June 30, 2020 Writing in the Business Section of the New York Times 1 , 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...
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...
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...
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...
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 Act 1 . 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...
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. I’m awestruck by the fact that here in...
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 – or even the parents of 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...
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. Everything in the email seemed legit: "If you get a suspicious call from Social Security, hang up and report it!" (A helpful link was even provided so I could easily...
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...
December 31, 2019 While shopping recently, I was asked by a cashier how much she would owe in taxes on an IRA she liquidated. It was an interesting question on many levels. Aside from the fact that I don’t even know her last name (nor does she know mine, though she knows I do something with ‘money’ for a living)...