Financial Planning Explained

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes Brad Sorensen, CFA. Brad is a portfolio manager and outsourced Chief Investment Officer at Cornerstone Portfolio Research. This is the first episode of a three-part series discussing this past years market performance and the outlook for 2026. In this episode, Mike and Brad discuss market performance in 2025 vs. prior...

On this week's episode of "Financial Planning: Explained”, host Michael Menninger, CFP sits down with Nick DeVito. Nick is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. In this episode, Mike and Nick discuss the best practices when it comes to cash management. Cash management one of the six core areas of financial planning. The guys discuss debt consolidation, H...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes Nick DeVito, CFP. Nick is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. This is part two of a two-part series on employer stock plans. In this episode, Mike and Nick discuss the the various forms of employer stock and how to incorporate it in your financial plan. The guys talk about...

On this week's episode of "Financial Planning: Explained”, host Michael Menninger, CFP sits down with Nick DeVito. Nick is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. This is part one of a two-part series on employer stock plans. In this episode, Mike and Nick discuss the the various forms of employer stock and how to incorporate it in your financial plan. The...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes Nick DeVito, CFP. Nick is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. In this episode, Mike and Nick discuss retirement plan contributions, employer match, traditional 401(k) vs. Roth, and beginning of the year tax planning. This is a great episode for anyone as beginning of the y...

On this week's episode of "Financial Planning: Explained”, host Michael Menninger, CFP sits down with Nick DeVito. Nick is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. In this episode, Mike and Nick discuss the concept of tax-loss harvesting. The guys discuss what exactly the concept means, strategies used, and the interesting concept of tax-gain harvesting. Th...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP sits down with Kyle Ryan, CFP, ChFC. Kyle is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. In this episode, Mike and Kyle discuss the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was recently passed by Congress. The guys talk about exactly what the bill changed, the tax ramifications of the bill, and the...

On this week's episode of "Financial Planning: Explained”, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes back Harris Gubin. Harris is the president and franchise coach at Corner Booth Franchise Consulting. This is the second episode of a two-part series on business franchising. In this episode, Harris and Mike talk about the benefits of using a business franchise consultant, how to recognize your strengths...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP sits down Harris Gubin. Harris is the president and franchise coach at Corner Booth Franchise Consulting. This is the first episode of a two-part series on business franchising. In this episode, Harris and Mike discuss what business franchising is, categories of businesses that franchise, and funding the initial investment for...

On this week's episode of "Financial Planning: Explained”, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes back Nick DeVito, CFP. Nick is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. This is the second episode of a two-part series on pension plans. In this episode, Mike and Nick talk about pension election options & survivor benefits as well as factors to weigh such a...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP sits down with Nick DeVito, CFP. Nick is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. This is the first episode of a two-part series on pension plans. In this episode, Mike and Nick discuss what a pension is, the formula to calculate a pension, and lump sum vs. monthly payment options. This...

On this week's episode of "Financial Planning: Explained”, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes back Brad Sorensen, CFA. Brad is a portfolio manager and outsourced Chief Investment Officer at Cornerstone Portfolio Research. This episode discusses the market outlook for the fourth quarter and beyond. In this episode, Brad and Mike talk about tariffs, the current job market, earning projections, and...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes Brad Sorensen, CFA. Brad is a portfolio manager and outsourced Chief Investment Officer at Cornerstone Portfolio Research. This episode discusses the third quarter performance in the markets. In this episode, Brad and Mike discuss how the markets performed in the third quarter, growth stocks in 1999 vs. 2025, and PE r...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes back Steve Gannon and Kyle Ryan, CFP, ChFC. Steve is the president and founder of Gannon Insurance Agency. This is the second episode of a two-part series on property & casualty insurance. In this episode, the guys talk about umbrella liability insurance from a business vs personal standpoint. They also discuss ve...

On this week's episode of "Financial Planning: Explained”, host Michael Menninger, CFP is joined by Steve Gannon and Kyle Ryan, CFP, ChFC. Steve is the president and founder of Gannon Insurance Agency. This is the first episode of a two-part series on property & casualty insurance. In this episode, the guys discuss increases in insurance due to inflation, full tort vs. limited tort insurance,...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes back Nick DeVito. Nick is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. This is the second episode of a two-part series on estate planning. In this episode, Mike and Nick talk about the utilization of trusts for the sake of distributing assets through generations. The guys then dive...

On this week's episode of "Financial Planning: Explained”, host Michael Menninger, CFP is joined by Nick DeVito. Nick is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. This is the first episode of a two-part series on estate planning. In this episode, Mike and Nick discuss wills, trusts, and pitfalls that people regularly run into regarding trusts. They give a fe...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes back Kyle Ryan, CFP, ChFC. Kyle is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. This is the second episode of a two-part case study. In this episode, Mike and Kyle continue discussing a case study that deals with all aspects of financial planning. Specifically, the guys cover strat...

On this week's episode of "Financial Planning: Explained”, host Michael Menninger, CFP is joined by Kyle Ryan, CFP, ChFC. Kyle is a partner and financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. This is the first episode of a two-part case study. In this episode, Mike and Kyle discuss a case study that deals with every aspect of financial planning, including: cash management, tax...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes back Nick DeVito, CFP. Nick is a financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. This is the second episode of a two-part case study. In this episode, Mike and Nick continue discussing a case study that deals with debt management and inheritance. They guys uncover strategies to help the family with...

On this week's episode of "Financial Planning: Explained”, host Michael Menninger, CFP is joined by with Nick DeVito, CFP. Nick is a financial planner at Menninger & Associates Financial Planning. This is the first episode of a two-part case study. In this episode, Mike and Nick discuss a case study that deals with debt management and inheritance. This episode covers a couple in their 40s with...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes back Brandon Thor. Brandon is the Founder and CEO of The Thor Metals Group. Thor Metals Group provides transparent and trustworthy guidance for incorporating precious metals into IRAs. In this episode, Brandon and Mike continue to discuss gold as an asset class. They also talk in depth about how to go about purchasing...

On this week's episode of Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes Brandon Thor. Brandon is the Founder and CEO of The Thor Metals Group. Thor Metals Group provides transparent and trustworthy guidance for incorporating precious metals into IRAs. In this episode, Brandon and Mike discuss gold as an asset class. They also talk about how to acquire both physical gold and o...

This week on Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes Kelly Steyn. Kelly is a realtor at Keller Williams Real Estate. Kelly also does educational content, interviewing industry professionals. In this episode, Kelly interviews Mike about common financial planning questions that she comes across in the realty world. Topics include: when to work with a financial advisor, re...

On this week's episode of Financial Planning: Explained, host Michael Menninger, CFP welcomes back Brad Sorensen, CFA. Brad is a portfolio manager and outsourced Chief Investment Officer at Cornerstone Portfolio Research. This episode discusses the economic forecast of the current markets. In this episode, Brad and Mike talk about the labor market, Price-to-Earning (P/E) ratios, and expectations f...