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Chris Balcerowiak

Creative Retirement Solutions Group
A Member Firm of The Fiduciary Alliance

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04/05/2026

Wishing a blessed Easter to everyone celebrating.

Hope the day brings peace, renewal, and a reminder of what matters most.

04/04/2026

💡 Get this—investors working with a financial professional are about half as likely to report high financial stress (Source: Vanguard 2025). That gap makes sense.

April is National Stress Awareness Month, and the American Psychological Association has repeatedly found that money is a source of stress for many Americans. 😟

Do any of these questions worry you?

❓ Do I have enough for the retirement I’ve imagined?
❓ Do we have enough to support parents or other family members in need?
❓ What if the markets get choppy?

Clarity does not eliminate uncertainty, but it can help manage the mental load.

CFP® Board research from 2025 also points in the same direction; 49 percent of CFP® clients reported less financial anxiety through an advised relationship.

A good strategy does not promise outcomes. It replaces worry with decisions and decisions with a process that holds up when life changes.

04/03/2026

What a $5 Frappuccino can teach your teen about building wealth 👇

April is National Financial Literacy Month, and here's a number worth sharing at the dinner table.

If your teen opens a Roth IRA at 18 with $1,000 from a part-time job and adds $1,000 a year, that single account could be worth nearly $500,000 by age 65. Tax-free.

Think they can't save $1,000 a year? Skipping the daily Frappuccino more than covers it. ☕

But the best financial education isn't about the math. It's about real decisions with real consequences.

A few things that actually work:

✅ Hand them cash instead of a credit card for shopping. Let them keep what they don't spend.

✅ Give them a clothing budget for the year. If they blow it by October, that's the lesson.

✅ Have the college money talk before they fall in love with a school. As one counselor put it, "Have the conversation before they buy the hoodie."

✅ With the Roth IRA, you can show them that there are certain rules with certain accounts. For example, to qualify for the tax-free and penalty-free withdrawal of earnings, Roth IRA distributions must meet a 5-year holding requirement and occur after age 59½. Also, tax-free and penalty-free withdrawals can also be taken under certain other circumstances, such as the owner's death. The original Roth IRA owner is not required to take minimum annual withdrawals.

What's one money lesson you wish someone had taught you earlier? 👇

Please consult with a tax and finance professional before making any decisions.

04/02/2026

Ever had that moment where everything in the financial picture looks “fine,” but it is still not clear what to do next?

That is what Financial Literacy Month can be: moving from information to decisions.

A few ways it shows up in real life:

💡 Knowing which levers matter most: savings, taxes, and behavior during volatility.

💡 Streamlining overcomplexity, more accounts and products are not always better.

💡Treating retirement as a cash flow strategy, not just about investments.

💡 Preparing for healthcare and longevity costs with intention, not assumptions.

💡 Keeping estate documents, titling, and beneficiaries aligned, so everything works when it matters.

The payoff is clarity, fewer reactive decisions, and a strategy that stays coordinated as life changes.

Working with a financial professional can help translate knowledge into action across the full picture.

04/01/2026

April Fools’ Day is for harmless pranks or little “gotchas.”

Your finances are where small surprises can get expensive.

Some of the most common ones are:
👉 An old beneficiary form
👉 An account title that no longer matches your estate structure
👉 A cash buffer that is too thin
👉 Assumptions that have not been updated since life changed

The fix is rarely dramatic.

It is a quick review, a few updates, and a strategy that aligns with the goals and life you’re living now.

03/31/2026

To clients and colleagues observing Passover, extending warm wishes for a meaningful holiday and a season of reflection and togetherness. Chag Sameach!

03/27/2026

🚗 Have you heard that you’ll be able to drive from Germany to Denmark?

The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel, located under the Baltic Sea, will be the world's longest immersed tunnel, spanning 11 miles, and is being built from concrete sections that each weigh as much as 10 Eiffel Towers.

Here's what makes this project remarkable:
◾ Engineers are floating 73,000-ton prefabricated sections out to sea, then sinking them into a trench on the ocean floor with precision down to half an inch.
◾ The tunnel sits up to 130 feet underwater, designed with seals built to last 120 years.
◾ What's currently a 45-minute ferry becomes a 10-minute drive or 7-minute train ride.
◾ The journey from Copenhagen to Hamburg drops to 2.5 hours by train, fundamentally changing how Northern Europe is connected.
◾ A total of 89 massive sections will be laid end to end, carrying both road traffic and electrified rail lines.

For clients who love Scandinavia or have family across Europe, this reshapes what's accessible on a single trip.

Worth sharing as projects like this are reshaping how we travel and what’s doable!

03/26/2026

Ever Googled someone and found their home address, phone number, and maybe even email sitting in plain sight?

Identity protection is essential for helping to safeguard financial accounts and credit, which is why it matters. 🔒

If you’re interested, here are some tips to help you remove personal information from Google Search results.

🌐 Use “Results about you” to locate results with contact details, and set alerts for new matches.

🌐 Submit a removal request for personal contact info like home address, phone number, or email.

🌐 Provide the exact page URLs that contain the information. Google reviews each URL submitted.

This is a simple, high-impact privacy step. For additional protection, pair it with strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and regular credit monitoring. You can’t be too careful.

03/24/2026

Did you know the typical first-time homebuyer is now 40?

That is why more parents are stepping in, nearly 80 percent of Gen Z homeowners say they received family financial help.

If you are considering helping an adult child buy a home, the key question is usually not “should we help,” it’s “how do we structure it?”

Before money moves, pressure test four things:

➡️ Gift, loan, or shared ownership? Each has different implications.
➡️ Protect your strategy. Help them without creating pressure on your own liquidity and goals.
➡️ Protect the family. Prepare such that you’re protected if life changes or the home is sold.
➡️ Keep it fair. Think ahead about sibling dynamics and future gifts.

Most families are surprised by how many options exist and how different the outcomes can be.

If you have done this, what worked best in your situation?

03/19/2026

Ever paid a credit card off, then wondered why the credit score barely moved, or even dipped?

Here are 5 tips that might help raise your score—do you check all the boxes?

✔️ Payment history is the biggest factor; one missed payment can outweigh a lot of “good behavior.”

✔️ Credit utilization can change quickly; a common guideline is less than 30 percent, and top scores tend to be in the single digits.

✔️ Paying more than once a month can be beneficial, especially if you pay before the statement closes.

✔️ A credit limit increase can lower utilization quickly, as long as spending stays flat.

✔️ An authorized user setup can help, even without using the card, when added to a well-managed account.

When borrowing is on the horizon, aligning credit moves with the broader financial strategy may help.

03/18/2026

We get asked this question a lot: “Can I deduct home office expenses as a self-employed business owner?”

As we always say, please consult your tax, legal, or accounting professional to confirm what’s appropriate for your situation.

Generally, the answer is like most things: It depends.

At a very high level, here are some guidelines we’ve learned when working with tax professionals:

👍 What typically qualifies
A specific area used exclusively and regularly for business, often as the principal place of business or a place to meet clients.

❓ What sometimes counts as an expense
A business shares costs such as rent or mortgage interest, utilities, insurance, and certain maintenance or repairs associated with the workspace.

👎 What usually does NOT qualify
A space that is also used personally, and expenses tied to parts of the home that are not part of the business use area.

Because the details matter, maintaining good records and having a quick conversation with a tax professional can help determine what applies and keep decisions aligned with the broader financial strategy.

03/17/2026

St. Patrick’s Day is a good reminder that luck is not a strategy. ☘️

The best outcomes usually come from consistent decisions, good habits, and a strategy that gets reviewed.

Wishing a happy St. Patrick’s Day to clients, partners, and friends.

Address

14460 Lakeside Circle, Suite 140
Sterling Heights, MI
48313

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 4pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 4pm

Telephone

+18779078625

Website

http://www.CreativeRetirementSolutionsGroup.com/

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