experienced from dependent care FSAs are nice, but avoiding lost contributions at the end of the year should be the primary goal!

Open enrollment doesn't need to make you anxious! Review the different options available and to be aware of helpful resources.

Determining what to do with an old 401(k) is an important decision, but it does not have to be complicated. The Wall Street Journal recently reported about 30% of workers leaving jobs elect to cash out their 401(k) accounts and pay taxes – and often 10% penalties! Is that the smartest option?