Category: Newsletters

The “fair market value” of a business is a price that is acceptable to a willing buyer and seller, neither of whom is under any compulsion to complete the transaction, and with…

2013 Fourth Quarter Market Outlook A Turning Point in the Markets? It seems sometimes that the outlook for the global economy and the markets has been unchanged for years. Each year since…

Market Commentary – 12.19.14 Turning Our Attention to 2015 Six years after the 2008 financial crisis, the world is still struggling to return to normal. Extraordinary monetary stimulus is still needed to…

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history ended after 35 days on January 25, 2019. A temporary appropriations bill extended funding for all shuttered federal agencies to February 15, 2019, while a…

If you are in good health, disability insurance may not be high on your list of financial priorities. But the statistics might surprise you. A 50-year-old has a 36% chance of experiencing…

Preparing for retirement can be daunting, but like any challenge it helps to take a hard look at some real data. Yet only 29% of workers or their spouses have tried to…

Market Commentary – 4.16.14 Finding Tomorrow’s Mustangs In 1965, shortly following its 1964 launch, Ford parked a white Mustang on the roof of the Empire State Building to promote the model which…

Tax reform measures are enacted frequently by Congress, which makes it hard for U.S. taxpayers to know which deductions are currently available to help lower their tax liability.

Many people allow their term life insurance policies to expire once their children are grown. This may not be a good idea, especially if you have other bills and your spouse would…

Monthly Market Monitor – April 2014 Recap Market Indices1 April Year-to-Date S&P 500 0.74% 2.56% Russell 3000 0.12% 2.10% MSCI EAFE 1.45% 2.12% MSCI Emerging Markets 0.33% -0.10% Barclays US Aggregate Bond…

January is named after the Roman god Janus, who was portrayed as having two faces: one looking backward, the other looking forward. In a similar manner, economists like to look in both…

Market Commentary 5.1.14 Rhyme and Reason for the Month of May A number of websites declare May, among other things, National Bike Month, National Barbeque Month, National Hamburger Month, National Salad Month,…

Everyone faces challenges, and some challenges require more cash than you have readily available. If you find yourself in that position, you might eye your 401(k) balance and consider using those funds…

Many college graduates face a tough decision early in their working lives: pay off student loans or save for retirement. It’s a financial tug of war between digging out from debt today…

If you leave a job or retire, you might want to transfer the money you’ve invested in one or more employer-sponsored retirement plans to an individual retirement account (IRA). An IRA rollover…

Market Commentary – 4.7.14 In Times Like These, Remember Our Old Friend Diversification After posting gains in the first quarter, U.S. equities have reversed course and have started the second quarter in…

Monthly Market Monitor – July 2014 Recap Market Indices1 July Year-to-Date S&P 500 -1.38% 5.66% Russell 3000 -1.97% 4.83% MSCI EAFE -1.97% 2.72% MSCI Emerging Markets 1.93% 8.19% Barclays US Aggregate Bond…

Market Commentary – 9.18.14 September FOMC Meeting Update This past Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve concluded its sixth scheduled Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) policy meeting for 2014. As is normal at…

Blockchain is a data structure used to create a digital ledger shared among a distributed network of computers. It was initially designed for the peer-to-peer exchange of the virtual currency bitcoin. However,…