Meet Our Team

Merri L. Benjamin

Merri L. Benjamin, CKA®

Financial Advisor
Serves
Binghamton NY
Expertise
Financial Advisors

Merri’s career as a financial services representative began by providing clients with an understanding of their current financial situation and educating them on how to achieve their financial goals with life insurance protection, college planning and retirement planning. She has been working with clients since 2010 and joined Faithward Advisors in early 2017.

Family & Hobbies

In her spare time, her greatest joy is making memories with her family. She is the number one fan at the many activities of her children that include baseball, softball, soccer, theater, chorus and orchestra concerts. Merri lives with her four children Nathan, Katie, Thomas and Benjamin.

Education & Experience

Merri graduated from Daemen College in Buffalo, NY, with a B.S. in Business Administration with a specialization in Management. After being in the medical and marketing field for a large hospital system, she worked her way into the financial industry.

Community Involvement

As an active member of her church, Merri enjoys volunteering for various activities both within the church and the community.

Why I like working at Faithward Advisors

“Every day, it is a blessing to be able to share my faith with clients and co-workers.”

Favorite Verse & Quote

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

Learn with your friends!

Group educational opportunities for your church, nonprofit organization, neighborhood, or small group Bible study.

Being Prepared: Planning in Volatile Times

 

During this crisis, we are facing critical questions. To address fears with facts and sort through the ever-changing financial landscape, we have created a brief but relevant presentation with an educational overview of market volatility as it relates to finances and charitable giving. Find answers to questions such as:

  • Why should we not fear?
  • What can we learn from history?
  • What does the Bible say about the future?
  • What principles transcend economic conditions?
  • What resources can help right now?

A Journey to Give, Save, and Multiply

 

Opportunities within the New Tax Laws

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act went into effect in 2018. The recent CARES ACT was passed in 2020. Their passing by Congress marks the most sweeping tax code overhaul in decades. Some experts suggest the significant changes could impact America’s finances in many ways. Hear from professionals to determine how your financial plan for retirement, your children’s college savings, and your tried-and-true strategies for charitable giving may be affected. Wise choices in light of this new legislation can help maximize your charitable giving and bless your family in the future. The rules have changed, but the principles of stewarding our financial gifts from the Lord remain the same.

Planning with Purpose

 

Transferrable Concepts and Biblical Principles for Your Finances

A stewardship-centered planning process helps to focus on the eternal, instead of the temporal. By making good financial decisions, all of which are faith decisions, you can achieve proper balance. Everyone is asking three fundamental questions when they look at money:
• Who owns it?
• What are the finish lines? (How much is enough?)
• Is the next steward chosen and prepared?
As you plan your life, you must decide how to steward your finances. This seminar will direct you how to ask and answer the right questions when it comes to using money as a tool, a test, and a testimony.

Kingdom Impact as Your Financial Compass

 

Biblically Responsible Investment Strategies

This introduction to Biblically Responsibly Investing will explain the term ‘fiduciary’ and present a helpful overview of basics such as equities, fixed income, and risk diversification. While a large variety of investing opportunities known as ‘responsible’ exist, some may not align with your faith and values. Socially responsible investing, environmentally responsible investing, governance investing, and others may still support companies and causes you wouldn’t be proud to own. In this seminar, we will explore how BRI is fundamentally different.

Family, Faith & Finance

 

A Seminar for Today’s Multi-Tasking Family

This practical seminar dispels 15 common financial misunderstandings among families at every point on the spectrum of planning. From young people starting out to mid-career adults with family responsibilities, as well as those approaching retirement or already retired, you will learn timeless truths about college and retirement savings, investments, risk, insurance, estate planning, charitable giving, and more.

Planned Giving and the Pathway to a Lasting Legacy

 

Stewardship during your lifetime is about following sound principles for financial independence and preparing your estate to be the fingerprint you leave on this world. Your stewardship can be maximized by incorporating cherished nonprofits as well as other charities into your planning. You can actually pass MORE assets to your family with careful, strategic gift planning. Planned giving can also create lifetime income streams, if desired, as well as obtain favored tax treatment. In this seminar, you will learn that it’s a myth that only the wealthy have the potential to leave a lasting legacy.

Legacy Detours: Planning, Preparing, and Protecting

 

Prepare for the future and avoid short-sighted decisions by educating yourself about legacy detours. What can derail your plans for stewardship after your passing? You should set up protections to minimize taxation at death, including Federal Estate Tax, State Inheritance/Estate Tax, and Income Tax. Our professionals will explain distribution techniques like wills and trusts, as well as review the impact of long-term illness. A life insurance needs analysis as well as other practical steps will be covered. With the right preparation, you can achieve a balance that protects your current financial independence and leave a lasting legacy for your heirs, church, and beloved charities.

Ready to Host a Seminar?

Faithward Advisors offers educational opportunities on many topics, for any group. Want to learn about how volatility is affecting the financial markets and your retirement savings? Need help planning for retirement and college savings? Looking for the best ways to financially support charities and your church, while also leaving a legacy for family? We can help!

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