Reading Fed Tea Leaves? Watch Market Prices Instead
October 26, 2021
Fed watching is once again one of the markets’ favorite pastimes. Fed officials continue to signal that they would favor tapering of bond purchases in 2021, in line with recent announcements from the European Central Bank. When and how remain to be seen. With ample speculation about the Fed, unemployment, and inflation, it might be...
An Investment to Enhance Your Cash Return Due to Inflation
October 18, 2021
With interest rates hovering at historic lows levels, it’s been quite a struggle to find a decent interest rate on your cash return. Most of the banks are paying next to nothing, and short-term treasuries are not faring much better. Enter, The I Bond While we recommend that it is good practice that our clients...
All-Time High Stock Market Anxiety
October 12, 2021
Investors are often conflicted about record-high stock prices. They are pleased to see their existing equity holdings gain in value but apprehensive that higher prices somehow foreshadow a dramatic downturn in the future. And they may be reluctant to make new purchases since the traditional “buy low, sell high” mantra suggests committing funds to stocks...
10 Investing Obstacles – and How to Overcome Them
September 29, 2021
We’ve learned a lot about investing obstacles over the past 60 years, a period that has seen many breakthroughs in the world of finance. What we know comes from studying public markets and is grounded in serious academic research. The lessons are clear: Investing in markets is an excellent plan for meeting long-term goals, like...
Key Questions for Long-Term Investors
September 20, 2021
Whether you’ve been investing for decades or are just getting started, at some point on your investment journey you’ll likely ask yourself some of the questions below. Trying to answer these questions may be intimidating, but know that you’re not alone. Your financial advisor is here to help. While this is not intended to be...
Navigating the Proposed Tax Legislation
September 14, 2021
On Monday, The House Ways and Means Committee released their proposed legislation titled “Responsibly Funding Our Priorities.” The preliminary tax legislation, which circulated on and off Capitol Hill, would raise as much as $2.9 trillion to pay for most of President Biden’s sweeping expansion of the social safety net by increasing taxes on the wealthiest...
Tuning Out the Noise
September 13, 2021
For investors, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the relentless stream of news about markets. Being bombarded with data and headlines presented as affecting your financial well-being can evoke strong emotional responses from even the most experienced investors. Headlines from the so-called lost decade–the 2000s, when the S&P 500 ended below where it...
‘Everything Screams Inflation.’ How to Interpret the Headlines.
September 7, 2021
How quickly things change. Two years ago, the New York Times reported, “Federal Reserve officials are increasingly worried that inflation is too low and could leave the central bank with less room to maneuver in an economic downturn.”1 More recently, a Wall Street Journal article presented a sharply different view, with a headline that likely touched a raw nerve...
Equilibrium Markets in the Time of COVID
August 30, 2021
The pandemic snuck up on investors. On December 31, 2019, the government in Wuhan, China, confirmed that dozens of people were being treated for a new virus. China reported its first death from the virus on January 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global emergency on January 30, and the first death outside...
How Your Retirement Accounts Could Face Up to 70% in Taxes
August 20, 2021
Many people have spent a lifetime saving and accumulating money in tax-deferred retirement savings vehicles like the 401(k), 403(b), 457, IRA, SEP IRA, or TSP Plan (non-Roth retirement accounts). As you make contributions into these plans, you are making the decision to defer income (and income tax) today. The money within these vehicles has the...