This month's must-read, Aspects of Your Financial Life to Review as the Year Closes, explains how to take stock of your financial life with quick, purposeful reviews. Meet your advisor to check portfolio positions, rebalance asset allocation, and max out retirement contributions—don’t forget catch-up options if you’re 50+. Pull cost-basis records, harvest tax losses, and...
Our featured article of the month, Social Security: The Elephant in the Room, outlines the history and some of the challenges facing the Social Security system. From its beginning, the system was designed to help those who had very little and who ultimately lived much shorter lives in retirement. Now, the system has expanded its...
Our featured article of the month, Market Volatility & Your Portfolio, attempts to bring attention to the complexity of the issues surrounding volatility in the markets and provides some historical context around pullbacks or drawdowns common throughout the years. As humans, we try to simplify complex ideas into a one-issue cause-and-effect framework to help us better...
Our featured article of the month, Retirement Plan Contribution Limits for 2025, details changes in retirement additions based on your age as adjusted through the SECURE Act 2.0. If you are between the ages of 60 and 63 then the "super catch-up" of up to $11,250 may be a consideration if you are looking to...
Our featured article of the month, Election 2024, attempts to provide some context over a hotly debated election and foresight on future expectations as it relates to the economy and investments. Elections and investment markets can become very emotional at various points in time. However, in both cases life moves on, things calm down and...
Our featured article of the month, How To Build an Emergency Fund, helps outline the steps needed to setup an emergency fund. Determining the amount you should set aside is one based on your monthly expenditures. An easy rule of thumb is, what do you need to pay to ensure you don't get yourself into...
Our featured article of the month, Consider Keeping Your Life Insurance When You Retire, starts the conversation on this topic and expands on it slightly in regards to insurance planning strategies. Traditionally, life insurance was considered unnecessary once you hit retirement, the nest was empty and a liability such as a mortgage was satisfied. However,...
Our featured article of the month, Retirement Realities, answers some frequently asked questions about retirement expectations. Online calculators are certainly helpful with projecting figures out many years, but they lack any nuance. Even the systems used by financial planners provide figures and calculations without taking into account the reality of life. Experience and counsel are...
Our featured article of the month, End of the Year Money Moves, provides a few smart ideas on preparing your financial situation for year end. Considering how difficult the investment markets have been this year, why not take advantage of tax-loss selling to offset current or future capital gains? And see below a link to...
Our featured article of the month, The Behavior Gap and Your Financial Health, describes something all of us humans can succumb to now and again; emotional reactions. This article touches on times in invesment markets when emotions are high, like now, which leads to many investors making poor financial decisions. Depending on your situation and your investment...
