Category: Newsletters

Long ago, people realized that there is strength in numbers. For hundreds of years, we have been joining forces against all kinds of calamities : including financial troubles.

Are you saving for retirement? For your children’s education? For any other long-term goal? If so, you’ll want to know how inflation can impact your savings. Inflation is the increase in the…

Are you concerned about your tax situation?

Immediate or deferred annuity: there’s no right answer.

The opportunity to borrow at low interest rates has enticed corporations to issue more than $1.0 trillion in bonds every year since 2010. By the end of 2018, corporate balance sheets were…

For many people, tax-advantaged investing is an excellent way to reduce their income tax liability. And while many of the traditional tax-advantaged strategies have been eliminated, there are still alternatives left that…

The end of the year is a time when families often gather together. Although these gatherings may keep you busy, this could be a good time to think about the future and…

Market Commentary – 9.9.13 What’s Developing in Emerging Markets Despite the strong returns of U.S. equity markets, it has been a different story for emerging markets. The MSCI Emerging Market Index, a…

An annuity is a contract with an insurance company in which you make one or more payments in exchange for a future income stream in retirement. The funds in an annuity accumulate…

An estimated 100 million Americans : representing almost 45% of U.S. households : owned mutual funds in 2017. These individual retail investors held about 90% of the $18.7 trillion in assets invested…

Since the creation of the first modern-day mutual fund, the Massachusetts Investors Trust, in 1924, there has been a steady growth of mutual funds. Today there are around 8,000 mutual funds.1 Because…

Market Commentary – 3.3.14 Tensions between Russia and Ukraine Worry Investors Over the weekend, tensions escalated between Russia and Ukraine as Russian forces invaded and took complete operational control of the Crimean…

Monthly Market Monitor – November 2014 Recap Market Indices1 November Year-to-Date S&P 500 2.69% 13.98% Russell 3000 2.42% 12.56% MSCI EAFE 1.36% -1.49% MSCI Emerging Markets -1.06% 2.54% Barclays US Aggregate Bond…

Most people know something about the stock market, but many investors who see stock as a way to get rich quick might not understand exactly what stock is and how it works.…

Now that it’s common for families to have two wage earners, many married couples accumulate assets in separate accounts. They might each have savings in an employer-sponsored plan and perhaps one or…

Market Commentary – 11.26.14 The Only Certainly for the Rest of 2014: More Uncertainty Since the Great Recession, U.S. equities have risen dramatically higher with only the occasional bout of volatility. However,…

Cash balance plans are technically defined benefit plans that share some key characteristics with defined contribution plans. IRS regulations finalized in 2010 and 2014 clarified some legal issues and made these plans…

Tax legislation signed at the end of 2017 made dramatic changes to the U.S. tax code for corporations and individuals. One of the most fundamental changes : a new way of measuring…

Index funds have become a popular way to invest because of their simplicity, lower fees, and tax efficiency. At the end of 2014, they accounted for 35% of all assets invested in…

As of late April 2016, six central banks in Europe and Asia have adopted negative interest rates in an effort to stimulate their national economies. The experiment began in Denmark in 2012,…