Because Money Doesn’t Come With Instructions
Welcome to Sterk Financial Services, a financial planning practice in the Dakota Dunes suburb of Sioux City, Iowa. Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a team of experts to help you live your best life. That’s where we come in. You have doctors, attorneys, and tax professionals you rely on to keep your life running smoothly, and we are prepared to do the same for your financial future. Sterk Financial Services has specialized programs to help you manage investments and strategically plan for life changes such as retirement, divorce, job changes, or entering a caregiving role. We can help you preserve and grow your portfolio to help set yourself up for a successful financial future. Our goal is simple – to provide advice and strategies that aligns the money you have with the life that you want to lead.
Our team of professionals has years of experience in strategic financial planning. We are ready to address your needs today and guide you through every phase of life. Let us help you take the complexity and uncertainty out of financial planning, and help create clarity and confidence as you move forward.
Let’s get started.
We offer specialized programs that center around managing money and planning for life’s crucial financial events. Your needs & goals. Our advice & strategies.
Learn More
As your full-service financial partner and guide, we are here when you need us. Every situation. Every time.
Learn More
There are no do-overs in retirement. You need a path. You need a strategy. You need a guide you can trust. Mary’s latest book will arm you with the essential knowledge to create a strategic plan so you can retire with confidence.
Get the BookHelpful Content
Forecast
The market is as unpredictable as the weather. We’d love to help you prepare.
Strategies For Managing Student Loan Debt
Five strategies for managing your student debt.
Keep Your Umbrella Handy
Umbrella liability can be a fairly inexpensive way to help shelter current assets and future income from the unexpected.
The Anatomy of an Index
The S&P 500 represents a large portion of the value of the U.S. equity market, it may be worth understanding.
Buying Auto Insurance For Teen Drivers
Tips on insuring your teen driver.
Gap Insurance for Leased Cars
If you’re thinking of leasing a new car, then you shouldn’t forget about gap insurance.
Understanding the Alternate Valuation Date
Executors can value the estate on the date of death, or on its six-month anniversary —the “Alternate Valuation Date."
Mastering Mobile Lingo
Can you keep up with your children’s mobile slang?
Saving on Fitness Center Membership Costs
There are ways to improve your physical fitness without denting your fiscal fitness.
View all articles 
How Much Home Can I Afford?
With a few simple inputs you can estimate how much of a mortgage you may be able to obtain.
Estimate Your RMD
Help determine the required minimum distribution from an IRA or other qualified retirement plan.
Federal Income Tax
Use this calculator to estimate your income tax liability along with average and marginal tax rates.
Annuity Comparison
This calculator compares a hypothetical fixed annuity with an account where the interest is taxed each year.
My Retirement Savings
Estimate how long your retirement savings may last using various monthly cash flow rates.
Disability Income
This calculator estimates your chances of becoming disabled and your potential need for disability insurance.
View all calculators
An Inside Look at Retirement Living
A number of questions and concerns need to be addressed to help you better prepare for retirement living.
Protecting Those Who Matter Most
The importance of life insurance, how it works, and how much coverage you need.
Your Cash Flow Statement
A presentation about managing money: using it, saving it, and even getting credit.
5 Smart Investing Principles
Principles that can help create a portfolio designed to pursue investment goals.
Long-Term-Care Protection Strategies
The chances of needing long-term care, its cost, and strategies for covering that cost.
Managing Your Lifestyle
Using smart management to get more of what you want and free up assets to invest.
View all presentations
Keeping Up with the Joneses
Lifestyle inflation can be the enemy of wealth building. What could happen if you invested instead of buying more stuff?
The Cycle of Investing
Understanding the cycle of investing may help you avoid easy pitfalls.
Tuning Your Social Security Benefit
When should you take your Social Security benefit?
Surprise! You’ve Got Money!
Here’s a quick guide to checking to see if you have unclaimed money.
The Business Cycle
How will you weather the ups and downs of the business cycle?
Suddenly Single: 3 Steps to Take Now
Have you found yourself suddenly single? Here are 3 steps to take right now.