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Two-Factor Authentication and Other Basics Every Plan Sponsor Should Confirm

This article explains practical cybersecurity safeguards for 401(k) plan sponsors, including multi-factor authentication, role-based access, secure file sharing, and social engineering awareness. It also covers recovery and offboarding processes, plus a five-step checklist to confirm plan-administration security basics.

5 min read

What to Do If You Suspect a Data Breach Affecting Your Retirement Plan

When a retirement plan sponsor suspects a data breach, the first priority is a coordinated process rather than a rushed diagnosis. This guide covers verifying provider contacts, preserving evidence, limiting speculation in communications, and documenting lessons learned. A practical five-step response checklist and preparation tips round out the guidance.

5 min read

Building Cybersecurity Awareness into Your Employee Retirement Communications

This article explains how plan sponsors can add clear, neutral cybersecurity reminders to retirement-plan communications without shifting oversight to employees. It covers coordinating with providers, using plain language, avoiding guarantees, and documenting the communication process.

5 min read

Protecting Participant Data: A Business Owner's Introduction to 401(k) Cybersecurity

Retirement plan data moves among sponsors, payroll providers, recordkeepers, and TPAs, so sponsors need practical oversight rather than technical expertise. This post covers data flows, shared provider responsibility, internal handling habits, repeatable reviews, and incident preparation. A five-step oversight process and provider questions help sponsors document and revisit cybersecurity governance.

5 min read

The Safe Harbor 401(k) Adoption Deadline: What Business Owners Should Know

Safe harbor design often comes up as business owners plan for year-end testing and next-year administration.

7 min read

Coverage Testing Explained: Making Sure Your Plan Serves the Right Employees

A retirement plan is built around eligibility and participation rules, but those rules also create a compliance-testing question: whether the plan is benefiting the employee groups it is designed to serve under applicable requirements.

7 min read

Duncan Williams Named Chairman of Greater Memphis Chamber's Board

Duncan Williams, founder and chairman of Duncan Williams Asset Management and a longtime civic leader in the Mid-South, has been named chairman of the Greater Memphis Chamber’s Board of Directors.

2 min read

Surging Gold Prices and Market Resilience

Gold prices shot up to record highs this morning, hitting $4,035 per ounce, as people around the world look for ways to protect their savings from stubborn inflation and economic uncertainty.

2 min read

Economic Reports: Small Business Optimism and New Business Formation

Small business owners felt a bit more upbeat in July. Many reported seeing better business conditions and felt more confident about growing their companies.

3 min read

Succession Planning for Small Businesses in the Mid-South: Ensuring a Smooth Transition

Succession planning is crucial for small business owners in the Mid-South, including those in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, who want to secure the future of their companies, protect their legacy, and provide stability for employees and clients.

4 min read

How to Write a Financial Plan for Your Business in 2025

One of the most important things I tell business owners is that a financial plan isn’t just a formality—it’s a critical tool for success.

4 min read

Corporate Giving During Christmas: How Businesses Can Do More Than Just Donate

Strategies for aligning holiday philanthropy with long-term CSR goals.

5 min read

Do You Really Need a Family Office? Key Questions for Modern Wealthy Families

As wealth grows in complexity, families must decide whether a family office framework can bring better coordination and clarity to their financial lives. This perspective from Duncan Williams Asset Management walks through how to assess your assets and family dynamics, define what functions you need, and choose among embedded, outsourced, hybrid, or single-family office models. It also emphasizes grounding the entire structure in a shared vision of purpose and legacy.

7 min read

Holiday Optimism and Market Reality: Navigating November’s Seasonal Strength with Discipline

November is often seen as a bright spot for the stock market. Increased holiday shopping and year-end moves by big investors tend to give the market a boost.

2 min read

Family Governance: Keeping Wealth Across Generations in Memphis and the Mid-South

Let’s talk about something close to home for so many Memphis and Mid-South families: how do you make sure your hard-earned wealth lasts—not just for your kids, but for generations?

3 min read

Graduation Season: Financial Planning for New Grads and Their Families

Graduation marks a significant milestone but also signals the start of new financial responsibilities.

5 min read

The Future of Work: Implications for Financial Planning

As we move through 2025, the world of work is undergoing rapid transformation, with significant implications for how individuals and families should approach financial planning.

4 min read

Turning Philanthropy into a Family Tradition: Engaging the Next Generation in Giving Back

Why Family Philanthropy Matters

5 min read

Income Needed to Join the Top 1% by State (2025)

The amount of money you need to be among the top 1% of earners in the U.S. in 2025 depends a lot on where you live.

4 min read

Navigating Financial Uncertainty: A 2025 Guide to Diversifying Revenue Streams for Nonprofits

As we navigate the challenges of 2025, nonprofit organizations are facing increasing financial uncertainty.

5 min read

Your Mission, Your Future—Partner with a Firm That Understands Both

2 min read

In honor of Black History Month we invite you to visit the National Civil Rights Museum

1 min read

Pro Tips for Nonprofits: Choosing the right financial adviser

Nonprofits are passionate about their missions, yet sometimes this passion can affect decision-making beyond the traditional scope of their work. Nonprofits work hard for donations, and deciding how to manage these donations in-house can surely add undue stress. This is where a financial advisor comes in.

3 min read

Pro Tips for Nonprofits: Partner up to stand out

Nonprofits consistently operate with limited resources needed to effectively market, outreach, and raise awareness for their cause. In a recent study by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative, 18% of nonprofits saw “small staff, transitions in staff” as one of their biggest challenges while 11% of nonprofits deemed “donor cultivation, acquisition, retention, [and] communications” as one of their biggest challenges.

3 min read

GOOD NEWS FROM MEMPHIS - GOOD NEWS FOR MEMPHIS OCTOBER 13, 2026

Let’s keep sharing the good news! I know many of you are on fall break, but the good news in Memphis doesn’t stop. So we need to keep sharing it FOR MEMPHIS.

2 min read

GOOD NEWS FROM MEMPHIS - GOOD NEWS FOR MEMPHIS SEPTEMBER 22, 2026

This past weekend was the 38th Annual Cooper Young Fest. There was also live music at Live at the Garden, Satellite Music Hall, Clue at the Orpheum, Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations, a Tigers football game which we won, and so much more.

2 min read

GOOD NEWS FROM MEMPHIS - GOOD NEWS FOR MEMPHIS SEPTEMBER 1, 2026

Today is a very special edition of FOR MEMPHIS because it’s 901 Day.

2 min read

FOR MEMPHIS: GOOD NEWS FROM MEMPHIS - GOOD NEWS FOR MEMPHIS AUGUST 17, 2026

August in Memphis is a great time! It may be hot, but we still show up. From the FedEx St. Jude Championship to Elvis Week, there is a lot of good news flowing through the city.

2 min read

FOR MEMPHIS: GOOD NEWS FROM MEMPHIS - GOOD NEWS FOR MEMPHIS AUGUST 4, 2026

Back to school is here, and I know this year is going to be a great one! Our students are the future of this city. They are already doing incredible things FOR MEMPHIS.

2 min read

Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rates Steady, but Signals Inflation Fight Isn't Over

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50%–3.75%, but the decision was far from unanimous.

1 min read

Higher Prices, Tighter Budgets: How Inflation Is Hitting Home in 2026

The IMF projected 4.7% global inflation for 2026 as Middle East conflict pushed energy and food costs higher, widening the gap between wealthy and vulnerable nations. In the U.S., gas prices drove the squeeze, while Memphis faced hotter regional inflation, lagging wages, rising unemployment, and looming utility hikes. Food aid cuts pushed thousands of Shelby County families to the brink.

6 min read

The Distance Between Growth and Getting By

The U.S. economy grew 3.4% in the third quarter, but consumer prices rose and inflation-adjusted earnings fell. Consumer sentiment remained weak, with high prices burdening households unevenly depending on stock ownership and savings. The article argues that growth becomes meaningful only when families have money left after bills.

4 min read

Alphabet’s drop dents the tape, but under-the-surface breadth holds up

Alphabet’s disappointing quarter dragged Communication Services and the Nasdaq lower, even as most S&P 500 stocks rose. Leadership rotated into healthcare, financials and real estate, with Treasury yields easing and the dollar firm. Investors are watching whether AI spending narratives stabilize and whether rates allow market breadth to lead again.

2 min read

Stocks rebound as yields tumble despite hot wholesale inflation

After a shaky, tech-led open, US equities finished higher as a late slide in Treasury yields steadied risk appetite: the Dow led, the S&P 500 eked out gains, and the Nasdaq hovered near flat.

2 min read

Hot CPI knocks tech as rate jitters return while oil stays firm

U.S. stocks finished lower with the Nasdaq leading losses after September inflation ran hotter than expected, reviving odds of another Fed hike and pressuring long‑duration tech.

2 min read

Keeping a Testing Calendar So Deadlines Don't Sneak Up on You

A testing calendar does not replace technical administration, but it can make a business owner’s compliance responsibilities more visible.

7 min read