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Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. I try to share information and ideas for people who are members of the Y.O.Y.O Economy.  Y.O.Y.O. Economy is the You're On Your Own Economy.  In my world that includes people who own a private practice such as an attorney or a dental practice.  It also includes people who have come into money.  This could be from a job change and needing to do something with their old retirement plan, somebody getting ready to or already retired, an inheritance or the sale of a business.

Thursday, March 2, 2023

2022 was a tough year for investors.  The S&P 500 was down almost 20% for the year while the bond market in the United States was down 13%, making it one of the worst years ever for bond investors.  In fact, it was only the...

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

I thought I would give you a little update on what I’ve been doing personally then share some of the financial planning situations I have been dealing with lately.  I want to share some of the situations I have run into...

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

 Happy New Year!  2022 was a bad year for both the stock market as well as the bond market.  The S & P 500 will finish the year down almost 20% and 2022 might end up as the worst year for the return of the bond market...

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

No, that’s not a date from Star Trek.  It’s a budgeting rule.  Since we’re getting close to the new year, I thought I would share one simple financial planning/budgeting idea you might consider for your new...

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

I’ve talked about this before, but I was watching a YouTube video from a guy named Peter Attia where he is interviewing the coach for an amazing professional cyclist named Tadej Pogacar.  The coach is named Inigo San-Millan...

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Tuesday, October 25, 2022

It’s Open Enrollment It’s getting to the time of year where you have options available regarding your life insurance through your employer.  A lot of people think it is always cheaper to buy life insurance through...

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

 Like everyone, I learned to ride a bicycle when I was 4 years old.  I never used training wheels.  I got on the bike, my Dad pushed me down the driveway and I landed in an evergreen bush.  Then I got back on the...

Thursday, September 22, 2022

I’m one of those people who knows everybody.  Of course, I don’t know everybody, but I always say, if I don’t know The Man, I know the man who knows The Man.  Whenever I go to an airport, I’m always...

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Big deal!  Who cares?  What does this have to do with a financial planning blog or whatever it is I write?  Well, sit right back and I’ll tell you why it does.Budgeting In the past, when we went on vacation,...

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

This morning I was on a Zoom meeting with a guy I know from Russell Investments.  He shared some slides with me that I am going to share in a minute.  When I saw the slide I told him, I ain’t sayin’ but I’m...

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

After I became an independent financial advisor back in 2013, I was offered the opportunity to go visit several different money managers for what are called, due diligence meetings.  Basically, the money managers invite advisors...

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

In my last blog post, I wrote about the end of the road.  I talked about people’s perception of their retirement being the time when they will need to be super conservative and not lose any money when in fact, they might...

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

I’m 58 years old.  I’m not thinking about retirement yet, but it’s closer than it used to be.  Here’s one definition of retirement:  the action or fact of leaving one’s job and ceasing to...

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

It's easy to get out of the market but when do you get back in? I share a few of my thoughts in this piece.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

 I was listening to the radio the other day and the announcer person asked, what would have helped you the most when you were first starting out?  A woman called in and said, I wish they would have taught me how to budget my...

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

I don’t know if you have looked at your investment and retirement plan statements lately, but a lot of people are losing money.  Over the past several weeks I have had various people tell me they have lost money, performance...

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

I was thinking about insurance this morning.  I know.  I’ve got problems, but I was still thinking about why you have to buy insurance.  In the past, when I have been talking about life insurance, I’ve said...

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

I was reading a blog post from Morgan Housel the other day.  He wrote a book called, The Psychology of Money.  In his post he said 90% of personal financial planning focuses on three things:  Spending less than you make,...

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Reaching the mid-point of your career isn’t like getting your first high-paying job or the last few years before retirement. Those milestones track closely to age, with the first big job coming in your twenties and retirement...

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Have you ever noticed there are a lot of things in life where we think, either, or?  For instance, you’re a Democrat or a Republican.  You’re a boy or a girl.  You’re either for something or against it...

Thursday, March 17, 2022

In case you haven’t heard, inflation is the highest it has been in over 40 years.  The price of gas, food, housing, etc. seems to be going higher and higher each week.  What are you supposed to do?  With most...

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

As many of you who have read any of the blogs I have written know, I work with people in the You’re On Your Own Economy or Y.O.Y.O. Economy.  The other thing I talk about is P.A.I.L. which stands for Protection, Asset...

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Social Security is Not Going to be Around When I Retire!   I’ve told this story before, but I think it’s still important to repeat for this discussion.  Years ago, I was at a meeting of 100 or so advisors at the...

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

I’m writing this on 2/24/2022.  Last night, 2/23/2022, Russia invaded Ukraine.  I feel horrible for the people of Ukraine.  I have watched videos on YouTube from a Ukrainian woman who is fluent in Spanish. ...

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

I saw a slide show in an article the other day and one of the slides had a list of the 6 ways to get rich.  Here they are:

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Probably most people have heard of asset allocation.  In case you have not, here is the definition. Asset allocation is the implementation of an investment strategy that attempts to balance risk versus reward by adjusting the...

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Disability Insurance: How to Protect Your Income Whether you have your own business or work for an employer, protecting your income stream from an illness or injury that will prevent you from working should be a priority. According to...

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

I was at a meeting at the home office of Northwestern Mutual several years ago. The woman who was speaking asked the group of 100 or more advisors to raise their hand if they thought Social Security was going to be around by the time...

Friday, October 8, 2021

One of my connections on LinkedIn, Samantha Russell works with the place that hosts my website, FMG Suite. They try to help financial advisors with their marketing and their websites. She does a great job and is always putting out...

Friday, September 24, 2021

On Monday 9/20/2021 the stock market dropped more than 600 points. I saw one headline that read S & P falls 1.7% for its worst day since May, Dow sheds 600 points. Then I started seeing articles about a Chinese real estate development...

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. I started out the first week in Life Insurance Awareness Month with the hardest thing an insurance salesman has to do, meeting a young widow to fill out the paperwork for a death claim. I...

Friday, September 10, 2021

August Recap and September Outlook The equity markets advanced during a month when the Delta variant ravaged some states, which reinvigorated flagging vaccination rates. Positive developments, such as a bi-partisan infrastructure...

Thursday, September 2, 2021

As naturally social creatures, relationships are essential to our everyday lives. Relationships can help us advance through our career; they can be the source of fond memories and can even help us live longer.1 But there’s one...

Thursday, August 19, 2021

My Disability Insurance Claim August 13th, 2021 will be three years since I crashed on my bike and shattered my femur. I want to share a little bit about my experience when I filed my disability insurance claim and what has happened...

Monday, August 9, 2021

Setting Your Retirement on FIRE If there’s one aspect of personal finance that people can get excited about, it’s the idea of being able to retire early. And according to research by Hearts & Wallets, one out of every six...

Friday, July 16, 2021

Drums, Bikes and Money I have been putting quite a bit of content out on social media lately. They say that people do business with people they know, like and trust. I doubt I can make you like me or trust in a little blog post, but...

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Thinking Out Loud When I left Northwestern Mutual back in 2013 it was a very stressful time for me. I had been working there for almost 22 years and suddenly I was on my own. The people at Northwestern had a team of 6 women calling all...

Friday, June 25, 2021

Catch-up not Ketchup! One time, I was doing a 401k plan review meeting and I talked about the catch- up provision. Being from Roswell, N.M., I have a bit of an accent and the people in the meeting thought I said, ketchup. As I was...

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Market Commentary: Stay in May, It’ll Be Okay? May Recap and June Outlook May saw strong earnings reports and a lot of optimism from consumers and businesses, but also unexpectedly high inflation data and a clear labor shortage....

Thursday, June 3, 2021

Have you seen the commercials on TV or heard advertisements on the radio saying a healthy male, aged 40 can buy a billion dollars of life insurance for only $25.00 per month? Of course I’m exaggerating, but I see a lot of ads for...

Thursday, May 27, 2021

Converting High Income into Lasting Wealth It’s become something of a reliable attention-getting headline that Millennials struggle to get ahead and create wealth, despite six-figure salaries, and even when there are dual incomes...

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Age 59 ½ Age 59 ½ is an important age when it comes to retirement plans. Here’s an idea if you have attained age 59 ½ or older, you are still working and your company has a 401(k) plan. 401(k) Plan Rules...

Thursday, May 13, 2021

Retirement Is About Income … and Taxes You’ve figured out your budget, your retirement nest egg is substantial, and you’re ready to make the transition to living on income from savings instead of income from work....

Friday, April 9, 2021

Last week I wrote the first part of Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck. This is part two. The first part of being able to stop living paycheck to paycheck is basically to figure out what is important to you and see where you are...

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck! Here are some scary facts in the United States of America. Depending on the survey, 50% to 74% of all employees are living paycheck to paycheck. 1 in 4 families making more than $150,000 per year are...

Thursday, March 18, 2021

I had heard somebody say something about too much month at the end of the money. It’s very easy to relate to it. Well, of course, there is a country music song by Marty Stuart with the same title. Here’s the link to it:...

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Tax Refunds Are Bad! In case you didn’t know it, it’s tax season and it’s time to claim your tax refund. File early so you can get your refund back and use it to buy a new color TV. I have seen advertisements in the...

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Scattered Money If you’re like most people over the age of 40, you have probably had more than one job. At each of those different jobs, you had a retirement plan. Over the years people have a tendency to change jobs and in the...

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Recently, I saw a post on LinkedIn from a guy named Joshua Brown. We are not related. He’s a financial advisor in New York City and wrote a book called “The Reformed Broker”. Anyway, he puts a lot of content out,...

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

1% More Whenever you read articles about investing for retirement, they always say you should save 10% of your gross income. In the Financial Independence Retire Early groups you see people saving 40% - 70% of their gross incomes. But...

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

I am reading a book called, “The Biggest Bluff” by Maria Konnikova. The subtitle says, “How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win.” Maria Konnikova is a writer and has her PhD in psychology from...

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Like everyone, I have seen a lot of articles and posts about the GameStop stock. I'm not going to write anything about why it happened and all of that stuff, but I did think about, what does all of this have to do with serious...

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

I probably have the nicest clients in the world. Whenever I call to check on them or give them updates or whatever, they always ask how I’m doing. I thought I would give a little World According to Kevin, Update. Ed Slott IRA...

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

The Secret Ingredient When it comes to investing, people spend a lot of time talking about investment returns, asset allocation, stocks, bonds, ETFs, active investing, passive investing, etc. etc. But is there a secret ingredient? One...

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

That Was Weird! 2020 will be one of those years that goes down in history like 1918, 1941 and 2001. You all know what happened, so I feel no need to rehash it. With that being said, we can reflect on what we have learned from a...

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

The Roth IRA Conversion: Retirement Planning Tool? The Roth IRA was designed to provide tax benefits, but it’s often viewed as primarily an investment tool for younger investors. This is because there are income limits to...

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Target Date Funds: Is that when you save money to take out someone special? The so-called “accumulation” phase of your life is the one where you’re working and putting money aside for retirement, usually in a 401(k)...

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Control I have been reading a book called “Hey! What’s My Number” by Christopher Carosa. The book is about improving the odds that you will retire in comfort. It talks a lot about 401k plans and how to best take...

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Everything Is Different Now. Or Is It? The month began with an election that didn’t resolve uncertainty, it generated more. From there, a seasonal surge in coronavirus positivity rates created uncertainty and fear, particularly...

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

What if it does work out exactly as you imagined it, or better? Entertain that thought. A woman named Idil Ahmed wrote that and somebody else posted it on LinkedIn. She has a website called idillionaire.com and she has tweeted over 64...

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

The Challenges of Inheriting Wealth Over the years that I’ve been helping people figure out their money (my whole career), one thing I’ve seen consistently is that most people seem to need a reason to hire an investment...

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Meditation and Goal Setting Every morning I wake up, make coffee and do a 10 minute meditation session using the Waking Up app from Sam Harris. I started doing this in February of 2019 and try to do it every day. I read something on...

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Bicycle Racing and Financial Planning Have A Lot In Common At first glance you probably wouldn’t think that bicycle racing and financial planning have too much in common. When you think of bike racing, you probably think of Lance...

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Should You Invest or Pay Off Debt? Recently, I wrote a piece titled, “College vs. Retirement”. After posting it on LinkedIn, one of my connections asked about my thoughts on saving versus paying off debt. I told her I would...

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

How Learning a Second Language has Improved My Life! I have always wanted to be fluent in Spanish. I took Spanish in middle school and I knew a few words and phrases, but I was and still am not close to being fluent. One phrase I knew...

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

College vs. Retirement Have you ever seen the articles discussing whether a person should pay off debt or invest? It’s a reasonable question. Maybe I’ll write about that some day soon. Here’s one that doesn’t...

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Who Should My Investment Portfolio Be Voting For? It’s a well-known canard that “markets hate uncertainty”. And it’s pretty true, in the moment. We’ve all seen the headline-driven volatility that the stock...

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

The Sandwich Generation Everybody has heard about the Baby Boomers, Generation X, Y and Z and now the Millennials. There’s another generation that a lot of people my age and a bit younger are finding themselves in, the Sandwich...

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

It’s FAFSA Season in America! The leaves are turning. The nights are getting a bit nippy. It’s time to put away the shorts and bathing suits and get out the sweaters and jackets. Football season is going strong and...

Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Healthcare and Wealthcare Have A Lot In Common You’ve probably heard the saying, “Your Health is Your Wealth”. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about my health, our budget, succession planning and...

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

How Much Is Enough? I read a chapter in Morgan Housel’s new book, “The Psychology of Money”. In it, he talks about how Bernie Madoff was a very successful market maker on Wall Street prior to his Ponzi scheme for...

Monday, September 21, 2020

401k Plans are a Pain in the A**! If you’re a plan sponsor of a 401k plan, at times they almost seem like they are more work than they are worth. We have a piece called 50 chores of the 401k Plan Sponsor. That sounds like fun,...

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

What’s Going To Happen? I get questions from people asking, should I get out of the stock market? What do you think the market will do if Biden or Trump wins? What’s better, a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA? When do you...

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

What to consider when hiring a financial advisor in Albuquerque Albuquerque isn’t like anywhere else – living here has its own rhythms. But hiring a financial advisor isn’t different here; there are a set of...

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Being Poor is Expensive I heard this term the other night when I was watching T.V. The newscaster was interviewing a woman who was running for Congress in California. She had been homeless in the past and was talking about her...

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

For Those of you keeping score, that’s 9.2 trillion dollars. I saw an article the other day that said that Americans had 9.2 trillion dollars in savings accounts. A lot of that money was in the big banks such as, Bank of America,...

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

If you have ever looked up life insurance on the internet or talked to an agent about it, you will get different opinions about whole life insurance and term insurance. Lots of financial gurus will tell you to never buy whole life and...

Monday, August 10, 2020

Budgeting in the Y.O.Y.O. Economy The Y.O.Y.O economy – a group of private practice owners, business owners, and people who have come into to money because of life transitions such as job changes, retirement or inheritance. The...

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

I saw a post on LinkedIn the other day that talked about a family using a Go Fund Me page to pay for the funeral expenses of someone who had recently passed away. This is a sad and terrible situation. While I realize every case is...

Thursday, July 16, 2020

How much do you need for retirement? Well, investment research firm Morningstar has a handy but somewhat scary stat: $1.18 million. Using average annual returns of 6 percent and pegging inflation at 2.5%, Morningstar calculates...

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Everybody is living on the edge. I think this is one of the real lessons people have been learning from the global pandemic and the resulting economic fallout. In the financial planning world, one of the first things that is taught is...

Thursday, April 2, 2020

As many of you know, I work with quite a few owners of private practices such as attorneys and dentists. I was looking at the New Mexico Dental Association's website and came across the Small Business Owner's Guide to the CARES Act....

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

It appears my 401k plan has caught the Coronavirus. What am I supposed to do? Nobody has asked me this exact question, but I have had variations of it posed over the past two weeks. Here are a couple of ideas that might be helpful. I...

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

I went to Ed Slott's 2 Day IRA Workshop a couple of weeks ago in San Francisco. We spent 16 hours over 2 days reviewing every page of a 400 page manual. It talked about the SECURE Act, 25 IRA rules you must know, Roth IRA strategies,...

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

The Week on Wall StreetDaily headlines about the coronavirus had little impact on stock market averages last week. Earnings and mergers had more influence. All three Wall Street benchmarks improved. The Nasdaq Composite rose 2.21%,...

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Several years ago, when I was at Northwestern Mutual, I heard Ed Slott, CPA talk at a meeting. He is America's IRA expert and has had shows on PBS talking about the best ways to save and invest in your IRA so you can have a secure...

Monday, February 10, 2020

The Week on Wall StreetStocks advanced four days out of five during the past market week, erasing the losses of the week before. The Nasdaq Composite surged 4.04%, the S&P 500 3.17%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 3.00%. Foreign...

Monday, February 10, 2020

Monday, February 3, 2020

The Week on Wall StreetStock benchmarks declined for a second straight week as coronavirus news tempered risk appetite.The S&P 500 fell 2.14% on the week. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 1.76%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 2.55%....

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Several years ago, when I was at Northwestern Mutual, I heard Ed Slott, CPA talk at a meeting. He is America's IRA expert and has had shows on PBS talking about the best ways to save and invest in your IRA so you can have a secure...

Friday, January 31, 2020

While most of us were enjoying the holidays, our friends in Washington were busy tinkering with traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). As you may have heard, Congress passed legislation late last year that changed the rules...

Friday, January 31, 2020

Washington was busy this holiday season. As many of us were looking forward to some well-earned time off, new legislation was passed, and it affects some of the old rules for traditional Individual Retirement Accounts. These changes...

Monday, January 27, 2020

The Week on Wall StreetStock prices fell last week as investors considered the potential health and economic risks of the flu-like coronavirus.Foreign stock markets, as tracked by the broad MSCI EAFE index, fell 1.03% for the week....

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The Week on Wall StreetTraders were in an upbeat mood last week, reacting to news out of Washington: the signing of the phase-one trade deal between the U.S. and China as well as the Senate passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement...

Monday, January 13, 2020

The Week on Wall StreetThe market had a choppy five days, with traders reacting to geopolitical developments and weaker-than-expected jobs data. Even so, the three major U.S. equity indices posted weekly gains and continued their...

Monday, January 6, 2020

The Week on Wall Street Stocks descended from record highs Friday, as traders reacted to a U.S. drone strike that killed Iran's top military officer. Oil prices rose more than 3% following the breaking news.[1] Wall Street benchmarks...

Monday, December 30, 2019

What Drove the Markets? Four factors influenced investment performance in 2019: a shift in U.S. monetary policy, the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China, earnings, and the economy. Stocks reached record highs in 2019. The...

Monday, December 16, 2019

The Week on Wall Street The U.S. and China announced a limited trade agreement last week. That news lifted U.S. and foreign stocks, leading to weekly gains. Advancing 0.91% on the week, the Nasdaq Composite outperformed the S&P 500...

Monday, December 9, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Key Wall Street benchmarks were up and down last week – or rather down and then up. A Tuesday retreat was offset by a Friday rally spurred by the Department of Labor’s November jobs report. While the S&P 500...

Monday, December 2, 2019

The Week on Wall Street As November wrapped up, U.S. equity benchmarks advanced. Stocks were again aided by a sense of optimism that a preliminary U.S.-China trade deal could be near. For the week, the Nasdaq Composite added 1.87%;...

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks declined last week as mixed signals emerged about the progress of U.S.-China trade negotiations. The three major Wall Street benchmarks all took weekly losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0...

Monday, November 18, 2019

The Week on Wall StreetStock benchmarks were little changed for much of last week, but a rally occurred Friday after news broke that the U.S. and China could be closing in on the first phase of a new trade pact. At Friday's close, the...

Monday, November 11, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Domestic and international stocks rose last week. Risk appetite outweighed concerns about the state of U.S.-China trade discussions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and MSCI EAFE...

Monday, November 4, 2019

The Week on Wall Street A better-than-forecast jobs report prompted a stock market rally Friday, two days after traders witnessed another interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended the week...

Friday, November 1, 2019

When the markets are as volatile and confusing as they have been over the past several years, even the most patient investors may come to question the wisdom of the investment plan they have been following. On top of that, life changes...

Monday, October 28, 2019

The Week on Wall Street The S&P 500 came within 0.1% of a record close Friday. Stocks were lifted last week by positive news on U.S.-China trade negotiations, plus earnings announcements. The Nasdaq Composite posted the largest weekly...

Monday, October 21, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Earnings helped give the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 a slight lift last week, offsetting investor disappointment over the small scope of the preliminary U.S.-China trade deal reached on October 11. Blue chips...

Monday, October 14, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stock prices pushed higher last week, as investors remained hyper-focused on any new developments with the U.S. trade negotiations with China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 0.91%, while the...

Monday, October 7, 2019

The Week on Wall Street The fourth quarter started with a mixed week for equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.92% for the week; the S&P 500, 0.33%. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite improved 0.54%. Overseas stocks pulled...

Monday, September 30, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks retreated last week. Traders worried that the formal impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump might distract White House officials from their pursuit of a trade deal with China, and shift the focus...

Monday, September 23, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Investors reacted to two major news items last week, one far more of a surprise than the other. The Federal Reserve did indeed make a rate cut, matching Wall Street expectations. Drone strikes on two of the...

Monday, September 16, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks edged toward all-time peaks during a relatively calm week marked by easing trade tensions. Friday marked the eighth straight daily advance for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.[1] Small-cap shares, as...

Monday, September 9, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks rose last week, with help from two developments: the announcement of further U.S.-China trade talks as well as August hiring and manufacturing numbers that seemed to bolster the argument for a rate cut...

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Fears of an impasse in the U.S.-China trade dispute lessened last week. While additional U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports were scheduled to take effect on September 1, China's government communicated that it...

Monday, August 26, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Traders assumed that the week's biggest news event would be Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the annual Jackson Hole banking conference. Instead, China seized the headlines by announcing new...

Monday, August 19, 2019

The Week on Wall Street U.S. stock indices saw significant ups and downs last week, with traders looking for economic cues from Treasury yields and also developments in the tariff fight between the U.S. and China. The S&P 500 lost 1...

Monday, August 12, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks spent much of last week rebounding from a Monday drop that reflected nervousness about the U.S.-China trade fight. By Thursday's closing bell, the S&P 500 had regained all its Monday losses - but it...

Monday, August 5, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Last week, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time in more than a decade, in line with Wall Street's expectations. Ironically, stocks had their worst week of 2019. The S&P 500 finished the...

Monday, July 29, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Last week, investors assessed earnings and the initial estimate of second-quarter economic growth, while awaiting the Federal Reserve's next announcement about interest rates. Stocks rose for the week;...

Monday, July 22, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stock benchmarks retreated during the first week of the second-quarter earnings season. As some big names shared quarterly results, investors seemed more interested in what might happen at the Federal Reserve's...

Monday, July 15, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Friday, the S&P 500 settled above 3,000 for the first time, after rising 0.78% for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average chalked up a milestone of its own: the blue chips ended the week above 27,000,...

Monday, July 8, 2019

The Week on Wall Street U.S. stock benchmarks opened a new quarter positively. The S&P 500 gained 1.65% in the opening week of July; the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 1.21%; the Nasdaq Composite, 1.94%. Overseas, stocks in developed...

Monday, July 1, 2019

The Week on Wall Street A month of gains for stocks ended with a weekly retreat. The S&P 500 lost 0.30%; the Nasdaq Composite, 0.32%; the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 0.45%. In contrast, overseas shares, tracked by the MSCI EAFE...

Monday, June 24, 2019

The Week on Wall Street The S&P 500 hit an all-time peak of 2,964.03, in intraday trading Friday, while improving 2.20% across five market days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite posted respective, 5-day advances...

Monday, June 17, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks advanced for a second straight week. The S&P 500 benchmark rose 0.47%; the Nasdaq Composite, 0.70%; the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 0.41%. Overseas shares, as tracked by the MSCI EAFE developed markets...

Monday, June 10, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks rallied during a week in which Wall Street was buffeted by headlines. The S&P 500 rose 4.41%. The Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average respectively added 3.88% and 4.71%. The MSCI EAFE index...

Monday, June 3, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks struggled during a 4-day market week as the U.S.-China trade standoff continued to weigh on the minds of market participants. From the Friday, May 24 close to the Friday, May 31 close, the S&P 500...

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

The Week on Wall StreetStocks drifted lower last week as investors considered the possibility that the world's two largest economies might take some time to resolve key trade issues. The S&P 500 retreated 1.17%; the Nasdaq Composite,...

Monday, May 20, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks fell sharply at the start of last week over trade tensions, then recovered with help from strong earnings and indications that U.S.-China trade talks would continue. Even so, the major indices had a down...

Monday, May 13, 2019

The Week on Wall Street As we noted recently, Wall Street has a wandering eye. Last week, it focused on the new tariff threats in the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute. Stocks fell across five trading sessions: the Dow Jones Industrial...

Monday, May 6, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks were up and down last week, and the three major benchmarks ended up little changed after five trading days. The S&P 500 rose 0.20% for the week; the Nasdaq Composite, 0.22%. The Dow Jones Industrial...

Monday, April 29, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks returned to record territory, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closing at historic highs. The S&P gained 1.20% for the week; the Nasdaq, 1.85%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged,...

Monday, April 22, 2019

The Week on Wall Street A short and relatively placid trading week wrapped up Thursday, with the major indices turning in mixed performances. The S&P 500 retreated 0.08%, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.17%, and the Dow Jones...

Monday, April 15, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks broke out of a narrow range on Friday following news that two major banks grew their bottom line in the first quarter. For the week, the S&P 500 rose 0.79%; the Nasdaq Composite, 0.91%. The Dow Jones...

Monday, April 8, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks just posted their second straight weekly gain. Investors were encouraged by the latest jobs report and new signs of progress on a U.S.-China trade deal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.17% in...

Monday, April 1, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks ended last week higher as volatility slowed, completing their best quarter since 2009. A Friday tweet from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin encouraged investors, referring to "constructive" discussions...

Monday, March 25, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Friday, the yield of the 3-month Treasury bill exceeded the yield of the 10-year Treasury note for the first time in 12 years. For some analysts, this "inverted yield curve" may imply a short-term lessening of...

Monday, March 18, 2019

The Week on Wall Street The big story last week was the sudden grounding of Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 passenger jets in dozens of countries. The financial effects of this ban could potentially impact the airline industry and segments of...

Monday, March 11, 2019

The Week on Wall Street As in February, investors spent most of the first full trading week of March hoping for new details in U.S.-China trade negotiations. While they waited, stock benchmarks drifted downward. From Monday's open to...

Monday, March 4, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks lost a little ground as February gave way to March. While domestic and overseas political developments made headlines, the market stayed relatively calm: from Monday's open through Friday's close, the...

Monday, February 25, 2019

The Week on Wall Street Stocks rallied last week as optimism about a potential U.S.-China trade deal grew. The S&P 500 advanced 0.80% during the 4-day trading week to 2,792.67. The Nasdaq Composite improved 0.86% to 7,527.54, and the...

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

A personalized financial plan can provide a powerful tool in helping you take action toward reaching your goals. For many, working through the financial planning process for the first time will be the best step they could take toward...

Friday, June 2, 2017

Johnny Depp Reportedly Spends $2 Million A Month ($30,000 on wine alone) Money comes and money goes. The trick in life is to control what’s going out the door — no matter how much you’re making. Though hard to...

Thursday, May 18, 2017

How Much Money Do You Need to Quit and Sail Away? No, Seriously.You wake up. Go to work. Get home. Repeat. For many, it feels like being stuck in a hamster wheel. What if you decided to call it quits and retire early? For those who...

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Just as the markets evolve over time, so do our planning strategies and financial needs. Even though I’ve been in the finance world for more than three decades, I am constantly looking to further my knowledge, adjust service...

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Tax season is here! This may not be everyone’s favorite time of year, but taxes are a necessary evil we must contend with. Many people procrastinate on tasks they dread, and if you are like one-third of Americans, you wait until...

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

How much money will you actually have to retire on? Most people rely on the assumption and expectation that the plans for retirement put in place for them will be enough to live in luxury in their golden years. They contribute the...

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

As a financial advisor, I focus on four different areas for my clients: Protection, Accumulation, Income, and Legacy (PAIL). In the spirit of the new year and my favorite acronym, here are four financial resolutions to help guide you...

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Small business owners or other self-employed individuals face challenges in providing benefits that larger corporations do not. One of those difficulties lies in offering a retirement plan for their employees. Employer-sponsored...

Friday, December 16, 2016

Did you know that 70% of people turning 65 today will need long-term care at some point in their life? Long-term care isn’t just for the elderly, though. In 2000, over two-thirds of the people requiring some form of long-term...

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

January is known as a time of fresh starts, new goals, and renewed motivation. Often, New Year’s resolutions lead people to purchase gym memberships, pledge to read more, or spend more time with family and friends, but have you...

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! I want to take a moment to thank you for an amazing year in 2016. I'm thankful for each of my clients and the trust they’ve put in me. It’s incredibly fulfilling to see so many of...

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Gone are the days when Americans would stay in the same job for the majority of their working lives. The recent trend, especially among the Millennial Generation, is to transition from job to job at an alarming rate. In 2014, the...

Thursday, November 10, 2016

After a tumultuous and dramatic election season, the results are in. This election was certainly one for the history books. Because both polls and markets had expected a Clinton victory, the markets are reeling from the surprise...

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Since their inception in 1974, Individual Retirement Accounts, or IRAs, have become wildly popular. About 40 million US households, or 32%, owned at least one type of IRA as of mid-2015. By the end of that year, IRA assets totaled $7.3...

Friday, August 12, 2016

If you have been around me for any amount of time you have probably heard of the acronym PAIL. If you are new around here, you’re probably wondering what in the world I’m talking about. It’s my goal to help you...