Current Events

At this year's annual golf outing for Rylan's Hope Foundation we donated a Respite themed gift basket for their raffle to help promote their vision of ensuring all families are able to provide needed services for their child with disabilities regardless of financial ability. Rylan's Hope Foundation's mission is to raise funds for families that have children with disabilities in order to cover needed therapies, equipment and other disability-related expenses. To learn more about Rylan's Hope or to donate click here to access their website.

Every year The Business Forum, a professional women-focused group, hosts a golf outing called The Good Bad and Ugly to raise funds for their Scholarship program, which focuses on helping adult women return to school. If you are interested in learning more about The Business Forum's Scholarship program click here to access their website.

April 4th marks Carrie's 19th year in business! Way to go Carrie!

November 8th Carrie and Terri presented at the 2022 Children Come First conference in Wisconsin Dells speaking on the 529ABLE: The Lowcost Alternative to a Special Needs Trust. Over 600 attendees came and we are grateful for the opportunity to spread the word about this incredible plan!

Carrie was featured in OurLives Magazine with her article titled, Empowered and Prepared where she outlines the details on opening investment accounts and applying for various types of insurance for Trans and Non-Binary individuals. To read the article follow the link, download the pdf version and flip to pages 42 - 43. 

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On the evening of September 14th we had "Dinner and a Movie" in the backyard of our office! Clients came out and heard from us and a few wholesalers followed by a large LED movie screen viewing of Despicable Me and dinner from Jolly Frog's with Ice Cream treats from Chocolate Shoppe. Everyone had a great time, the weather was perfect and it was virtually mosquito-free!

Please welcome Terri Buechner to Equanimity Wealth Planning and Investing! Terri came to us with a history in the finance industry and is serving as our Director of Special Needs Planning. She will be helping clients stay the course as outlined in their financial plans, ensuring their plans are accurately and fully funded, and are operational according to their overall estate plan as guided by their attorney. She is knowledgeable about the 529ABLE account, permanent life insurance policies and their use in funding Special Needs Trusts, and the power of annuities and their ability to provide and protect income for both the individual and their caregiver. Welcome Terri, we are excited to have you with us!

Carrie was elected President of The Business Forum: Professional Women who Empower, Support and Make a Difference (commonly known as TBF) for the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year. TBF is responsible for several award and recognition award programs throughout the community. They've awarded over $460,000 in scholarships to women of all ages pursuing higher education goals, recognition of women and men who have achieved, or are on their way to achieving, excellence in their profession or life's work to improve the quality of life for others, and actively helping women realize their full potential through the ATHENA International and ATHENA Young Professional awards, and holds monthly luncheons for professional develeopment and networking. 

On November 7th and 8th Carrie will present on the 529 ABLE and How it Coordinates with Special Needs Trusts at this year’s Children Come First Conference at the Kalahari Resort. Tickets can be purchased here if you or a friend are interested in attending.

On Friday August 20^th our favorite admin, Dannea, got married! We are so happy for her, and hope you’ll join us in wishing her and her wife, Eboni, a beautiful life together!

Note that Dannea’s e-mail will be changing due to her name change, so please be on the lookout for more details.

Here’s a picture of the couple, don’t they look perfect?!

Join Carrie Waters Schmidt, MS, CFP®, AWMA®, ADPA®, CSRIC^TM at this year’s Children Come First conference November 15 – 16 at the Kalahari Resort and Conference Center in Wisconsin Dells! The CCF Conference is full of practical and inspiring content about caring for or working with children, youth, and young adults with social, emotional, behavioral, or mental health challenges.  Attending this conference you will: learn strategies to apply in your daily life, connect with state and national experts, and obtain resources that you can use in your home, school, organization, or community. Carrie will be presenting on 529ABLE plans and how to fund them and Special Needs Trusts.  Register here to attend.

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Carrie Waters Schmidt was named to the 2021 40 Under 40 List for most successful & civic minded young professionals by InBusiness magazine in March 2021 based on data from 03/20-03/21. No fee was paid for the nomination, promotion or receipt of this award. “Annually, the 40 Under 40* is a celebration of some of the brightest and most driven young professionals within the Greater Madison business community, and we are thrilled to recognize our 21st class here in 2021 as they will now join a group of over 800 distinguished 40 Under 40* alumni,” said InBusiness magazine Publisher Jon Konarske. “This is yet another group that has already made a huge impact—both in their careers and within the community, and there is no doubt that they will be helping to lead the way as we slowly work our way out of the pandemic.”

The list of the full 40 Under 40* Class of 2021 can be seen by turning to page 24, to read Carrie’s excerpt turn to page 46 in InBusiness Magazine’s March issue.

*The 40 under 40 award recognizes people in the Greater Madison community who show civic and community involvement along with professional accomplishment, all while under the age of 40. Carrie Waters-Schmidt applied for this award. No fees were paid for the award. This award was independently granted by InBusiness magazine and membership in an organization was not required. CRN-5792588-070623

Join Family Support and Resource Center on Thursday March 4, 2021 at 11am or Tuesday March 9, 2021 at 5:30pm via Zoom to learn

• Why it is important to have a Will
• What happens when your Special Needs child turns 18
• What a Special Needs Trust is
• What a 529ABLE is
• Considerations in terms of Guardianship
• What else should be on your radar

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Back in May it was reported that the Navajo Nation had the highest per capita coronavirus infection rate and they were facing the ongoing pandemic with limited tools. Since then we have been sending various donated items to help them, both COVID-related and otherwise. Our last shipment to the Nation consisted of:

             * 3 toothbrushes                                * 2 toothpastes

             * 1 large hand sanitizer                     * 1 Hand soap

             * 1 pkg of Adult diapers                     * 2 Bar soaps

             * 1 Lg. Lysol disinfectant                   * 1 Lg. Moisturizer

             * 1 pkg of Feminine Pads

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Carrie recently completed an ESG certification program through Morningstar as part of her commitment to ESG/SRI Investing. Morningstar is a leading 3^rd party investment research and analysis company who has recently acquired Sustainalytics, a globally recognized leader in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings and research. The program focused on understanding how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors influence investment risk and opportunities including addressing the record-breaking inflows to sustainable investments amidst the most recent phenomenon of market volatility. The program is titled Morningstar ESG Foundations Certification Course and is a new program offered as a response to Morningstar’s and Sustainalytics’ ongoing pledge to best serve clients in this ever-growing space. This is Carrie’s second certification in this area of investing, the first being the Chartered SRI Counselor (CSRIC^TM) where she was the first in Wisconsin to have earned it.

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Our most recent shipment to the Navajo Nation was our largest one yet! Contents included:

• 27 adult homemade masks
• 19 children’s masks
• 10 travel-sized shampoo/conditioners
• 6 hand sanitizers
• 2 castille soaps
• 1 large peanut butter
• 1 toothbrush
• 10 toothpastes
• 1 bottle of acetaminophen

So far our Mask Drive has delivered 175 masks to those most vulnerable. I'm so proud of us all!

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The most recent issue of Brava Magazine features an article titled Do I Need A Financial Advisor?, written by Katy Macek. Carrie was interviewed along with another advisor answering common questions about using a financial advisor. You can read the article by clicking below and turning to page 33.

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Together with Debi Buol, owner of the Lingonberry Llama coffee shop in Belleville, WI, another shipment was made in August consisting of 5 adult homemade masks, 27 homemade children’s masks, 20 store-bought cloth masks, 20 spools of thread, and 2 $25 Target gift cards. The picture shows the recent shipment.

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Carrie has been involved with a non-profit for a few years now called YogAutism, Inc, which teaches and facilitates a 5-step yoga-inspired sequence that has been shown to down-regulate a person’s nervous system. This is especially valuable for people with Autism as they are often in fight/flight/freeze mode.

On Friday August 28^th from 6-8pm YogAutism is having a virtual BINGO night where they will play 8 games of BINGO with each round’s winner taking home a prize package valued between $120 and $259! All prizes can be viewed on the Facebook event page by clicking here.

If you would like join in on the fun please contact YogAutism at YogAutism@gmail.com for more details. We hope to see you there!

Back in May it was reported that the Navajo Nation had the highest per capita coronavirus infection rate and they were facing the ongoing pandemic with limited tools.

Together with Debi Buol, owner of the Lingonberry Llama coffee shop in Belleville, WI, a total of 77 homemade masks have been gathered and mailed to the Navajo Nation. Below is a picture showing the loot, of which 37 were handmade by Carrie. Debi has been in contact with the Nation and has been told they remain in desperate need of Children’s masks and bottled water, but also need KN95 masks, sewing supplies (cotton, elastic, thread), hand sanitizer, hand soap, detergent, disposable gloves, Tylenol, disinfecting cleaning supplies, zinc, tissues and vitamin C. They have also noted other, non-COVID needs. Many do not have electricity or refrigeration, so they need shelf-stable food, hygiene products diapers (for both elderly and babies), toothpaste, etc. If you would like to donate to this cause please contact Carrie (Carrie.Schmidt@LFG.com) or Debi Buol at the Lingonberry Llama (608) 424-0197 to arrange a way to collect them.

As an aside, if you’ve never been to the Lingonberry Llama in Belleville, I hope you find a reason to stop there! You’ll love the food and atmosphere as well as a good cup of coffee! (https://thellamacoffee.com/).

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