Joshua Ellis, Financial Planner at MassMutual Great Lakes

10/26/2026

“You’re kind of young to be a financial planner.” And I get it.
So let me tell you what young actually looks like from this chair.

Building this practice at 25 has taught me something most people learn too late: money was never really about the money.

I sit with families twice my age, and the breakthroughs never come from a spreadsheet... they come when someone finally feels safe enough to be honest about their fears, their shame, their hopes.

I may be young. But I’ve watched more families change their trajectory than most people witness in a lifetime.

Watching people find that courage? That’s the whole reason I do this.

10/23/2026

Three things for an employee to look at if your ESOP company is sold:

1️⃣ What does this mean for you financially? It’s important to be clear on the details – price per share, deal structure, and your voting rights are all important considerations.

2️⃣ How and when you’ll get paid – this varies, so it is important to be clear on the details about vesting, payout timing, and form of payment to expect.

3️⃣ Taxes and distribution options – for many employees, this may be the largest sum of money ever received, so it’s important to understand how it is taxed and how it fits in your overall financial plan.

Don’t go it alone – I can help you understand these considerations and more. Let’s connect.

10/22/2026

Most people think planning is about predicting the future. It’s not.
It’s about being ready for a future you can’t predict.
Because the unexpected isn’t a maybe... it’s a when.
A plan doesn’t make you a fortune teller. It makes you the person with options when everyone else is out of them.
That’s the whole game: optionality.

10/22/2026

The best financial lessons often start at home. As Halloween approaches, consider using candy budgets, costume spending, or trick-or-treat rewards as opportunities to teach children healthy money habits.

This Halloween, candy as currency can become a lesson on budgeting, market value, even taxes. This article covers suggested lessons parents can teach kids.

10/20/2026

That money advice you saw online? It might be great.
It also might be completely wrong... for you.
Because the person giving it doesn’t know your income, your debt, your goals, or what keeps you up at night.
Personal finance is PERSONAL. Advice without your context isn’t a plan, it’s a guess in someone else’s handwriting.
What worked for them was built on numbers you can’t see.

10/19/2026

The most expensive thing you can be with money isn’t broke. It’s content with “good enough.”
Broke has urgency. Good enough has excuses.
“We’re managing.” “It could be worse.” “We’ll figure it out eventually.”
That’s not peace... that’s a plateau wearing peace’s clothes.
Don’t let good enough cost you great.

10/15/2026

People think wealth starts with money. It starts with a decision.
The decision to look. To ask. To stop waiting for the perfect time that never comes.
Every dollar you’ll ever build is downstream of a choice you made before you felt ready.
Your bank account is just a record of your decisions.
Start making ones your future self will thank you for.

10/14/2026

A thoughtful financial strategy can help protect that progress toward your career, home, and goals while keeping it all moving forward. Let’s build a plan tailored to what matters most to you.

10/13/2026

Yesterday I said you don’t have a dead end... you have a blind spot.

Here’s the part two: seeing the path isn’t the same as walking it.

Clarity feels good for about a day. Then the same fear that hid your options will talk you out of using them.

The people who win aren’t the ones who see clearly once.
They’re the ones who move before the fear comes back.

10/12/2026

When you’re stressed about money, your brain does something sneaky: it shrinks your options down to two — struggle or quit.

But there are almost always more paths than fear lets you see.

That’s half of what a planner actually does — lay out the scenarios you couldn’t piece together alone, because you were too close and too stressed to connect them.

You don’t have a dead end. You have a blind spot.