Markets and Investing

April is national financial literacy month. A topic near and dear to my heart. If I had to give America a financial literacy grade I would say we have a solid C+, but I believe we are trending higher. The very fact we have a high-profile financial...

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Have you bought a carton of eggs lately? If so, you might have been pleasantly surprised to see how inexpensive they are these days. As of this writing, they’re averaging a 48% national price drop from two years ago. It’s a benefit for consumers,...

With April 15 fast approaching, we are getting down to the wire on taking steps to potentially reduce your tax bill. As I mentioned in the column a couple of weeks ago, almost immediately following the Tax Reform and Jobs Act of 2017, the government...

As a consumer, when you purchase an expensive item, like a car or refrigerator, you expect to receive a warranty that the manufacturer will repair or replace that product if it breaks down. A warranty makes sense for big-ticket purchases, but what...

Tax season can be a painful reminder that you’re paying more taxes than you’d like and you want to find a way of reducing them. Here’s a surprising one: Be more generous. The Internal Revenue Service code provides different ways to lower your...

Setting up shop in Oak Partners, Inc.’s inviting office in downtown Valparaiso, Chris Mahlmann, Founder of the Life Sites, convened a round-table discussion with members of the Oak Partners team. The group covered a lot of ground in the space of an...

Every year, Centier Bank partners with Relay For Life in efforts to help fight cancer. This year, the La Porte branch stepped up by hosting a bake sale each Friday in March to increase our contributions to this amazing cause. Each of the associates...

I first became aware of the issue as I was stepping toward the bar while waiting for a table at an authentic Wisconsin supper club after a fun but exhausting afternoon getting my nine-year-old some ski time at Wilmot ski area in Southeast Wisconsin....