IMC Financial Consulting

IMC Financial Consulting We offer a holistic comprehensive services to help clients prioritize and attain their life goals by making smart financial decisions.

06/18/2026

Sunday is Father's Day, and the best gift a parent can give their kid isn't a lesson plan. It's a real conversation.

Eighty-one percent of parents say their financial stress made them realize they should have talked to their kids about money sooner. This week, we're sharing five conversations that actually move the needle: what a paycheck really looks like, how to tell a need from a want, what debt costs over time, why starting to invest early matters more than investing perfectly, and how generosity fits into a strong financial foundation.

These aren't complicated talks. They happen naturally when parents decide to make money a normal topic in the household, not a stressful secret.

If you're a parent, a grandparent, or anyone raising the next generation, this one's for you. Save it for the weekend. Share it with a dad you know.

The HSA might be the most underused financial tool in your benefits package.Here is how it works: contributions are tax-...
06/17/2026

The HSA might be the most underused financial tool in your benefits package.

Here is how it works: contributions are tax-deductible, the money grows tax-free inside the account, and withdrawals for medical expenses are tax-free. That is three separate tax advantages on the same account. No other account does that.

The mistake most families make is spending it all before year-end, as if it were a use-it-or-lose-it FSA. It is not. The balance rolls over, and there is no time limit on medical reimbursements.

A smarter approach: cover smaller medical costs out of pocket when you can, save your receipts, and let the HSA balance compound over time. You can pull that money out tax-free later, even years down the road.

2026 limits: $4,400 individual, $8,750 family. You do need a high-deductible health plan to qualify.

Share this with your spouse or family member before open enrollment season arrives.

Learn more at planningimc.co.

The No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft is projected to earn around $12.3 million in his first season. The draft is June 26...
06/16/2026

The No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft is projected to earn around $12.3 million in his first season. The draft is June 26.

Most of these young men are 19 or 20 years old. Some are still teenagers when they sign. The rookie contract is mandatory, structured, and runs four years. But no one mandates the financial education to go with it.

An NCAA survey found that only 9% of college athletes had ever sat down with a financial counselor. Nearly half said they needed more guidance on taxes and basic financial literacy. The money comes first. The knowledge too often comes later, or not at all.

IMC's Assets and Athletes program works with collegiate and professional athletes to build that foundation before the paychecks start. We are not financial advisors. We are financial educators, and there is a real difference.

If you know a young athlete, a parent in the stands, or a coach who needs to hear this, share this post. The draft is two weeks away. The conversation should have started yesterday.

Incredible job by the Caravan AI team, led by Austin Senseman and Tanya Beck. This hands-on workshop allowed us to imple...
06/15/2026

Incredible job by the Caravan AI team, led by Austin Senseman and Tanya Beck. This hands-on workshop allowed us to implement solutions and best practices in real time directly within our systems and infrastructure. No wasted time; we walked away with immediate improvements and a sharper perspective on how to leverage AI effectively.

Big news for anyone with federal student loans. Starting July 1, 2026, the entire repayment system is being overhauled.T...
06/15/2026

Big news for anyone with federal student loans. Starting July 1, 2026, the entire repayment system is being overhauled.

Two new plans are replacing all the old income-driven options:

RAP (Repayment Assistance Plan): monthly payments based on 1-10% of your income. If your payment is not enough to reduce your principal, the government contributes up to $50/month. Forgiveness after 30 years.

Tiered Standard Plan: fixed payments spread over 10 to 25 years based on how much you owe. Minimum monthly payment of $50.

New borrowers after July 1 only have access to these two. If you already have loans and do not take out new ones, you can keep your current plan -- but you have until July 1, 2028 to make that call.

And if you were on the SAVE plan: that plan was struck down. You will receive notice and have 90 days to pick a replacement before your servicer auto-enrolls you.

Go to StudentAid.gov to review your options. Takes about 10 minutes.

Share this with someone who has student loans -- they may not know the clock is already running.

06/11/2026

If you have kids and a 529 plan (or you have been thinking about one), two rules changed in your favor this year.

Quick reminder: a 529 is a tax-advantaged account for education savings. It grows without yearly taxes, and qualified education withdrawals are tax-free.

What is new in 2026:

The K-12 limit doubled. You can now use up to 20,000 dollars a year from a 529 for K-12 costs, up from 10,000.

Leftover money is no longer stuck. Unused funds can roll into your child's Roth IRA, up to 35,000 dollars over their lifetime (a few rules apply, like a roughly 15-year account age).

For years the biggest hesitation with 529s was "what if my kid doesn't use it all." That money finally has somewhere good to go.

Worth running your own numbers with a tax professional, but the rules moved in families' favor.

planningimc.co

Parents, this one is worth a bookmark.26 states now require a personal finance class to graduate from high school, up fr...
06/10/2026

Parents, this one is worth a bookmark.

26 states now require a personal finance class to graduate from high school, up from just a handful a few years ago, and New York just added personal finance across grades K-12 (K-12 Dive / NEFE).

That is real progress. A lot of students will finally get walked through budgets, credit, and how a paycheck works.

Here is the honest part though. A one-semester class is a great start, not the whole job. A course can teach what compound interest is. The habit of actually saving gets built at home, through repetition, over years.

Three things that help at any age:
Let your kids see a real bill and how it gets paid.
Talk through one money decision out loud.
Give them a small amount to manage and let them learn from a cheap mistake now.

When students learn, parents learn. That is how it sticks.

planningimc.co

If you know a college athlete, this is worth two minutes.A year ago, schools could not pay athletes directly. After the ...
06/09/2026

If you know a college athlete, this is worth two minutes.

A year ago, schools could not pay athletes directly. After the House v. NCAA settlement was approved in June 2025, they can. Division I programs now share revenue directly with athletes, with a cap near $20.5 million per school this year, on top of the NIL deals athletes can already sign with brands.

So the money is bigger and it comes from two places now. What has not changed is this: a bigger check does not come with a plan attached.

Two athletes can earn the same amount. One treats it as a windfall, the other treats it as income that has to last. A few years later, those two stories look nothing alike.

The opportunity has never been bigger. The preparation has to keep up.

planningimc.co

Gold went on a remarkable run this year, then cooled off in the past month. Both parts of that story carry the same less...
06/08/2026

Gold went on a remarkable run this year, then cooled off in the past month. Both parts of that story carry the same lesson.

After a wave of safe-haven buying, gold pushed past $5,000 an ounce earlier in 2026, and investment demand jumped about 74% in the first quarter (World Gold Council). It has since slipped to around $4,336 as of early June, down roughly 8% in a month, though still up about 30% from a year ago (CNBC).

Quick definition: gold is a "safe haven," the thing people buy when they are nervous about war, inflation, or uncertainty. It is a store of value, not a business. It pays no dividend and earns no interest.

Here is the part worth remembering. A lot of that 74% jump in demand came after gold was already soaring and all over the news. That is how hot assets usually go. By the time it is everywhere, much of the move can already be behind it.

This is not a call on gold one way or the other. It is a reminder that the real question is never just "is it going up." It is "do I understand what I am buying, and does it fit my plan?"

Two skills are compounding on the same timeline. Most people are only investing in one.Stanford's AI Index 2026 makes th...
06/05/2026

Two skills are compounding on the same timeline. Most people are only investing in one.

Stanford's AI Index 2026 makes the AI side hard to ignore. AI skills now appear in 2.5% of US job postings, a 297% jump over the decade. Workers with advanced AI skills earn 56% more than peers in the same roles without them. The growth has spread well past tech into healthcare, finance, and manufacturing.

That premium is real. It is also not the whole story.

Money literacy is the layer that runs your life when the paycheck stops. AI literacy boosts the paycheck while it is flowing. They are parallel compounders, not replacements. The worker who builds AI fluency but never builds money fluency ends up with a bigger paycheck and the same financial outcomes.

Order matters. Money first. Pick the smaller of your two literacies and make it your next 30-day project. planningimc.co

Address

418 19th Street Ensley
Birmingham, AL
35218

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when IMC Financial Consulting posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to IMC Financial Consulting:

Shortcuts

Share

Category