Financial Planners
Small changes in savings and spending for younger, working clients can have a big effect on a financial plan because increasing savings often means we can reduce the expected spending needed in retirement. When we set up a financial plan for a new client, often the numbers don’t work well initially. We work to figure […]
As the old cliché says, when life hands you lemons, you need to make lemonade. The market has been sour lately, to say the least. Down markets make Roth IRA conversions more valuable because the inevitable market recovery occurs in the tax-free Roth IRA rather than a taxable traditional IRA. The first step in utilizing […]
We’re rolling into the fourth quarter of what has been a lousy year for both stocks and bonds. Inflation continues to run high with only a few signs of abating, and the Federal Reserve continues raising interest rates to slow inflation down. The dollar continues to gain strength, weighing on international investments, and the Russia […]
The term bubble gets thrown around a lot by market commentators. Pessimistic bears tend to say the market is in a bubble whenever it has gone up since their bearish nature leads them to expect it should be down. But what is a bubble, and how should we use the term properly when describing markets? […]
There is no denying that the market has been lousy for the first three quarters of 2022. While frustrating, the market goes through these periods regularly, and when they happen patience and remaining invested are the best medicine. However, when the markets hand us lemons there often is the opportunity to make some lemonade: selling […]
People often ask us if they should sell their stock investments and “wait until the market is better.” Market timing as a strategy does not work. In addition to this article, check out our podcast episode on the topic of Marketing Timing. Markets are Generally Efficient That means all the news that is available to […]
It’s an often–repeated cliché about the markets: Stocks are the only thing Americans do not like to buy on sale. When the markets fall, people cut back on contributions to retirement accounts and repeatedly miss out on a golden opportunity to buy shares at low prices. The concept is simple: If you are buying a […]
A Roth conversion means moving money from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA, paying taxes on that money now in the hope of saving tax costs later. While nobody likes paying taxes before they need to, there are several reasons a Roth conversion may make sense as part of a financial plan. First, a […]
If you are putting away funds dedicated to your child’s higher education expenses, a 529 College Savings Plan is tough to beat. These plans allow parents and grandparents to put away funds for a child’s education, and the growth on the account is tax-free when used to pay qualified education expenses. In some respects, a […]
We use financial planning software that utilizes a statistical technique called Monte Carlo Analysis. This technique analyzes spending goals from a portfolio over long time periods and calculates the odds of a plan’s success by running the plan with a thousand different potential investment outcomes rather than assuming a portfolio will always achieve its average […]
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