See below 3 ways that may help married couples boost their lifetime benefits: A couple with similar incomes and ages may want to consider maximizing lifetime benefits by both delaying their claim. For couples with big differences in earnings, consider claiming the spousal benefit which may be better than claiming your own. A couple with …
3 Ways That May Help Married Couples Boost Their Lifetime Benefits Read More »
Maybe your charitable donations should stay in your zip code? For many of us, buying locally matters. We’ve all heard the term and seen the signs: Shop Locally. Eat Locally. But let’s extend that thought for a minute: do you consider giving to your local charities? The fact is we are bombarded with requests from …
Every week brings new developments that grab the attention of investors. Political and economic developments dominated headlines last week, and, in general, most investors focused on the positives. President Trump announced our withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear accord and renewed sanctions on that country’s oil exports, sending oil prices to their highest levels in 3 …
The recent passage of tax reform has raised the expected level of S&P 500 earnings. Looking forward, Price/Earnings ratios have declined on a forward or normalized earnings basis, thereby raising the upside potential of the S&P 500. In simple terms, tax reform should benefit markets and provide opportunity for growth. We reckon the initial effects …
Facebook is facing a reckoning in the court of public opinion for how the social media giant and its partners handle customer data. In the court of law, holding Facebook responsible for its actions has been quite a bit harder. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been hauled in front of Congress to apologize for a data …
Investor confidence of late has been dented but looks to be (generally) holding up. This story may be one of rotation from sectors into areas that appear to have great opportunity.  U.S. equities gave back their sizeable January inflows, but flows into non-U.S. developed market and emerging market (EM) equities have more than offset the …
Ending the Quarter – Political Influences & Economic Expansion Read More »
And how it relates to family and financial planning It is Masters time again. The 2018 Masters Tournament begins on April 5th, continuing an April tradition that started in 1934. Why is the Masters so special? Well, it starts because the tournament’s co-founder – Bobby Jones was one of the greatest golfers of all time. …
What happened at Orbitz? Reports from March 20th state that up to 880,000 payment card numbers and related information may have been exposed in a data breach. Orbitz, which is owned by Expedia, apparently had two different data disclosures. In the first disclosure, a hacker may have accessed customers’ personal information for some purchases made …
While the Federal Reserve’s decisions certainly impact the US (and global) economy, it’s important to know that the Fed does not set economic policy. The Fed does, however, control monetary policy in an attempt to influence the direction of the US economy. Let’s explore the history of the Federal Reserve, its role and how it …
Despite what you might think, the Fed does not set economic policy Read More »
Most people would like to see a gain of 21.6 percent on their annual statement. That was the annual return for the Standard & Poor (S&P) 500 Index during 2017. In general, U.S. stock indexes did quite well last year – and the year before, too. For instance, the S&P 500 Index was up 11.8 …
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