THE GOLDEN RULE OF FINANCIAL PLANNING: IF YOU CAN PLAN IT, YOU CAN PURSUE IT Over the past July 4th, we celebrated our country’s history of declaring independence and guaranteeing basic human freedoms. But true freedom includes financial independence, as well. Self-sufficiency isn’t guaranteed, but every one of us has the opportunity to achieve it. … Read more
Imagine your reaction to the following scene: You return home from work one night to find your teenage daughter running gleefully about with a letter in her hand. When you calm her down, she tells you that she has just been accepted to the incoming freshman class of a highly regarded private college. After she … Read more
To accumulate wealth, people may choose to invest their money into various types of investments. Investing creates opportunities that otherwise would be difficult to manage due to the consistency of contributing to the investment. However, investing involves risks including possible loss of principal. No investment strategy or risk management technique can guarantee return or eliminate … Read more
First and foremost, this week’s commentary should not be construed to suggest that we are saying stocks will go up forever. We are also not saying that stocks are immune from a pullback in the final four months of 2021. Corrections are a normal part of investing and the S&P 500 Index has yet to … Read more
QUANTITATIVE EASING AND SHORT-TERM RATES NEAR ZERO COULD BE ENDING SOON Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell seems to have capitulated on plans to taper the Fed’s stimulus program as of mid-July, causing the bond market to rally and the stock market to hit new highs. But economic data sets are still disappointing and rising interest … Read more
The student loan landscape has changed dramatically since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the suspension of interest payments on federal student loans to tax incentives for employers who pay their employees’ student loans, there are a number of new programs available to help make student loan repayment cheaper and simpler. Below, learn more … Read more
Corporate America did it again. Companies blew by estimates and made strategists and analysts look silly (though we humbly suggest that we may have looked less silly than most in our earnings preview on July 12). S&P 500 earnings growth did not surprise by quite as much as in the first quarter, but came pretty close—boosted by … Read more
What is Net Investment Income Tax? If you have taxable income over $200K, you may need to calculate net investment income tax when you prepare and file your tax return. This tax, which is a 3.8% surtax on the lessor of the total net investment income or the excess of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) … Read more
The highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 now makes up an overwhelming majority of the new cases in the U.S., bringing with it a rise in cases and hospitalizations. Widespread vaccine distribution and distancing measures have helped limit the variant’s impact, but we could still see some drag on economic growth as some restrictions are … Read more
Monday’s big down day was a harsh reminder of how markets actually can produce volatility. It was the worst day of the year for the Dow and only the second drop of 1% or more for the S&P 500 Index in just over two months. As we noted recently in Three Things That Worry Us, there … Read more
Markets are off to a strong start this year, with the S&P 500 Index up about 14% so far. However, most of those gains came early in the year, and many stocks have stagnated over recent months. While we remain overweight on stocks relative to bonds, this week we explore three things that worry us—and … Read more
Starting a family is one of life’s most rewarding experiences. However, it will also profoundly impact your financial picture, with a list of expenses that grows by the year. (One estimate pegs the total expenses for a child’s first 18 years at $233,610.)[1] As you begin planning for your first child, consider these key areas … Read more
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