"Helping Change The Way People Think About Planning & Investing!"
In today's social media environment, financial adviser's like myself have the opportunity to convey financial information, rules, and knowledge in creative or innovate ways. The challenge for me then is to create brief summary's on financial topics, economic events, and other related financial news that can have an impact on your financial situation. I am committed to providing valuable resources of information through my website and through blogs such as these. Hopefully , you will find the blogs to be filled with common sense and useful information. Please enjoy!
Monday, November 18, 2019
The 2020 Medicare Part B premium has been announced by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).The base premium for Medicare Part B, which covers doctors' fees and outpatient services, will increase to $144.60 per month in...
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On the last day of July (last Wed), the Federal Reserve lowered the fed funds rate for the first time in over ten years. The rate increase was widely expected for the past few weeks, but I admit I’ve struggled with the rationale...
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Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Just as it is in any investment, choosing to create (or convert to) a Roth IRA requires analyzing the risk and return of such a strategy. But unlike other investments where risk of loss is compared to possibility of gain, the risk and...
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Thursday, June 13, 2019
The House overwhelmingly approved a bill last month designed to promote retirement security by making it easier for small businesses and other companies to offer retirement plans. The Senate will vote on the bill soon. The bipartisan...
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Wednesday, December 26, 2018
When we speak of portfolio allocations, we typically use percentages such as “60/40,” which generally means that riskier assets, such as stocks, comprise sixty-percent of a portfolio. The remainder of the portfolio will...
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018
The new tax rules for 2018 are far-reaching and impact ordinary tax rates, standard deductions, personal exemptions, itemized deductions, business expenses, moving expenses, alternative minimum tax, and various credits. However, an...
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Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Buy Low and Sell High – That’s Still The Right Way, Right? It is said that the two emotions of fear and greed control most of our financial decisions (how it applies to decisions in everyday life is beyond my expertise)....
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Tuesday, October 16, 2018
The Federal Reserve last month raised the fed funds target rate for the third time in 2018 and for the eighth time since monetary tightening began in December of 2015. It’s expected that the Fed will increase the rates again in...
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So, You Want To Know My Risk Tolerance? When it comes to investing, risk comes in many forms, and it can apply to many different types of investments. But there’s one type of risk that has been universally known since man began...
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Imagine an investment that produced returns that are linked to the general level of rising prices. Individuals living on a fixed or mostly fixed level of income must deal with the risk of rising prices outpacing their income growth....
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Just because someone is divorced from their former spouse doesn’t mean they are ineligible to receive spousal benefits. In fact, most of the rules involving married spouses will pertain to divorced spouses. There are a couple of...
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Medicare premiums are based on the income you reported on your most recent tax return. Sounds simple enough but there’s a couple of things to know: The “most recent tax return” rule is intended to be from Social...
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Monday, July 31, 2017
When the term “compounded growth” is used in investment talk, it’s about as appealing as watching paint dry; it’s boring. There is a slight innuendo of long-term disciplined investing in the term...
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Tuesday, June 20, 2017
“Acting In Your Client’s Best Interests!” – Who knew it could be so complicated? Well, apparently it is. But to the typical investor, it shouldn’t be. Once they’ve gotten over the initial shock that...
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Sunday, June 11, 2017
Why Should I Wait Until Age 70? According to the Social Security Administration, 43% of Americans file for Social Security Benefits at age 62. Approximately 9% wait beyond age 66. Of course, there will be situations where the need for...
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Saturday, May 13, 2017
It may not be “THE” question, but deciding to invest or convert to a Roth IRA instead or from a Traditional IRA can have a substantial long-term effect on your financial future. The use of compounding and tax deferral are...
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Tuesday, May 2, 2017
When the market is up, investors will pay less attention to the total costs of their investments since the returns are positive, but when the market is down, many investors become more interested in how much they're paying for their...
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Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Social Security – Is It a Tax, an Investment, or Insurance? Technically, Social Security tax, or what we affectionally know as FICA, is indeed a tax, but it’s not like any other tax. The acronym FICA stands for the Federal...
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Investing, in a financial sense, is an outlay of money in hopes of achieving future returns; speculating is an outlay of money in hopes of achieving immediate or short-term returns. The odds are not on the side of the investor....
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Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Following a staggering surge in the stock market during the first quarter of 2017 (actually, since November), it may make sense to consider “rebalancing” your investment portfolio. But what is portfolio rebalancing and how does it work?
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Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Passive Investing is generally assumed to be an investment strategy that requires one to "do nothing." But actually, there is a great deal of work to be done in order to take advantage of using low-cost investment vehicles to help...
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Friday, April 22, 2016
“You mean they weren't acting in our best interests to begin with?” On April 06, 2016, the investment industry was rocked by a much anticipated Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule that obliges financial professionals who are...
Read MoreStaying away from high fees and excessive trading is a step in the right direction for investors, and the growing use of automated investment systems signal that many investors no longer want to pay higher fees for their investments...
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