ECS Capital Investments

10/07/2026

ICYMI: We’ve added a new office number! 📞

You can now reach the ECS Capital Investments office at 816-393-0031 for scheduling appointments and general office assistance. Our new Office Assistant, Maddy, will be helping answer calls and looks forward to getting to know you!

Our existing phone number is still available for calls and texts. This office line is simply an additional way to reach us.

Save the new number to your contacts so it’s handy when you need us!

09/30/2026

What does it mean when investors are feeling “bearish”? 🐻

It means they expect stock prices to fall. In the AAII investor sentiment survey shown here, 48.1% of respondents were bearish, compared with 32.7% who were bullish, or expecting prices to rise. Another 19.2% were neutral.

That’s nearly half of those surveyed feeling pessimistic about the market. But investor sentiment measures how people feel, not what the market will actually do next.

With election headlines and interest rate discussions competing for attention, it’s helpful to keep that distinction in mind. A shift in confidence doesn’t automatically mean your own financial goals or circumstances have changed.

Questions about what the headlines mean for your financial plan? Let’s talk.

09/21/2026

🎙️ Episode 24 of Insurance, Investments & All About Town is now live, and we’re celebrating TWO YEARS of the podcast!

24 episodes, one each month, filled with conversations about planning ahead, understanding your insurance, and getting to know the people making a difference in our community.

This month, Eric Sporing and Tara Lavelle are covering retirement planning, upcoming annual enrollment, and planning for the pets we consider family.

📈 Health Savings Accounts & Retirement: Eric discusses health savings accounts (HSAs) and how they can fit into your retirement plan.

💡 Annual Enrollment: Tara talks about the upcoming annual enrollment period and preparing to review your insurance coverage for the year ahead.

🐾 Special Guest: Tiffany Obermeyer | Misty Jo Dogwatch: Tiffany joins the podcast to share how her organization helps families plan for their dogs’ futures when life changes unexpectedly. Through education, advocacy, foster support, and resources, especially for vulnerable senior dogs, her work centers on the belief that every dog deserves love, protection, and a plan.

Thank you to everyone who has watched, listened, shared an episode, or joined us as a guest over the past two years. We’ve loved sharing these conversations with you and look forward to many more!

🎧 Watch Episode 24 here:
https://youtu.be/ZBMTJ8kX5pw

Also streaming on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Welcome to Episode 24 of the Insurance, Investments, and All About ...

09/18/2026

Meet the newest member of the ECS Capital Investments team, Maddy Barnard!

Maddy is joining us as our Office Assistant, helping with everything from answering phones and scheduling appointments to keeping our files organized. With over 10 years of customer relations experience and six years in accounts receivable, she brings a strong background in working with people and keeping things on track.

A little about Maddy outside the office: she loves baking, collects coffee mugs, and enjoys spending time with her son playing catch or a competitive game of Uno. She admits he usually wins! 😊

We’re excited to have her here. Please help us welcome Maddy to ECS!

09/15/2026

🎙️ 24 episodes. Two years. So many great conversations! This Sunday, September 20th, we’re celebrating two years of Insurance, Investments & All About Town with the release of Episode 24!

Thank you to everyone who has watched, listened, shared an episode, or joined us as a guest. We’ve loved bringing you these conversations each month and getting to know the people making a difference in our community.

This month, Eric and Tara are joined by Tiffany Obermeyer, founder and president of Misty Jo Dogwatch, an organization helping families plan for their dogs’ futures when life changes unexpectedly.

Tiffany will share how the organization provides education, advocacy, foster support, and resources, especially for vulnerable senior dogs. It’s a conversation about protecting the pets we consider family and making sure they have a plan, too.

Eric will also discuss health savings accounts (HSAs) and how they can fit into retirement planning, and Tara will talk about the upcoming annual enrollment period.

Stay tuned for our two-year anniversary episode, dropping September 20th!

🎧 Catch up on our latest episode: https://youtu.be/bnXADrhfXag
Available wherever you get your podcasts!

09/07/2026

Markets closed. BBQs open. But smart money never takes a day off.

What's your best "set it and forget it" financial strategy? Share below!

09/04/2026

Just because there are cones doesn’t mean it’s canceled! 👏

The 57th Annual Blue Springs Fall Fun Festival is coming up quickly. It will be taking place in Downtown Blue Springs September 18–20th, and this year there are a few changes AND some exciting additions.

Mikayla Lavelle with the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce joined Eric and Tara to give us a behind-the-scenes look at this year’s festival, including:

• Quiet Riot headlining Friday night
• Changes to the festival layout during the Main Street construction
• The parade
• Youth Market
• Dog Garden
• Carnival and car show
• Vendors, entertainment and more

And yes, even with the construction, Fall Fun Fest is happening!

Watch the full episode of Insurance, Investments, and All About Town to hear more about what’s planned for this year, what goes into putting on one of Blue Springs’ biggest community events, and a few helpful things to know before festival weekend.

Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/bnXADrhfXag

Learn more and view the full festival schedule at: BlueSpringsFallFestival.com

08/31/2026

When retirement decisions start to feel real, where do people turn for guidance? This month’s chart shows an interesting difference: workers are more likely to rely on family, friends, and online research, while retirees are more likely to call a financial professional. Where would you turn first?

08/27/2026

“Hope is not a retirement plan.”

Eric recently added several free retirement planning tools to the ECS Capital Investments website to help people explore some of the questions that come up when planning for retirement.

You can now find tools for:

• IRA/investment growth
• Retirement income gaps
• Social Security timing
• Potential tax impact
• Required minimum distributions (RMDs)

The calculators are available at https://ecscapitalinvestments.com/ and are free to use.

But what do those numbers actually mean for your retirement plan? In the full episode of Insurance, Investments, and All About Town, Eric walks through each resource, explains what information you can plug in, and shows how the tools can help you start thinking through different retirement scenarios.

Watch the full episode to hear Eric break them down and learn more about the resources available on the ECS Capital Investments website: https://youtu.be/bnXADrhfXag