Blog Investment & Financial News
Thanksgiving 2020’s Charts We Are Thankful For
We posted three scary charts on Halloween (See here) and wanted to post three charts we are thankful for on Thanksgiving. 1) Household Debt Service Ratio The household debt service ratio is the ratio of total required debt payments to total disposable income. Thanks to historically low interest rates, the ratio finished last quarter at…
Happy Halloween: 2020’s Scary Charts
The financial world can be a scary place. It seems like there is always something to fear in the market. This is especially true in 2020 when investors have endured COVID-19, extreme stock market volatility, massive economic uncertainty and now a Presidential election. Fortunately, our worst fears usually don’t come to fruition. To get in…
How the 2020 election may impact your financial life
2020 election Election scenario planning plays a role in macroeconomic analysis and financial planning, particularly in recent years as tax policies have changed and governments have increasingly intervened in the financial markets during times of crisis. We focus primarily on a few of the market and economic impacts of the election. But our evaluation is…
Thinking about refinancing your mortgage? Here are some tips
With interest rates at all time lows, we are noticing an increase in refinance questions. Please contact your advisor if you have questions or would like to explore how a refinance may or may not fit into your financial plan. Why refinance your mortgage? There are a variety of reasons why you may want to…
Election Season v. The Stock Market
Election season can be a challenging time for investors to maintain a long-term perspective, given the strong emotions often evoked by politics. Campaign rhetoric tends to amplify negative and divisive issues. In particular, this election is unprecedented in modern times — marked by the combination of a deadly pandemic, a severe economic recession, widespread civil…
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Beneficiary Designations
Naming your Beneficiaries: Avoid the Pitfalls We get a lot of questions from people on naming beneficiaries to their accounts. While the paperwork is relatively straightforward, it is important to pay attention to a few key areas to avoid some common mistakes. Updating your will is not enough Your beneficiary designations trump your will. Even…
Cybersecurity 101
More individuals each year are becoming the target of phishing scams. A phishing scam is where you get an email that appears to be from a company you recognize. The email tries to get you to click on a link and directs you to a website that works to get you to share sensitive information or install malware on…
2020 Third Quarter Commentary
Market Summary Stocks continued their upward momentum in July and August as Growth stocks helped push the S&P 500 to new all-time highs before correcting in September. Despite the pullback, the S&P 500 returned nearly 9% for the quarter, pushing it into positive territory on the year, and over 50% from the March lows. Once…