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Who does your advisor work for - you or their company? This question used to be muddled by brokers offering to be your ‘trusted advisor’, when in fact they were paid on commission by their company for selling you financial products (insurance, annuities, mutual funds). Well, the landscape just got even more muddled with new rulings by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.

In case you haven't heard, a new bill has passed through the House of Representatives called the SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement). The Act attempts to tackle parts of the retirement savings crisis. Like most bills that come out of Congress, there are good parts and bad. How will this impact you? Here are the top things we think you should know about this bill.

In today's world, an individual's personal finances are ever changing and throughout each of our lifetimes we will have dozens of financial accounts. Think about how many times you may have changed banks, insurance companies, retirement plans, etc. Sometimes we create new accounts and forget about the old ones. Trying to track down old accounts doesn't have to be a nightmare because the internet makes it easier than ever to try and track down old accounts.

Identity theft is one of the most prevalent crimes of the 21st century. Some of the more common forms of identity theft are unauthorized credit use and fraudulent tax refund claims. Another form of identity theft is called "Synthetic Identity Theft" and occurs when a criminal uses a Social Security Number in combination with fake information. Minors with no credit history are particularly susceptible to this type of identity theft.

"I'm worried about the markets. To reduce the risk in my portfolio, should I be invested in gold?" As financial advisors, this is a common question we are asked about our investment strategy. People like the idea of investing in gold because it's something that they know and understand. Gold is something you can feel, touch, and hold as opposed to owning company stocks which can seem complicated and intangible.

Star Wars. What an incredible franchise. Its movies have captivated audiences for decades, including financial advisors. Believe it or not, we do find some time between staring at spreadsheets and reading up on the latest change to the tax code to catch up on the important pieces of pop-culture. We can all enjoy these movies, but as financial advisors, we see things through a different lens, and Star Wars is no exception. Without further ado, we would like to present to you four financial lessons we can learn from Star Wars.