The Hour That Changes Everything
June 4, 2026
The Hour That Changes Everything I was asked a question recently that I cannot get out of my head. It came from a conversation in my C12 group with Matt Geppert. I have n…
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Every post from our team of CFP® professionals.
June 4, 2026
The Hour That Changes Everything I was asked a question recently that I cannot get out of my head. It came from a conversation in my C12 group with Matt Geppert. I have n…
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May 29, 2026
Affirmation Statements: The Leadership Superpower I've Practiced for Nineteen Years There are five exercises I believe every leader should do in life. 1. Discover and Dec…
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May 24, 2026
I just finished whitewater rafting on the Upper Yough with my integrator, Timothy. Once a quarter, he and I block off an entire day for what we call a Do Life Together Da…
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May 21, 2026
You can almost hear it before you finish your coffee. Yinz seen these gas prices? Friend at the coffee shop. Guy in the next aisle at Giant Eagle. Sister-in-law on Sunday…
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November 28, 2025
Many people proudly manage their own investments. They enjoy the process, understand the strategies, and feel confident about the choices they’re making. But here’s somet…
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November 26, 2025
My father was called home to be with God 14 years ago on Thanksgiving Day, November 24th, 2011. Today would have been his 76th birthday. There is not a day that goes by t…
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November 21, 2025
When it comes to investing, you’ll often hear people talk about bull markets and bear markets . But what do those terms really mean—and why do they matter for your financ…
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November 14, 2025
When it comes to retirement planning, one of the most common questions we hear is: Should I choose a Traditional IRA or a Roth IRA? The short answer is that it depends on…
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November 7, 2025
Many people proudly manage their own investments. They enjoy the process, understand the strategies, and feel confident about the choices they’re making. But here’s somet…
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October 31, 2025
When it comes to money, most people think in terms of income, expenses, and maybe savings. But the truth is, there are only five things you can do with your money —and ho…
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October 24, 2025
When people think about financial planning, they often assume the biggest value is investment advice, retirement projections, or tax strategies. While those are important…
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October 17, 2025
I’ve been obsessed with the Savannah Bananas for years. I’ve studied them the same way I’ve studied the cultures at Zappos, Southwest Airlines, and Chick-fil-A. Why? Beca…
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October 10, 2025
When people think about investing, their minds often go straight to the markets. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, even real estate or business ventures…
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October 3, 2025
When it comes to investing, one of the biggest challenges isn’t choosing the right stock or timing the market—it’s learning how to manage your emotions. In fact, even fin…
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September 26, 2025
One of the most common misconceptions in investing is the idea that you can outsmart the market by timing your buys and sells perfectly. People often say, “Greg, I’ll jus…
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July 21, 2025
On July 4th , President Donald Trump signed a sweeping piece of legislation into law—a nearly 1,000-page tax bill that’s already drawing comparisons to the original Tax C…
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May 9, 2025
We often help clients plan for the exciting milestone of buying a second home—whether it’s a cozy lake house, a beach retreat, a mountain cabin, or a warm-weather snowbir…
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May 2, 2025
At a conference for financial advisors, a psychologist shared a powerful insight: "Most people don't want to meet with a financial advisor because of the anxiety, fear, a…
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April 25, 2025
When you’re starting a business, one of the biggest decisions you’ll make is choosing a name and a logo. It seems simple, but rushing through this and just picking a name…
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April 18, 2025
At Beratung Advisors, we live by a simple rule: Always Be Branding (ABB). If you’ve ever met one of our team members, chances are you’ve seen our logo on their shirt, the…
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April 11, 2025
Let’s be honest: market downturns can feel scary. Red arrows, sensational headlines, and portfolio losses can trigger fear and uncertainty. But here’s the truth— market d…
Read more →April 4, 2025
At Beratung Advisors, we all have one job : to execute on our mission. It’s not just a tagline or a statement on a website. It’s the guiding principle behind every client…
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March 28, 2025
An important part of financial planning—one that often gets overlooked—is your property and casualty insurance . I always say that the property and casualty industry has …
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March 21, 2025
At Beratung Advisors, our core values are the foundation of everything we do. They define how we serve our clients, interact as a team, and build a culture that sets us a…
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March 14, 2025
As leaders, we often assume our message is clear. We see the vision vividly, like a movie playing in our heads. We understand every detail, every nuance, every step neede…
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March 7, 2025
Part of our 412 Vision at Beratung Advisors is to have “An Impact so Great Our Community Would Weep if We Closed Our Doors.” This mantra comes from the teachings of Jeff …
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February 26, 2025
After eight years, we are changing our tagline from “Guidance with a Plan” to “Generational Planning for Yinz.” When we first created the tagline “Guidance with a Plan,” …
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February 21, 2025
I first learned these 4 keys to hearing God’s voice on an L3 Mastermind Retreat from my friend Andrew Reichert, and it changed my life. Prior to this, God had spoken to m…
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February 13, 2025
We believe that a big part of culture is shared language. We have a shared language we call the Beratung Vernacular that helps us all row in the same direction. Some of t…
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November 25, 2024
My father was called home to be with God 13 years ago on Thanksgiving Day, November 24th, 2011. Today would have been his 76th birthday. There is not a day that goes by t…
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March 6, 2024
Our Ugly Couch A part of our culture here at Beratung is called the Ugly Couch. It’s a term we use to call each other out and a term we use to celebrate discovering our b…
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December 5, 2023
When you begin the process of financial planning you will likely be asked to put your overall expenses into your financial plan to help develop a baseline for your lifest…
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December 1, 2023
When I meet with clients for their financial planning there is one item that seems to get the harshest reaction when I discuss the topic with them: their budget. I mentio…
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November 21, 2023
During times like what we saw in the 2022 Bear Market it can be tough to think ahead to when things recover, and the losses might turn to gains. When the market is in a d…
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November 20, 2023
My father was called home to be with God 12 years ago on Thanksgiving Day, November 24th, 2011. Today would have been his 75th birthday. There is not a day that goes by t…
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October 31, 2023
When I am speaking to a client about their initial meeting to begin their financial planning they are unsure if they are prepared to come in and meet. They are unsure of …
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October 31, 2023
At Beratung we embrace a culture of making mistakes. As its often quoted “To err is human; to forgive is divine” – Alexandar Pope. We find that too often most of us striv…
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October 16, 2023
Yes, it is really true that the sale of inherited assets always results in a long-term capital gain / loss regardless of holding period. This is generally true but, as wi…
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October 16, 2023
Moving to a new home can be both exciting and stressful. With all the planning and packing involved, it's easy to forget some essential tasks, such as changing your addre…
Read more →October 16, 2023
There are plenty of questions that will come up during the financial planning process, and many of these are often led with the same two words: What If. These ‘What Ifs’ …
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October 16, 2023
At Beratung we embrace the 80% rule and MVP as part of our culture. We want to lean towards action and then improvement instead of inaction and perfection. In leadership,…
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September 27, 2023
There are a few exercises I believe everyone should do in life to discover their calling and create a compass to guide their life. They are: Discover and declare Your Why…
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September 27, 2023
The Rule of 3: A test in fortitude. In life, patterns often emerge that can help you make better decisions and assess how to use your resources. A common example is the “…
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September 13, 2023
The Embarrassing Backstory A few years ago, I was sitting on the couch with my wife Amanda watching TV. Out of nowhere, a bat came flying across the room. At first, I tho…
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September 5, 2023
Fans of Our Brand If you have ever flown to Pittsburgh from another airport, you will notice something at your gate. At least one person (and typically a lot more than on…
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August 31, 2023
Our “Canon” is the list of books we believe everyone should read. Loosely following the model set by the Bible Canon, we have broken our recommended books into 7 major Bi…
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August 31, 2023
Since my childhood, I've been drawn to self-help and motivational books. There's a certain magic in the way they can reshape your thinking and open doors to new possibili…
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August 31, 2023
My wife, friends and former business partner will tell you I have a tendency to say the same things over and over and over again. They will tell you I have quite a few cl…
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August 31, 2023
I am a self-professed, self-help and motivational book junkie. Ever since I was a little boy, I have loved to read and listen to self-help success books. I remember ridin…
Read more →August 22, 2023
I believe one of the hardest things as a believer can be discerning God’s will. I believe it’s not easy because it causes us to rely on God and make all decisions as an a…
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August 18, 2023
At Beratung, we are constantly looking for ways to deepen our culture. We firmly believe that a strong culture is more than just words on a wall; it's a tangible feeling …
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August 17, 2023
I often hear the question from other Christian entrepreneurs, how do I interweave my faith into my vocation? There are many ways to do this, but I believe the most import…
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June 20, 2023
What is Fully Known, Fully Loved and Fully Challenged? Part of the Beratung 412 vision is that every team member is Fully Known, Fully Loved and Fully Challenged. This is…
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January 9, 2023
As I finish my 2022 Year in Review, I want to share my process I developed over the years to stay focused. This is my step-by-step process on how I journal throughout the…
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January 9, 2023
One of the key parts of my annual personal growth process that has helped me be intentional and accomplish more is goal setting. My goal setting process is somethin…
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January 9, 2023
"As I share with you my journaling process and how it came to be, one of the key takeaways is there is not a right or wrong or a “proven” method to get you to journ…
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January 5, 2023
This my year end review process that is part of my entire annual process for personal growth. I have spent 8 years tweaking this process to get it to where I am now (incl…
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January 5, 2023
The “SECURE Act 2.0” (known as Securing a Strong Retirement Act) recently passed Congress signed by President Biden on Friday December 29 th 2022 as part of the omnibus s…
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January 5, 2023
Why do you guys have squeeze balls in your conference room? To throw at each other of course! At Beratung Advisors, we run weekly “Level 10” ((L10) meetings that are part…
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December 1, 2022
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December 1, 2022
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December 1, 2022
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December 1, 2022
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December 1, 2022
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May 17, 2022
A lot of advisors want to know what base assumptions our teams uses in eMoney Advisor Advanced Planning. I have taught this many time in trainings but here is it is in li…
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March 31, 2021
What Can My Taxes Tell Me About My Retirement Contributions? When the calendar turns over to a new year, there is a lot going on for most of us both personally and profes…
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March 29, 2021
There are a few exercises I believe everyone should do in life to discover their calling and create a compass to guide their life. They are: Discover and Declare Your Why…
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March 19, 2021
There are a few exercises I believe everyone should do in life to discover their calling and create a compass to guide their life. They are: Discover and declare Yo…
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March 17, 2021
Ted Lasso is that feel good comedy we need more of on television. It makes you laugh which is good for your soul, but the writing and story line are good enough to entert…
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December 11, 2020
There are a few exercises I believe everyone should do in life to discover their calling and create a compass to guide their life. They are: Discover and declare Yo…
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November 24, 2020
You may be looking to upgrade your video equipment with Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. To help you out, I am sharing what we have learned over the past 18 months of…
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November 18, 2020
My father was called home to be with God 9 years ago on Thanksgiving Day, November 24 th , 2011. Today would have been his 72 nd birthday. There is not a day that goes by…
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November 16, 2020
In my year end planning with clients there is a topic that is discussed often, IRA contributions. Should they contribute to their Traditional IRA, should they contribute …
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November 13, 2020
It is almost impossible to turn on the TV or listen to the radio and not see or hear an ad for auto insurance. Just about all of us have an auto policy, but do we really …
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November 10, 2020
Collision Coverage and What Car You Drive This is the most expensive part of the policy. The insurance company knows that they are the ones paying the bulk of the cost fo…
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November 7, 2020
The Associated Press has declared Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 election and expected to become our 46 th President in January. This means a new administration that wi…
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November 6, 2020
We find that umbrella insurance is one of the most overlooked, least known insurance policies from clients we work with. They know about basics of home, auto, life and di…
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November 3, 2020
Why is my home and auto insurance important? We often find that most clients neglect the role their home and auto insurance play in their financial plan. In this post I w…
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October 26, 2020
The “Questions” we are getting Just as in 2016, we are fielding many questions about the elections. The questions come in the form of the following statements. “If Joe Bi…
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October 12, 2020
Given the current historic low interest rates, we are getting these three questions a lot: Should I be refinancing my mortgage right now? Do I even have the option to ref…
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September 11, 2020
News hit recently that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW) has made changes to its lineup of stocks for the first time since 2018. The popular stock market index moved…
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March 29, 2020
On Friday, the President signed into law the largest relief stimulus package ever; the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The CARES Act offer…
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March 27, 2020
Everyone that knows me knows that I love salad. Here’s a very easy, hearty superfood salad that I made: Makes 2 meal sized portions: 2 Red beets (peeled and chopped ½ in)…
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March 23, 2020
During these kind of times in the markets there can be very little room for optimism. People are seeing their accounts lose value day after day and feel that there is not…
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March 22, 2020
I wanted to take some time to reflect on the week that was March 15 th -21 st , 2020. I think the phrase "what a long year this week has been," summarizes the sentiment a…
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March 19, 2020
During volatile times in the markets, there tends to be very little room for optimism. Many people have seen their investment portfolios decrease in value. This can lead …
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March 19, 2020
Over the last 3 weeks we have seen people show a lot of concern over the continuing Coronavirus pandemic. This concern has bled over to the financial markets. Over the re…
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March 18, 2020
As a lot of businesses are moving their employees to a remote work environment because of the Coronavirus, I wanted to share some quick tips for working from home. Dress …
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March 18, 2020
My good friend and leadership consultant, Doug Smith always says “we were not meant to life alone!” I completely agree. I believe as humans we are designed by God to do l…
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March 16, 2020
Most of us have heard that we should “buy low and sell high” and “stay the course” during market downturns. However, like most things, it’s easier said than done. The rea…
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March 16, 2020
Our country has been through many difficult times including the World War I, Great Depression, World War 2, Stagflation and oil shortages of the 70s, The Cold War, the 9/…
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March 14, 2020
Right now, a lot of people are scared in the United States because of the Coronavirus, which is spreading, and we're getting news alerts every day of the details of it sp…
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March 14, 2020
With the new paradigm of working from home and isolation due to the Coronavirus you might be looking for some ideas of what to do. One of the ideas to get your mind away …
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March 6, 2020
Congress has passed the SECURE Act as part of the Federal government spending bill and the President has signed it into law as of December 20th 2019, with most provisions…
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February 18, 2020
There are certain questions Financial Professionals are asked quite frequently by clients, family, friends, or just the person we struck up a conversation with at the gro…
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January 14, 2020
In the media today, you are often inundated with information about firms offering financial services. The messages you see may typically be focused on management of asset…
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December 18, 2019
According to multiple news outlets, Congress looks set to pass the first major piece of retirement legislation in a decade this week, the SECURE Act. Secure is an acronym…
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December 17, 2019
Give more money to the charities you care about with this tip! It is Christmas season at Beratung, and with that Christmas season, it gets us thinking about one of our co…
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October 25, 2019
Have you ever gotten your credit card bill in December or January after Holiday shopping and say: “What happened?” I’d like to share with you tips to help you avoid the J…
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October 23, 2019
It’s Spring! I get excited every spring to start getting plants into my veggie garden. This year I’ve decided to take on a garden expansion. I wanted a few extra beds for…
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