Nobody wants to be laid off,  but it's something that happens.  Today, Amy Walls of Thimbleberry Financial and Jon Gay talk about what to do when you're out of a job.

We focus on three categories:

• Mental Health
• Immediate Financial Needs
• To-Do List of Financial Items

If you have questions about what to do in this situation, or anything related to your financial future, reach out to Amy Walls and the team at Thimbleberry Financial at https://thimbleberryfinancial.com/

Or give them a call at 503-610-6510

To get in touch with Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial, call 503-610-6510 or visit thimbleberryfinancial.com.

Estate planning isn't always easy to talk about, but it's a crucial element to anyone's financial plan.   Today, Amy Walls and Jon JAG Gay break down what you need to know, including:

• What is an estate plan?
• Does an attorney need to be involved?
• What is a Trust and what does it do?
• How much should I expect to pay for setting this up?
• What documentation do I need?
• Once it's set up, is the work done?

If you have questions about estate planning, or anything related to your financial future, reach out to Amy Walls and the team at Thimbleberry Financial at https://thimbleberryfinancial.com/

Or give them a call at 503-610-6510.

To get in touch with Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial, call 503-610-6510 or visit thimbleberryfinancial.com.

Emotional Fatigue is all around us. We are covering it today because Amy Walls and her team at Thimbleberry Financial are hearing about it from clients, experiencing it themselves, and trying to battle through it.

We talk about "Doom Squirreling" - when we are stressed out, we often find ourselves attracted to - and distracted by - countless other problems.   And there's no shortage of those causing emotional fatigue now, from the markets to recession talk, inflation, war, pandemic, politics and more.

Amy and Jag spend most of today's episode talking about ideas for dealing with emotional fatigue.  Find the ones that work best for you, including:

• Spending time with uplifting people
• Turning off the news
• Meditation
• Get out in nature
• Turn off the "noise" - social media and mobile notifications
• Finding a creative outlet
• Not being afraid to reach out to a trusted friend or mental health professional

Contact Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial online at https://thimbleberryfinancial.com/

Or give them a call at (503) 610-6510.

To get in touch with Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial, call 503-610-6510 or visit thimbleberryfinancial.com.

In today's world, it's important to keep your personal and financial information secure.  Today, Amy Walls of Thimbleberry Financial explains what a password manager app/website is, what the benefits are, and why it's so important to use one.  And we aren't talking about a password-protected Excel file, or a little booklet on your desk with everything written down!

Unlike a password YOU come up with, these password managers generate their own secure, unique passwords.  A random series of letters, numbers, and symbols is much harder to hack than your pet's name!   Also, they often require multi-factor authentication, an added level of security.  You can choose which passwords to share with friends and family, and cut off access to a specific device if you lose that device.  And they often have an "Emergency Access" feature, where if something were to happen to you, you can designate a contact to have access to your information.

Amy and her team use a password manager for the extremely sensitive data they work with, and they encourage their clients to do the same.

For questions about  anything related to your financial future, reach Amy Walls and her team at Thimbleberry Financial at (503) 610-6510, or on the web at https://thimbleberryfinancial.com/

To get in touch with Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial, call 503-610-6510 or visit thimbleberryfinancial.com.

We are talking about the dreaded "R-Word" today - RECESSION!   Maybe it doesn't matter to you personally, or at least as much as you might think.

A recession is a "lagging indicator" - which means we can only tell if one exists in hindsight, not by looking ahead.  And if you knew a recession was coming, how much of your day-to-day life would you really change?  Remember, news outlets are always trying to get eyeballs and clicks - so take any hype you hear with a big grain of salt.

Yes, recessions can be scary and invoke many fears.  But in addition to media hype, this is because most Americans aren't financially prepared.   On average, a recession happens around every 5 years, and lasts 11 months.  That's means we only spend about 20% of our time in one!   

As always, it comes down to preparation.  Amy and Jag break down the best ways to prepare for a recession.  So when one comes, you'll be ready.

Want to know more?

Contact Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial online at https://thimbleberryfinancial.com/

Or give them a call at (503) 610-6510.

To get in touch with Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial, call 503-610-6510 or visit thimbleberryfinancial.com.

Today, Amy Walls of Thimbleberry Financial sits down with Jag to talk about tracking basis on your residence, and why it's important.   Simply put, the basis is what you paid for a property.  More complex, you'll want to track changes, such as improvements and depreciations.  This will have a tax impact when the property sells.

As a property owner, you have an exemption on the gain in basis between your purchase and your sale of a property.  That's $250,000 for single and $500,000 for joint.  Here's an example for a single person.  If you bought a home for $344,000 but sold i for $565,000, that's a gain of $221,000.  That's within the $250k limit- no tax implications.

This math can be complicated by other scenarios, including:

• Staying in your home longer than expected
• DIY improvements vs. using a contractor vs. somewhere in between
• Passing of a spouse (you have two years from date of death to use the joint $500k exemption)

Amy and Jag cover what the IRS defines as capital improvements to a home (that would change the basis) and dive into another specific example.

For a married couple, a home is purchased by a married couple for $650,000 and sold for $1,300,000.

• Without tracking the change in basis, that's a gain of $650,000, over the limit of $500k. The remaining $150k would be subject to capital gains taxes.
• If they did $220,000 of improvements to the house, the original $650k basis is now $870k.  The $1.3 million sale price is only $430k in gains, within the exemption, no capital gains taxes due.

It's important to track any and all capital improvements to your home.  And track them with your taxes every year, so you're not scrambling to find  years - or decades - worth of records when you're ready to sell your property.  

For questions about  anything related to your financial future, reach Amy Walls and her team at Thimbleberry Financial at (503) 610-6510, or on the web at https://thimbleberryfinancial.com/

To get in touch with Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial, call 503-610-6510 or visit thimbleberryfinancial.com.

Today, Amy Walls of Thimbleberry Financial sits down with Jag to talk about sabbaticals.  This is something she's seeing more often, particularly with her tech clients.  We cover the A-Z of taking a sabbatical in this episode, including:

1. Is it really possible to create your own sabbatical? 
2. What should be considered in deciding to create your own sabbaticals?
3.  What does the financial impact of a sabbatical look like?
4. If you take a sabbatical, how do you explain a 6 month breaks in your employment history?

For questions about  anything related to your financial future, reach Amy Walls and her team at Thimbleberry Financial at (503) 610-6510, or on the web at https://thimbleberryfinancial.com/

To get in touch with Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial, call 503-610-6510 or visit thimbleberryfinancial.com.

Discussing aging is not an easy conversation to have, but it's an important one.  Today, Amy Walls of Thimbleberry Financial joins JAG to jump into this topic.

Are these questions for the retirement years, or for earlier?

How do you define aging and the parameters of the discussion?

What do I need to know to talk about this with my spouse/partner?

Once you sort through these ideas, what's next?

What resources are available to folks struggling with these conversations?

For questions about  anything related to your financial future, reach Amy Walls and her team at Thimbleberry Financial at (503) 610-6510, or on the web at https://thimbleberryfinancial.com/

To get in touch with Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial, call 503-610-6510 or visit thimbleberryfinancial.com.

Amy Walls is just back from a family vacation to Florida, and her time there really got her thinking about what she'd like her retirement to look like some day.

It's no secret that Americans spend much more time planning out our vacations than our retirement.  But you can take aspects of your vacation and see if it has long-term appeal for you in the longest vacation of your life - retirement.   For example, Amy's not a fan of Florida's alligators, but there's appeal in living in a place with no state income tax.

There are other more practical considerations too.  Do you want to live in a 55+ community with other retirees? Do you want to live near the ocean? Would a lake suffice? Amy and Jag break down some of the variables you cant think about while on vacation.

For questions about  anything related to your financial future, reach Amy Walls and her team at Thimbleberry Financial at (503) 610-6510, or on the web at https://thimbleberryfinancial.com/

To get in touch with Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial, call 503-610-6510 or visit thimbleberryfinancial.com.

For Amy Walls, life insurance is personal.  Today, she explains what she went through as a child that informs her feelings on the topic today.

For many, life insurance can be complicated.  We break it all down for you today, starting with temporary (term) insurance and permanent life insurance - and the different categories within it.

As with most types of insurance, we'll have needs at different points in our lives, depending on income, assets, and what needs to be protected.

Within permanent types of insurance, Amy explains the differences between Whole Life Insurance, Universal Life Insurance, and Variable Universal Life Insurance policies.  They can all be great tools, but very dangerous if used improperly.

Remember, a life insurance policy isn't about taking care of yourself.  It's about taking care of those you care about.

Finally, Jag asks Amy about those who may not need life insurance.

For questions about  anything related to your financial future, reach Amy Walls and her team at Thimbleberry Financial at (503) 610-6510, or on the web at https://thimbleberryfinancial.com/

To get in touch with Amy and her team at Thimbleberry Financial, call 503-610-6510 or visit thimbleberryfinancial.com.