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Welcome to our blog! Here you'll find the latest news and insights on a variety of topics across investment, retirement, estate, and business planning.

 

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

The Secure Act 2.0 (the “Act”) further delayed the beginning age for required minimum distributions (RMDs). This affords individuals more time to plan for and successfully convert taxable retirement savings to tax-free...

 

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

The U.S. has never defaulted on its debt, but the looming deadline to raise the debt ceiling, combined with political brinkmanship in Congress, has increased the odds. Heading into 2022, the odds of a U.S. default (as measured by...

 

Monday, March 20, 2023

The headlines of the past two weeks covering the failure of two mid-sized banks, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on March 10th and Signature Bank on March 12th, sent a surge of worry through depositors and investors alike.How did these banks...

 

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

The SECURE (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) Act 2.0 (signed into law December 29th, 2022) builds upon its predecessor, The SECURE Act, initially passed in 2019. The SECURE 2.0 Act covers many updates to...

 

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

We all know the story of Chicken Little. A squirrel collecting acorns in a maple tree drops an acorn on an unsuspecting Chicken Little, who in turn believes the sky is falling. A perfect example of catastrophizing an...

 

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Friday, June 3, 2022

I recently had a Zoom call with a client who expressed concern over how erratic the stock market has been. I explained that this feeling is completely understandable and conversely, the more fearful she becomes, the more she should consider

 

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a good reminder that geopolitical risk can swing markets dramatically in a short period of time. While it's difficult to ascertain how much destruction and civilian casualties will result...

 

Friday, July 17, 2020

We generally recommend clients review their estate documents every few years to ensure their documents distribute assets according to their wishes and that financial and healthcare agents are still able and willing to serve. However,...

 

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Many business owners operate under an entity (LLC, C Corporation, S Corporation, etc.) yet 73% of all businesses in the U.S. operate as sole proprietors.1 While sole proprietorships are easy and inexpensive to form and maintain, the...

 

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

On March 15th the SBA announced guidance on what borrowers will need to provide in order to have their Paycheck Protection Program loans forgiven. The form borrowers must use (SBA Form 3508) can be found here: https://www...

 

Thursday, April 30, 2020

In just 6 weeks of the new normal under the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits.1 Some employers are being forced to close their doors and come to grips with tough decisions to...

 

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

On March 27th, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (or the CARES Act) was signed. This was phase 3 of the stimulus package passed by Congress and the President. Employee Retention Credit This provision provides a...

 

Monday, March 30, 2020

On March 27th, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (or the CARES Act) was signed. This was phase 3 of the three phase stimulus package passed by Congress and the President. Unemployment Insurance Provisions Workers...

 

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, small businesses are looking to secure liquidity to remain solvent. Below is a list of loan and grant facilities announced by the federal government via the Small Business Administration and...

 

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

As February began, most investors were keeping a cautious eye on the coronavirus that was spreading in China. Fast forward just a few weeks and a global pandemic is on our doorstep. The good news: new cases appear to have considerably...

 

Monday, February 17, 2020

Officially entitled the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, but more commonly known as the SECURE Act, the new law, passed on December 20, 2019, includes many policy changes affecting defined contribution (DC)...

 

Monday, February 17, 2020

As 2019 came to a close, the President signed into law a sweeping series of changes that will affect how we save for retirement. Officially entitled the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, but more commonly known...

 

Monday, January 20, 2020

As with all aspects of the exit planning process, careful evaluation of the impacts your sale will have on tax exposure is crucial to a successful exit, and towards generating enough passive income from the sale to help meet your needs...

 

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The first rate cut since the financial crisis On July 31, the Federal Reserve reduced the fed funds rate by ¼% to 2.00-2.25%. It was the first rate cut since the financial crisis. Going forward, guidance was vague. While Powell...

 

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

We are seeing more interest in Impact investing of late, or in other words, the desire to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return. Below is a brief overview of Impact investing...

 

Friday, January 4, 2019

Investor Behavior When stock market volatility spikes, we’re often asked whether it’s time to get out of stocks. Firstly, it’s incredibly difficult to tell what will happen in the stock market over short periods of...

 

Monday, December 24, 2018

As part of our implementation of a successful, informed process to best serve our clients, we periodically review the underlying assumptions underpinning our investment strategies and allocations. This allows our portfolios to best...

 

Monday, December 3, 2018

As the end of the year approaches, it is a good time to think of planning opportunities that will help lower your tax bill for this year and possibly the next. Year-end planning for 2018 takes place against the backdrop of a new tax...

 

Thursday, November 1, 2018

October has proven to be a rocky, volatile period for markets, with a broad correction sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 index, and NASDAQ composite below their 200-day moving averages1 – a presumably bearish...

 

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Tariffs, Midterms and Volatility, Oh My! We’re certainly not in Kansas anymore, but where are we headed with all this tariff talk? Protectionism is in full force under the Trump administration, creating uncertainty and adding to...

 

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

In my post back in January of 2017 (which you can find here) I noted that diversification had appeared “sleepy” and that then recently underperforming developed international stocks and emerging markets were more...

 

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

“Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree,” quipped Senator Russell Long, who chaired the powerful Senate Finance Committee from 1966 to 1981. This past year, Halloween was barely over when House...

 

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Last week Equifax had a credit breach that it believes could result in up to 143 million people affected—some 44% of the population. It’s very possible your information has been exposed and, if you have not already, you...

 

Thursday, January 19, 2017

The year in review and what might be ahead 2016 has come and gone. It started out in a very rocky fashion, with comparisons to 2008 that were too numerous to count. Let’s be clear. As emphasized in the past, markets don’t...

 

Friday, November 4, 2016

The Final Countdown I always caution against watching stocks on a daily basis, because it’s too easy to get caught up in the daily volatility that inevitably will occur. If we go back to last summer’s late August swoon, it...

 

Friday, June 24, 2016

Divorces are often messy. The referendum vote for the UK to leave the EU was a bit of a surprise; at least for those who understood the fear it could create. If there are two things that financial markets dislike most, its surprise and...

 

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Why we buy what we buy Last month, I talked about stocks and how the collective wisdom of the market values, or prices, companies. Continuing on with that theme, it’s important to understand why I may recommend individual stocks...

 

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Calmer waters are welcome Probably the simplest reasons anyone invests in stocks are to make money (capital gains), generate income (dividends), or some combination of the two. Of course, that really is putting it in the simplest of...

 

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Recession or no recession? Recently, the focus for investors has been all over the map: Oil prices Corporate earnings The global economy China’s economy China’s currency (the yuan) Anxieties about banks (especially in...

 

Thursday, February 11, 2016

As January goes, so goes the year.” At least that is the case according to the old adage made popular by the Stock Trader’s Almanac. This phenomenon is also known as the “January Barometer.” It simply means that...

 

Monday, August 24, 2015

Given the recent volatility in the markets I wanted to share a bulletin I received from Bruce Simon at City National Rochdale (CNR). The article puts recent market action into context both relative to history as well as market...