September 30, 2020

As many long-time investors know, the stock market doesn’t react well to uncertainty. What the market does reward is constancy: interest rates that don’t fluctuate to any great degree; an economy growing on a gradual incline; and a lack of drama. When it comes to 2020, put a check next to constancy in interest rates, as there’s no sign they’ll go higher, potentially for the next few years. And then put your pens down; the quiz is over.

September 30, 2020

Compliments of AARP The Magazine¹, here are “8 smartphone apps to make life safe.” Some might be useful to you, an elderly parent, or to any other age group. There’s so much available on our smartphones that people don’t take advantage of; these apps just nick the surface.

August 15, 2020

If you spent the past five months in lunar orbit and recently opened your brokerage statement, your reaction was probably akin to ho-hum. For the rest of us mere mortals, it’s been an incredible whipsaw. Lacking sports and social lives, watching the stock market became its own entertainment.

August 15, 2020

Raise your hand if you share one of my many idiosyncrasies: I don’t like change. (Let me qualify that comment. When Dunkin Donuts added sprinkles to their double chocolate donut, I didn’t register a complaint.) Back to the subject at hand: What’s wrong when things are OK staying just the way they are?

August 15, 2020

By: John Zeltmann

Times like these are rife with opportunities for potential fraudsters. While the unsuspecting public spends a lot of energy these days on things like trying to remember a face mask when walking out the door, checking in on at-risk family members, or keeping youngsters entertained while working from home, scam artists recognize that we may not be as focused as we should be on protecting our personal finances.

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?