Dylan Paskell, Financial Advisor

10/26/2026

Do you know how much risk your "safe" money is taking?

08/11/2026

Turning 59½ opens a door a lot of people don't realize is there.

Once you hit that age, you can generally move money out of your 401(k) while you're still working, without the 10% early withdrawal penalty.

Most 401(k)s can be moved to a Rollover IRA or Roth IRA with no tax implications if done correctly. This opens up a much wider set of investment options than most 401(k)s have.

If you're past 59.5 and haven't taken advantage of this, it might be worth a look.

07/29/2026

7 out of 10 people are invested in target retirement date funds in their 401(k).
(https://www.ici.org/system/files/2024-04/per30-03.pdf)

The strategy of these funds depends on your age and that's it.

As you get closer to retirement, they get more conservative. It can be a good default for the average person.

But this fund doesn't know if you have a pension, if you have other accounts, if you actually want to retire at 60 or keep working until 70.

Two people the same age might need different strategies, but the target date funds don't know that.

If you are in a target date fund, is it because you agree with the strategy or you're unsure what your strategy should be?

07/10/2026

The most common 401(k) retirement "plan" I see isn't really a plan. It's a contribution amount and a generic fund assigned during onboarding.

Steady contributions are a very good habit, and a lot of people wait too late to actually do it.

But a habit and a strategy aren't the same thing

The habit is the easy part: how much am I putting in?

The real question is the one underneath it. Why is it invested this way? Does the risk still fit how close I am to retiring? Do I actually know what I own, or did a default pick it for me years ago and I never looked again?

If you opened your 401(k) today, would you know why it's invested the way it is?

06/23/2026

A 10-minute conversation just saved my client, Greg, about $18,000 in future taxes.

Greg was about to start receiving $5,000 a month from his military pension while still working, and his plan was to drop it into a regular brokerage account and pull from it in retirement.

Nothing wrong with that on the surface, but a brokerage account taxes you on the growth. So, we made one change. Instead of the brokerage, he max funds his 401(k) with Roth and after-tax dollars that grow tax free for the rest of his retirement. Same money, same investments, just a different bucket.

Over two years that's about $120,000 invested. If it doubles, that's another $120,000 in gains. In a brokerage, that growth gets taxed. This way it doesn't, which keeps about $18,000 in Greg's pocket instead of going to the IRS.

Most people focus on how much they invest. Where they put it can matter just as much.

If you've got new income coming in this year, do you know whether it's landing in the right place?

𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭.

06/16/2026

Several people I've met with recently were contributing to a Roth 401(k) and weren't sure where the Roth part actually was. One thought it was a separate account floating somewhere outside his plan.

Fair confusion. There isn't really formal education on this stuff unless you intentionally seek it out.

Roth isn't an account. It's a tax treatment. You pay tax on the money now, and in exchange the growth and qualified withdrawals are tax-free later.

That treatment lives in two main places.

A Roth 401(k) sits inside your employer's plan. Funded through payroll, employer match can still apply, and there's no income limit, so high earners can use it.

A Roth IRA is its own account, held outside any employer. You open it, you choose the investments. This one does have income limits.

Same tax treatment. Two different homes for it.

06/01/2026

Got to dive in one of my favorite places last week - Roatan, Honduras.

When I got back to work, the first two clients I met with are scuba certified as well.

Always nice when client meetings can go a little deeper than finances for a bit.

05/15/2026

A dollar from 2016 buys about 75 cents of stuff today.

A lot of people are still measuring their portfolios in raw dollars. They see "up 4% this year" and feel good about it. But if inflation ran at 3%, their real return was 1%.

For cash sitting in checking or low-yield savings, the math is rougher. $200k parked there in 2016 has lost roughly $50k in purchasing power.

This is one of the first things I look at when someone new comes in: not just what their portfolio earned, but what it actually earned after inflation, and which buckets are quietly falling behind.

Most people are surprised by the answer.

04/30/2026

I spent some quality time with my dad and brother this weekend fly fishing with the best guide in the smokies!

04/24/2026

I'm excited to lead our new office in Maryville, TN. Great things are in store for Elevate!

New Branch Alert!
Let’s congratulate Dylan Paskell, Financial Advisor on the launch of our newest Elevate branch!

We’re excited to see his leadership and dedication expand our mission of helping families build and protect their financial future. Growth isn’t just about numbers, it’s about impact. And we’re ready to make more of it in Knoxville, TN.

Stop by our newest location at 200 E Broadway Ave Ste 506 Maryville, TN 37804 Fifth floor, right corner.