We talk and write a lot about the importance of having a plan for managing your long-term investments, particularly your retirement accounts. Regular listeners of Smart Money Management know that I have a major concern about how we fund retirement in the United States.

Even though it’s rainy this week, the warmer temps and the ending of basketball season for most schools have us all thinking about spring and the spring sports season.

As some winter sports (girls’ basketball, girls’ and boys’ wrestling, boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving) have reached or already completed their state finals, folks are celebrating achievements and also evaluating how well next year’s team and individual sports will fare.

In financial planning, we spend a lot of time thinking about, talking about, and working toward long-term goals that are integral to attaining the life you want to live. An important aspect that sometimes gets ignored is protecting your assets and all that you’ve worked for from unexpected events. That’s where insurance comes in.

Teams have slogans they rally around, and the older you get the less slogans influence you.

The death of Dr. John Huffman Jr. on Sept. 23, 2025, brought to a close the remarkable story of three generations of a family’s leadership that left its indelible mark on Winona Lake.

People recommend starting new habits when you spend a week on vacation. I’ll spare you the details on things like stretching, and improved sleep patterns.

We spend many years planning and saving for retirement, but priorities change when retirement looms on the horizon.

I want to spend some time in this space this week remembering someone who I called ‘friend’, and many of you did also.

If you lived in or near a major city, such as Chicago, New York or Boston, you could easily attend a symphony performance, a lyceum lecture or an appearance by a celebrity such as an explorer or a literary figure.

Let’s start by wishing Keaton Anderson, the Voice of the Tiger Den, a successful later afternoon, and evening while PA announcing IHSAA regional championship action beginning this afternoon at 4 p.m. in the Tiger Den.

We’ve been talking on the radio and in this column about some basic things to do to get 2026 started off right. Getting organized is often the first step. One area where organization can really pay off is in your financial records. Today, we are going to offer some suggestions on organizing your financial records.

I have several things running around in my head today, so I am going to fit them all into my space.

Editor, Times-Union: Whenever a president of the United States of either political party makes a despicable racist posting on social media or by any other means, and is seen or heard by a Congressman of either political party, and does not condemn this evil and despicable act, they are complicit in this deplorable racist act.

Before there was any settlement along the lakeshore, the name of the lake was Eagle Lake. Presumably this name was given by John B. Chapman, who was charged with settling and developing the properties of northern Indiana, including Kosciusko County.

The Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics are sharing time again.

Over the last 40 years, a huge change has taken place in how Americans fund their retirement. Recognizing that change, and what it means to you, may be very important in determining what retirement lifestyle you can afford.

As we enter the month of February 2026, I would like to provide several updates from my office.

We are mere days away from Super Bowl Sunday and that means two things: we are approaching the end of football season, as well as the end of this year’s Can Connor Cover? series. 

In 1975, Brigadier Josef Korbel of The Salvation Army came to Marshalltown, Iowa, for Evangelistic meetings.

With word filtering out of Indianapolis that the IHSAA has received an official proposal that would introduce a shot clock to the rules of Indiana high school basketball, it felt right to talk about rules changes in general.

When Grace Theological Seminary moved back to Winona Lake in 1939 from its founding location in Akron, Ohio, part of the incentive to relocate was the availability of a good theological library.

Various percentages of approval (ranging from 68% to 76%) among Indiana high school boys’ and girls’ basketball coaches have been noted in news articles and social media regarding the IHSAA’s consideration of the 35-second shot clock for Indiana high school basketball.

Asset allocation is a basic tenet of a well-constructed investment plan. When the markets become volatile, asset allocation can be an important tool. Having a financial strategy that includes an asset allocation plan may help you to stay on track, even as markets change rapidly.