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Monday, January 10, 2022

Inside Inflation:  If you’ve been watching inflation news in recent months, you might have found it a bit overwhelming. I know at our house; we’re paying more for everything from milk to batteries to holiday gifts this...

Monday, January 10, 2022

COLA saw a large increase in 2022: Last year, Social Security Administration (SSA) officially announced that Social Security recipients will receive a 5.9 percent cost of- living adjustment (COLA) for 2022, the...

Monday, January 10, 2022

Rebalancing Your Portfolio: Everyone loves a winner. If an investment is successful, most people naturally want to stick with it. But is that the best approach? It may sound counterintuitive, but it may be possible to have too much of a...

Sunday, January 9, 2022

I Bonds – The Good, The Bad, but nothing UGLY: You may have seen that I Bonds are currently yielding 7.12% through April 30, 2022, but you need to understand how I Bonds work before you purchase them. The Good I Bonds are issued...

Sunday, January 9, 2022

Women and Financial Strategies Forty-four percent of American women are the primary breadwinners in their house.1 Yet only 10% of women feel very confident in their ability to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle.2...

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Monday, January 3, 2022

Stocks closed out the year on a mostly positive note, adding to the year’s gains as concerns about the economic issues of Omicron infections receded. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.08%, while the Standard & Poor’s...

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Everyone loves making New Year's resolutions, but surely, not everyone is likely to keep them. Here are five resolutions to help you improve your financial life and hopefully encourage you to keep them next year. Resolution 1: Pay down...

Monday, December 20, 2021

Research suggests that 70% of married millennial couples argue about financial decisions more than any other topic. This could explain why some experts say financial problems are one of the top reasons marriages fail. Fortunately...

Monday, December 20, 2021

Knowledgeable investors are aware that investing in the capital markets presents any number of risks, including interest rate risk, company risk, and market risk. Risk is an inseparable companion to the potential for long-term growth....

Monday, December 20, 2021

Stock prices retreated last week as global central banks joined the Federal Reserve in taking steps to tighten monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.68%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 dropped 1.94%. The...

Monday, December 13, 2021

A more benign reassessment of the possible economic risk posed by Omicron sent stocks sharply higher last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 4.02%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 advanced 3.82%. The Nasdaq...

Monday, December 6, 2021

A confident consumer can be a powerful ally in an economy. But when the consumer starts to have questions, we can measure consumer confidence in everything from retail sales to home buying to the personal savings rate. In recent...

Monday, December 6, 2021

As Medicare’s open enrollment period is due to end December 7, recipients of the program are preparing for a larger-than-expected jump in prices for premiums and deductibles.1,2 For example, Medicare Part B monthly premiums are...

Monday, December 6, 2021

Stocks took investors on a wild ride last week as the Omicron variant and Fed comments upended market expectations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.91%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 stumbled 1.22%. The Nasdaq...

Monday, November 22, 2021

Preparing for retirement just got a little more financial wiggle room. This week, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced new contribution limits for 2022. Staying put for 2022 are traditional Individual Retirement Accounts...

Monday, November 22, 2021

Keeping It In The Family? Read these key points to help you decide whether keeping the business in the family is the right thing for you, your heirs, and your company.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Most people know that following the markets closely can be tiresome and nerve-racking. The field of behavioral finance—one that I am passionate about—studies how reactive emotions can lead to self-destructive behavior....

Thursday, October 21, 2021

"I'll Just Sell It" Is Not Your Only Option! Generally, when clients come to us to discuss selling their business, they're well past the point of having a casual conversation. Often, we see pre-retirees in their late-50s or early-60s,...

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

It can be incredibly difficult to make sense of data. A report coming from one body may tell you one thing, and another report might seem to offer a wholly different perspective. Such is the case with August’s jobs numbers from...

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Selling Your Business Should Be a Positive, Rewarding Experience As a wealth advisor, it's always amazing to me when I encounter business owners who want to sell their company but feel stuck and anxious about getting it done. And to be...

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

The news keeps getting better for Social Security recipients. It's now projected that benefits will increase 6.1% in 2022, up from the 4.7% forecast just two months ago. That would be the most significant increase since 1983.1,2...

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

A recent survey shows that 63% of investors are more interested in protecting their financial assets and planning for uncertainty in the future than anything else.1 There are many reasons for this change, but here are a few of the...

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Inflation is defined as the general upward price movement of goods and services in an economy. The keyword is “general.” Inflation tends to be uneven and affects the price of some items more than others. If you’ve...

Thursday, July 1, 2021

Gift and estate taxes are going up, and likely at the end of this year. The Biden Administration has promised to lower the unified tax credit, potentially as low as $3.5 million per person, from the current $11.7 million per person....

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

At its June meeting, the Federal Reserve confirmed what many of us have suspected for some time: prices are rising. In fact, prices are climbing faster than many expected. In response, the Fed raised its inflation expectation to 3.4%,...

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

If there is a "silver lining" to all the inflation talk, it may be that Social Security benefits are expected to see a larger-than-normal increase in 2022. Preliminary estimates call for a 4.7% cost-of-living increase (COLA) in Social...

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Many businesses and industries are grappling with cutting-edge technology – figuring out how to stay ahead of the curve and not get left behind. The money management business is no different. Disruptive innovation is a power that...

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

We share the below article on behalf of our newest CPA partner Todd M. Williams, from Trainer, Wright & Paterno (TWP). We hope you find the information helpful and invite you to contact us to learn more about this exciting partnership....

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Investors looking for "green shoots" to confirm that the economy is on the mend have seen plenty of examples in recent weeks. Retail sales rose 9.8% in March, the largest monthly gain since May 2020. It's important to remember that...

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Now and again, the price action on Wall Street can surprise even the most seasoned investors. Look no further than when President Biden in late April proposed an increase in the tax on capital gains to 39.6% from 20% for those...

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Recently, you may have seen reports that a record-low number of homes are available for sale—roughly 1.03 million nationwide. If you compare that to the average number of homes for sale during the past 10 years, it's no surprise...

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Why There are two main reasons to get a copy of your credit report. First, there may be an indication on your report of identity theft. Check to see if someone else requested a new credit card or a loan under your name. If you find...

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

It can be exhausting trying to keep up with the whims of Wall Street. Lately, the financial markets have been fixated on federal taxes and what may be proposed on Capitol Hill in the weeks and months ahead. Wall Street’s focus...

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

President Joe Biden introduced the much-anticipated American Jobs Plan, which outlines an approach to spend roughly $2.2 trillion on the nation's infrastructure and other projects. As part of the legislative process, the Biden...

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Most people understand that stock prices don't go straight up. But when market volatility increases, the price action can test the mettle of even the most seasoned investor. In recent weeks, stock prices have trended lower with a few...

Monday, March 22, 2021

I’m sure you’ve heard that the House recently passed the Senate another round of stimulus to try and counteract the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new stimulus package could narrow income eligibility to...

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

It can be easy to overlook the nation’s solid economic fundamentals when the financial media splashes stories every day about an army of amateur traders, short-selling mania, and initial public offerings (IPOs) that double in...

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) can reduce the taxable income from your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD). You can direct that a portion of your RMD from your IRA be sent directly to a qualified charity as a QCD. As a result...

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

At this time last year, it was still unknown that a deadly global pandemic was on the rise, eventually stalling economic growth and sending crude oil prices into negative territory. But recently, oil prices have surged, with crude...

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

What's your "go-to" source for financial information? "Family and friends" is the #1 answer given in the annual Retirement Confidence Survey. But a close second is search engines and other online tools, including online forums like...

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

The personal savings rate in the United States, which is the amount of income left after taxes and household spending, has reached some significant milestones. In April, when much of the country stayed home to avoid the COVID-19...

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

The first week of 2021 has already had many ups and downs. Just because it’s a new year doesn’t mean that the 2020 issues go away, and so far, 2021 has been no exception to this rule. The markets opened on January 4 and...

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Every few months, you may hear the phrase “earnings season” as you listen to financial news. But what exactly is “earnings season,” and why is it important to Wall Street? Earnings season is the time when a...

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

This time of year, you might glance at an account statement and see there has been an adjustment. But there may not be any cause for concern. Many mutual funds in December pay shareholders capital gains distributions that they have...

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Hardly a day goes by that the topic of bitcoin or other cryptocurrency assets doesn’t come up in meetings with clients and prospects or from friends and relatives who want to know, “what all the buzz is about?” The...

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Your investment strategy is a lot like a marriage. One day you may feel like everything’s going swimmingly. The next day, there might be an argument over who forgot to load the dishwasher. And even the best marriages and...

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

As an investor, it can be tempting to get caught up in daily news headlines. Consider how news about the election and COVID-19 vaccines have moved the markets over the past several weeks. But having a financial strategy can help you...

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

With all the election chatter and stock market volatility, it may have been easy to miss the ongoing uptrend in long-term interest rates. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond is sitting just below 1%. Just a few short months ago,...

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

After many weeks of telegraphing a long and careful ballot count, this week’s election lived up to that prediction in races for the Senate, the House, and the presidency. While Americans voted Tuesday, Wall Street cast its...

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

On October 26, the Treasury Department released the 2021 adjusted figures for retirement account savings. Although these adjustments won’t bring any major changes, there are some minor elements to note. 401(k)sThe salary...

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

The upcoming election is prompting some people to reconsider their investment strategy. In fact, 45% of consumers with $100,000 or more investable assets expect to make changes to their portfolio due to the upcoming 2020 presidential...

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

On October 13, 2020, the Social Security Administration (SSA) officially announced that Social Security recipients will receive a 1.3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2021. This adjustment will begin with benefits payable...

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

It’s a startling statistic. 45% of consumers with $100,000 or more investable assets expect to make changes to their investments due to the upcoming 2020 presidential election.1 Second-guessing your investment strategy is...

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

When training to become a financial professional, much of our course work centers on the six critical areas of creating a financial strategy. Some recognize October as Financial Planning Month, so it's an excellent opportunity to...

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

In theory, investors understand that stock market corrections are part of the investing process. But experiencing a setback—like the one we’ve witnessed in the past four weeks—can raise a lot of shoulda, woulda,...

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), one of the most widely followed stock market indices, has made some key changes to its starting lineup.Salesforce.com, Amgen Inc.and Honeywell International Inc. have replaced Exxon Mobil Corp.,...

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

To some, this may hardly feel like an economy headed for a bright future. But don’t tell that to home builders here in the USA.

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Most recently, you may have read that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced a change in how the Fed views inflation. In the past, the Fed said it would consider adjusting short-term rates when inflation approached 2 percent....

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

This month, many universities and colleges are welcoming students back to campus, even if most campuses are largely online this year. But that's not all that's different. The current administration has issued an executive memorandum...

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Some people in recent weeks may have been feeling that “the stock market seems to be doing so well but I’m not participating.” A look behind the headlines helps tell the story. A CNBC study found that between the...

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Two high-profile companies—Apple and Tesla—have announced stock splits in the past few weeks, which makes it a great time to discuss what’s involved when a company announces a stock split.Remember, any companies...

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

INVESTMENTREAD TIME: 3 MIN Whether through inertia or trepidation, investors who put off important investment decisions might consider the admonition offered by motivational speaker Brian Tracy, “Almost any decision is better...

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

One of my favorite Wall Street quotes is from Mark Twain, who said:“October: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June,...

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Lately, it can feel like each day brings a new headline about fluctuating market behavior. But amid the ups and downs of 2020, there may be some potential good news on the horizon. On July 16, 2020, the interest rate for a 30-year...

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Individuals hold about $2.2 trillion in annuity contracts; a tidy sum considering an estimated $9.2 trillion is held in all types of IRAs.1 Annuity contracts are purchased from an insurance company. In exchange, the insurance company...

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Americans who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to access retirement accounts to help cover daily expenses, penalty-free. Now, in addition to those who have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic,...

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

We all know that the more complicated a password is, the better. They should include a mixture of numbers, punctuation marks and symbols, and upper- and lower-case letters. Or should they? Recent research into password security has...

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

If you’re like most of us, you’ve probably been thinking about your health quite a bit lately — especially if you’re approaching retirement. Trust me, I understand. Anticipating your future medical costs can...

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

As Americans adjust their spending habits in a rapidly changing economy, they are building cash reserves at an unprecedented rate.The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on May 29th that the personal savings rate hit a historic 33%...

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Investing with Your Heart Some individuals believe that return on investment shouldn’t be the only criterion for how they invest their money. For them, the social impact of investing is just as important – perhaps more...

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Few life events are more stressful than a job loss.If you or someone you know is in this situation due to COVID-19, you’ll likely have several questions about job hunting, unemployment insurance, and health care. You may also be...