June 30, 2020

You’re welcome to call me a skeptic (or worse) but I fall into the camp that says we’ll be battling a second wave of COVID-19 when it revisits us in the Northeast at some point in the fall. To make matters worse, I also believe the lockdown for the second round will occur faster (and possibly feel harsher) than it did in Round 1. We’re just beginning to enjoy a modicum of freedom after almost four months, and removing those freedoms will sting. 

June 30, 2020

Writing in the Business Section of the New York Times¹, that’s the title of a column by Carl Richards, who has gained fame as the “Sketch Guy”, a person who can take complex financial issues and define them through simple drawings. While the column includes a few of Richards’ sketches, it also includes five steps that investors might consider as we, along with the stock market, work through these perilous times.

June 30, 2020

As part of our efforts to provide financial advice to clients, we’re regularly reviewing the latest research on investments, planning, and many other topics related to a successful retirement.  Much of that research focuses on investors’ ability to stay on course with their asset allocation, through thick and thin.  We recently came across a couple of charts we felt did a good job of articulating the benefits of maintaining a long-term perspective when managing a portfolio. 

May 15, 2020

Writing “Stan’s World” eight times a year allows me the opportunity to share a story or anecdote that might be of interest to clients who have faced or might experience a similar situation. In some cases, it’s even cathartic, allowing me to explain how I handled some sort of life-cycle event. At this moment in time, however, it seems that all roads lead to the same topic: the coronavirus.

May 15, 2020

By: John Zeltmann

In the midst of a market downturn like we've seen over the past couple of months, and with the daily bombardment of bad economic news, it's easy to think the downtrend will continue.  Looking at one's retirement plan over several months rather than several years, it's easy to feel despair, especially during times like these.  When will the U.S. re-open?  When will kids go back to school?  When will grocery stores be safe?  What about a vaccine?  What will normal look like and when will it get here?

March 31, 2020

In late March 2020, Congress passed a $2 trillion stimulus package called the CARES Act - the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act¹.

The primary features of the Act include boosts to unemployment insurance payouts as well as some changes to retirement accounts that should help ease the financial burdens currently faced by many Americans. (NOTE: Don’t assume that we’re in the clear because the government is pumping $2 trillion into the economy. If we were in the clear, the House wouldn’t be working on the next stimulus package, which they are. Assume more ups and downs in the stock market over the next few months, or longer.)

March 31, 2020

Whose life hasn’t been dramatically altered over the past month? We’ve seen entire industries decimated. Careers upended. Lives lost. Common daily occurrences transformed. Normal, everyday behaviors are now deemed risky. The term social distancing has been added to the lexicon. How easy it is to go on and on.   

February 15, 2020

Over the past few years, a lot has been written about the transfer of inter-generational wealth. The premise is that the Baby Boomers have amassed significant sums of money that they will not spend during their lifetime. Thus, these mini-fortunes will presumably pass on to their heirs.

But if you’re banking on an inheritance to make your financial plan whole, let’s not count those dollars just yet.

February 15, 2020

By: John Zeltmann

Recently I received a very helpful email from Social Security, filled with tips on how to avoid scams related to my Social Security account.  It was almost as though it was explicitly designed to put me at ease, inviting me into thinking whoever wrote the email had my best intentions in mind.

That’s because it was.

February 15, 2020

In this instance, the word “sky” refers to the stock market, and all that happens when markets fall. As we haven’t had a so-called bear market (i.e., a loss in value of more than 20%) in more than ten years – though we came within a whisker in the fourth quarter of 2018 – there are undoubtedly millions of investors who believe the bear is around the corner. Or maybe it’s the next corner.