Small Business Owners - When Your Business Is Your Estate
There is no one way to start, run, or transfer a business. Just because you started your company as a partnership or small business doesn’t mean that you cannot change it to an LLC or even a corporation. As your business progresses and becomes more complex, you should adjust when needed.
Avoiding Poor Financial Decisions in Retirement – 5 Trends Retirees Should Avoid
This article covers some patterns and behaviors that may result in poor financial decisions and reduce the overall probability of achieving goals during retirement, such as enjoyment, flexibility, and control.
Divorce Steps to Know Before the Dance
How do they divide their assets, memories, and life between the two of them in an equitable fashion? Who gets custody of the kids and who pays for what? These are the contentious questions asked during a divorce. It is an unpleasant experience but if it must happen, thankfully, there is a smarter way to proceed for all parties involved.
Market Commentary; The Persistence of Volatility
In this month’s newsletter, I hope to address key parts of our investment strategy, as well as highlight some definite wins and some areas that are still challenging. Seeing losses for the first time in the last 6 years can be challenging. Rest assured that our risk management process is helping to limit those losses.
A Few Words Before You Go; Estate Thinking and Planning
I wanted to talk with you about a topic most people don’t want to discuss, planning for death…more politely known as Estate Planning. It’s a troublesome subject because most of us don’t know when it will happen. But it will happen to all of us, and when it does, you can’t ask the Grim Reaper for ten more minutes while you make quick arrangements.
Cyberattacks Specifically Targeting Seniors
In this post, we will walk through a couple of the key action items seniors can be taking to be safer in a digital world, especially when it comes to your online financial accounts. We are not experts but by working with our technology partners and through resources from Schwab and Fidelity, we have organized these best practices.
Staying Focused During Times of Conflict
When something “big” happens in the global universe, our natural tendency is to ask, “What happens next?” The markets ask the same question and they usually have an adverse initial reaction because the markets don’t like uncertainty. However, the ultimate effect on the marketplace may not be what you might think.
Risk of Recession
It’s normal to be concerned about your investments given the current situation of the world right now. Over the past few weeks, I have received a few questions around risk that I believe merit further exploration.
Don’t Tax Yourself
Tax season is here again. Whether you have filed already or not for this year is immaterial at this point. Why? Because around 250 years ago, Ben Franklin was quoted as saying- “…nothing is certain but death and taxes.”
Understanding Market Volatility
By understanding how volatility works, you can put yourself in a better position to understand the current stock market conditions as a whole, analyze the risk involved with any particular security, and construct a stock portfolio that is a great fit for your growth objectives and risk tolerance.
The Long Game
We all know that life can throw the unexpected at us…just look at the past few years for example…who could have predicted? You’ve reviewed your plan dozens of times and see nothing wrong. Then you read an article which stokes your concerns…one that states that 70% of people over age 65 will have some sort of disabling event that will require assistance of 2 months or longer.
Changes to Required Minimum Distributions
This year, we have already received several questions regarding the updated RMD table and distributions. So, I thought I’d answer two commonly confusing aspects of taking RMDs through this article.
Estate Planning Considerations for the New Year
As we welcome a new year, it is a good reminder to review your estate plan to see if it actually reflects your desires and wishes. Here we’ll discuss a few of the common errors we see and some considerations that may not seem as obvious.
Is Inflation the New Paradigm?
The holiday after Turkey Day, Black Friday, is the traditional kickoff to the holiday buying frenzy. Of course, way before the starter’s pistol was fired, we all noticed the increase in prices; not just in the more obscure goods and services, but in everyday wants and needs. It’s like everything is more expensive, and not just a little…but a lot! What gives?
We are good for now…
As we head into 2022, it is hard to believe that we have been living with Covid for over two years. I hope we are starting a new chapter in the Covid story. Inflation still does not seem to be the hot conversation topic for investment news. We believe that we have started to hit the peak cycle in the rate of change with respect to inflation. The rate of change of inflation will start to decline but the absolute numbers will be high.
Understanding Inflation
With the rise in prices, we thought a brief primer on inflation was warranted. The simple definition of inflation is the sustained upward movement in the overall price level of goods and services in an economy. The result of inflation is it takes more money to buy the same amount of goods and services than it did in the past.
The Annuity Comeback
On October 6, 2021, BlackRock announced that it would be introducing annuities as a built-in option within BlackRock’s 401(k) plans. I believe that this latest product introduction in defined contribution retirement savings plans is a huge shift in the retirement planning industry and a bellwether for the state of personal retirement savings plans for most Americans.
Are Military Health Benefits Enough?
Many people are already comfortable with their post-retirement healthcare situation and those who spent time in the armed forces may think that their current Veterans Administration (VA) or Tricare For Life (TFL) coverage is adequate. However, limiting your coverage to only the military-sponsored programs may cost you in terms of time, energy and, most importantly, coverage!
Moving Considerations for Military Retirees
So you’re retiring from the military and are moving to your dream home… here are a few tips and things to remember.
Fund Your Trust!
The following article summarizes the conversation with Amar Shah, Founder of Client First Capital, and Alex Rodriguez, Principal Attorney at Rodriguez Law Offices, as they discuss the importance of funding a trust.