Fiduciary refers to a person or organization that acts on behalf of others to manage assets responsibly, by placing a client’s best interest over their own. But it’s a whole lot more than that. At its core, the word means trust, to act in good faith, to conduct yourself ethically and with integrity. In the finance industry, that’s rarer than you think.

Transformational gifts got their name for a good reason—they have the ability to positively support or redirect the trajectory of a program, project, or even organization. Transformational gifts can take many forms, from endowing a scholarship fund to supporting the construction of a new building, creating or expanding a community support program, and more. A transformational gift doesn’t necessarily mean a huge donation amount.

We find the topic of behavioral finance to be at the heart of why we exist as a firm. Investing is hard. However, when you add the complex and unpredictable nature of human beings, investing becomes harder still. After all, our own behavior determines our success more than any other factor, in every area of our lives—including our wealth. Life is complex. There are lots of moving parts and it takes a lot more than just tallying up numbers to figure it out.

Index investing works – it’s just not a standalone approach. It’s a key component in a portfolio, but not a portfolio onto itself. Index investing is a passive investing technique that attempts to match the returns of a broad market index, like the S&P 500. Indexing has stood the test of time and meets several, but not all, of the core principles to successful long-term investing.

Understanding expense ratios is important if you have invested in a fund (or ever plan to). Whether we’re talking about Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) or Mutual Funds, you can be sure of one thing: shareholders are charged an expense ratio to cover expenses of the fund. This charge is not explicitly paid by you, the shareholder, to the fund.

So, what exactly is recession proofing anyway? Recession proofing describes the practice of safeguarding your portfolio from the effects of an economic downturn. The path to implementing this practice can look different for every investor. For some, this may mean shifting to a more conservative asset allocation, while others may be forced to rethink their wealth management framework altogether.

A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) is a type of charitable giving vehicle. Here are some basics on how they operate: You receive a tax deduction in the year you make a contribution equal to the full value of the assets you contributed. Contributions can be made at any time during the life of the DAF. You can distribute donations on a flexible time table ( there are no minimum or maximum annual distribution requirements).

Think a QCD might be right for you? Here are some important things to know: QCDs can be made from a traditional IRA, inherited IRA, inherited Roth IRA, SEP IRA, or SIMPLE IRA, however you cannot be actively receiving any employer contributions to the account (SEP or SIMPLE). You must be at least 70 ½ years old at the time you plan to make the QCD. Your QCD can satisfy your RMD.