If one of your New Year’s resolutions involves enhancing and expanding your investment portfolio, look no further. In a true New Year’s Eve countdown tradition, ask yourself these 10 questions to help review your investment plans. 10. What’s My Investment Timeline? Not every investment is appropriate for every timeframe. Someone who hopes to retire in the […]
A Business Plan Can Be Your Guide to Growth
Whether you’re a current business owner or a budding entrepreneur burning with the next great idea, one of the most important steps you can take on your road to success is creating a business plan. Why? A well-thought-out and well-written business plan captures your vision, illustrates it for others (including potential lenders and investors), and […]
5 Year-End Tax Planning Questions to Ask Your Financial Professional
The average U.S. income tax rate stands at just over 13%—and if you’re like many taxpayers, you’re always looking for new tips and tricks to help reduce this percentage.1 There are a number of different tax planning moves you can make before December 31 to reduce your owed taxes. But how can you know […]
Top Year-End Investment Tips
Just what you need, right? One more time-consuming task to be taken care of between now and the end of the year. But taking a little time out from the holiday chores to make some strategic saving and investing decisions before December 31 can affect not only your long-term ability to meet your financial goals […]
QCDs: Donating and Gift Giving Through Your IRA
A qualified charitable distribution, or QCD, allows you to distribute funds from your IRA to an eligible charity (a 501(c)(3) organization) as long as you’re 70 1/2 years of age or older. Since the gift will go directly to the charity, you can exclude the dollar amount of the gift from your taxable income […]
Playbook for a Fed Pivot
Recent inflation data has tempered expectations for future Federal Reserve tightening, including a potential peak in the terminal rate near 5.0% in May or June of 2023. While the market has welcomed this news, history suggests the path to a Fed pivot could be volatile for stocks due to elevated inflation and interest rate risk. […]
High Inflation and Rising Rates Supported Value in 2022
The growth vs. value debate has been pretty one-sided in 2022, with value outperforming growth for a sustained period for the first time in almost 15 years. However, the debate is heating up as investors begin to consider whether the pendulum will swing back to growth if inflation and interest rates decline in 2023. In […]
How Mid-Term Elections May Move Markets
Midterm elections are upon us, with Election Day on Tuesday. Republicans are strongly favored to win the House, and the Senate is roughly a tossup. We believe either outcome would be market[1]friendly, although the bigger market driver will likely be central banks’ efforts to tame inflation. In this week’s Weekly Market Commentary, we look at […]
Year-End Donations and #GivingTuesday
With its family traditions and festive celebrations, the holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year. And according to GivingTuesday.org, the giving in the U.S. alone totaled $2.7 billion to nonprofits and community organizations on #GivingTuesday in 2021, a 6% increase from 2020. Unfortunately, despite the greatest of intentions, many will inevitably make […]
More Money, More Responsibility and Strategic Financial Decisions
Strategic financial planning is important for everyone but especially for high-income earners that have their compensation tied directly to the success of the business. Executives and entrepreneurs both rely on accessing their wealth at the end of their employment, requiring them to make the best financial decisions for themselves ahead of ‘cash out’ their share. […]