Our featured monthly article, Guarding Against Identity Theft, is a departure from the typical financial articles presented in this newsletter, however due to increased usage of accessing financial information online over the past decade or so, these two areas have become inextricable intertwined. As evidenced by my company’s recent mandatory audit, which included a four...
Our featured monthly article, Should You Leave Your IRA to a Child?, initiates the conversation on proper estate planning techniques and highlights how good intentions could lead to unfortunate results. The article explains some of the logistics of using a trust as a beneficiary, but digging a little deeper may provide better context. While most...
Our featured monthly article, How Much Do You Really Know About Long-Term Care?, separates facts from myths by clarifying some common misconceptions surrounding the payor of long term care, the use of care, and the actual cost of care. The payor of care, in most long term care scenarios, is commonly the recipient of the...
Our featured monthly article, Adjusting Your Portfolio as You Age, highlights some prudent points in regard to asset and risk management within your investment portfolio. Without any readjustment, over time, portfolios naturally shift towards the outperforming investment in the group, leaving the overall allocation skewed. This shift could result in unintended additional risk and exasperated...
Our featured monthly article, Tax Efficiency in Retirement, outlines some very commonly used tax advantaged vehicles for saving and planning for retirement. As described, the 401(k) and Traditional IRA offer immediate tax benefits, while the Roth IRA provides a longer term advantage. They both have their pros and cons, but determining the best value for...
Our featured monthly article, How Retirement Spending Changes With Time, provides some perspective on what to expect out of our spending habits during retirement. As described in the article, spending tends to be higher during the onset of a retirement lifestyle. Plans to take that trip you had always planned on but were too busy...
This week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped in a way that it never had before. Monday, the benchmark fell 1,175 points, taking the greatest tumble in its long history. At one point, it was down 1,500 points during the trading day. 1,2 While Monday’s Dow loss was indeed severe, it was not as catastrophic...
Why are they made again and again? Our featured monthly article, The Major Retirement Planning Mistakes: Why are they made again and again?, lists some of the more common retirement planning mistakes made by individuals when they plan for their departure from their current career. Avoiding some of these downfalls can be very difficult due...
What will the near-term impact be? On December 20, Congress passed the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, sending the final version of the GOP tax reform bill to President Trump’s desk. The legislation alters the Internal Revenue Code to a degree unseen since the 1980s, altering income tax brackets, marginal tax rates, key deductions and...
With odds at 98% leading up to the meeting, there was little doubt of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) action today. The FOMC raised interest rates a quarter point increasing the federal funds target range to 1.25% to 1.50%. The expectation was set for further rate increases with three more rate hikes in 2018....
