Insights
Blog
In the SECURE Act Era, You’ll Need a New Retirement Strategy. Roth Conversions Could Be It.
But when the SECURE Act goes into effect – expected on Jan. 1, 2020 – beneficiaries will have to fully distribute taxable accounts within 10 years of the account holder’s death. That could push your loved ones into a higher tax bracket.
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – December 16, 2019
Three key policy issues achieved greater clarity last week. The U.S. and China reached a “phase one” trade deal. The U.S. will reduce some existing tariffs and not implement a set of planned tariffs in exchange for greater grain exports and some improvement to technology regulation. China is pressing for phase two negotiations to begin soon.
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – December 9, 2019
A powerful jobs report in the U.S. produced continued evidence the U.S. economy is performing well and the risk of recession is lower. As discussed in greater depth below, the economy produced 266,000 jobs in November, and jobs numbers for the previous two months were revised higher. The risk of a recession continues to decline in the U.S.
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News
10 Common Estate Planning Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
Estate planning and end of life planning are about taking control of your situation. Death and long-term care later in life might be hard to fathom right now, but we can’t put off planning out of fear of the unknown or because it’s unpleasant. Don’t wait for life to happen to you, though.
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Monthly Newsletters
How to Give More than Stuff for the Holidays
Think about the best holiday gift you ever received. For some of us, that memory is pretty murky, but chances are you’ll come up with a toy you played with until it fell apart, or the bike you rode until the wheels fell off. Think about the “frame” that memory is in: was the gift exactly what you told your parents you wanted?
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – December 2, 2019
Trade negotiators remained primarily responsible for the market yo-yoing up and down in a tight range. Last week, the U.S. and China both shared positive comments about the status of negotiations toward a “Phase One” deal. Asian economies are more tightly tied to trade than other regions, and economic data from the region remains weak.
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – November 25, 2019
Happy Thanksgiving! After a few weeks where growing hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal propelled markets higher, the opposite occurred last week. Trade negotiations took a small step backward, and global stocks followed. Other global economic news was generally positive.
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Blog
Yes, Social Security Income Is Taxable – But Yours Doesn’t Have To Be
As you move toward retirement, you can’t be content just to accumulate assets. You need to develop a retirement income plan that can help guide you when it comes time to turn savings into sustainable retirement income.
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – November 18, 2019
The S&P 500 continued to edge higher and closed Friday at another all-time high. News that U.S.-China trade negotiations continued to progress kept markets moving higher. U.S. economic news was mixed. Retail sales missed expectations but have still grown more than 3% over the last 12 months.
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News
4 Ways To Improve Your Estate Plan
Most people want to plan for a good life and a good retirement, so why not plan for a good end of life, too? Let’s look at four ways you can refine your estate plan, protect your assets and create a level of control and certainty for your loved ones.
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