Planned Solutions

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, when making investments in taxable accounts, there is a balance that must be struck between investment strategy and tax efficiency. Unfortunately, these decisions are often out of balance with tax efficiency, given too much weight, which can negatively impact investment results. Therefore, many investors would actually benefit from paying more in t...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, the recent increase in consumer prices has made headlines, but the larger increase in producer prices has largely been ignored. When producer prices increase faster than consumer prices, it puts downward pressure on business profitability. This could negatively impact business earnings reports, as it has in past similar periods, or it could lead to...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, Interest rates, or the price of money, are important indicators of the future financial and economic climate. In addition, interest rate spreads (comparing one interest rate to another) can offer additional information about data such as the future path of inflation and the pace of economic growth. Currently, common yield spread indicators are sign...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, Recent economic disruptions have caused the Fed and investors to rethink their expectations for the future path of interest rates. Higher inflation, largely due to increased oil and commodity prices, has reduced the likelihood of lower interest rates in the future, as the Fed will likely be hesitant to lower rates in a rising inflation environment....

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, the current boom in Artificial Intelligence (AI) investment has fueled stock market gains. However, these investments are based on high growth expectations and an eventual path to profitability for the largest AI companies. While AI software is inherently scalable, the hardware (data centers) required to support it is not as easy to scale. This cou...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, the private credit market has rattled Wall Street and the broader credit markets recently. The story follows a common theme. A smaller market is promoted heavily by investment marketers, causing many investors to flood into a market that does not have the infrastructure to support it. Then something goes wrong, and investors run for the exit, but t...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, the Federal Reserve has held interest rates steady thus far in 2026 and recently signaled that it will likely remain on pause as the committee monitors the impact of higher oil prices and reduced oil supply. Earlier this year, the market priced in the expectation that the Fed would keep rates steady in early 2026 and cut rates later in the year. Th...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, the price of oil per barrel surged in response to the war with Iran. Businesses are understandably hoarding oil, often by buying futures contracts, to ensure they have access to a critical input. This, combined with oil's unique nature that demand often remains steady even when prices rise, makes it a market that is especially volatile in respo...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, we discuss several new tax deductions available in 2025. In addition, the qualifications and income limits for some existing tax deductions have changed. With so much change, it can be beneficial to review a summary of some of the deductions that may be available and the requirements to be able to qualify for the tax benefit. The increased tax dedu...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, Gold and silver prices increased sharply over the past several years, originally spurred by increases in global central bank buying. These big price increases caught the attention of other investors and market speculators, causing prices to surge to major highs. However, the recent massive selloff in gold and silver may be a sign that the speculati...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, the focus begins with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)—a powerful yet often underutilized financial tool. While many people use HSAs like a tax-advantaged checking account to pay current medical expenses, these accounts frequently include investment sub-accounts. Investing HSA funds can support long-term growth, help offset rising healthcare costs, a...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, the US stock market has started the year strong with the S&P 500 returning nearly 1.4% in just 11 trading days. However, the US large-cap index has underperformed foreign stocks, which led major index returns in 2025, and small- and mid-sized stocks, which lagged in 2025 but started 2026 strong with an 8.0% rate of return. The strong returns in...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions Podcast, we explore critical financial planning topics that can have a lasting impact on your wealth, legacy, and peace of mind—starting with estate planning, an area where many financial plans fall short. While creating an estate plan can feel time-consuming or costly, failing to plan often results in far greater expenses, court involvement, and stress for...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions podcast, Many financial models are communicated to the public as if they are completely factual. However, the accuracy of these modelsrequires that the assumptions at the heart of these models hold true, which does not always happen. This can cause investors and business decision makers to put too much confidence in the output of financial models because th...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions podcast, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is nothing new. In fact, the term dates back to the 1950s, and many AI solutions have been implemented since then. The difference between then and now is that the capabilities, and therefore the investment in AI, have accelerated, leading to a period of rapid change. This follows the pattern of many other technological...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions podcast, with the reopening of the federal government, the Department of Labor is once again publishing jobs data. The most recent reports show that the job market remains reasonably strong and may be accelerating after a brief period of weakness earlier in the year. The US economy added 119,000 jobs in September, the unemployment rate ticked up but remains...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions podcast, with the official government economic data currently unavailable, the private data sources are getting more attention. This includes the ISM reports on the manufacturing and services sectors in the US. These reports show that the manufacturing sector is contracting at a slow pace, while the services sector is growing at a slow pace. Given that the...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions podcast, even with the federal government shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the September inflation data. The headline inflation rate rose slightly from 2.9% in August to 3.0% in September, but continues to show signs that inflation has stabilized in the 2-3% level. The impact of tariffs remains uncertain as the annual numbers are low...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions podcast, Gold prices have surged in recent years, causing some to ask: What is driving the increase in prices? While there is no single factor alone that is driving the demand for gold, there are several possible reasons why gold prices have increased. These trends may also reverse, which could make buying gold at such elevated levels very risky, as many of...

In this episode of the Planned Solutions podcast, Labor market data has been questioned recently, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics announcing that it is having difficulty obtaining the necessary data and has been forced to make significant revisions to past data. However, there are other data sources that economists and financial analysts can utilize to gain a better understanding of the labor...

The national inflation rate was 2.9% year-over-year in August. The higher-than-desired inflation rate was primarily due to stubborn services prices, especially shelter prices, rather than goods prices, which include the volatile food and energy categories. Other goods were up just 1.5% showing the year-over-year impact of tariffs was likely limited, although the category did increase 0.4% in the m...

The long-awaited Jackson Hole speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Powell gave the markets the news investors were hoping to hear. In the speech, Chairman Powell noted weakness in the US labor market and subdued inflation more broadly. The Fed is concerned about the risk of tariffs creating a one-time increase in the prices of some goods, but may err on the side of caution by lowering interest rates...

The stock market has done well so far this year, but with that has come an increase in speculation that makes the market appear riskier. This year, there have been a number of companies that have gone public for the first time and experienced a big surge in their stock price in the first few days of trading. The speculative meme stock has also reemerged this year. Finally, the amount of money borr...

We have already reviewed several of the new tax code provisions from the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). To expand the review to be more comprehensive, we are including a review of three additional provisions: the no tax on overtime, the deduction for auto loan interest, and the expanded deductions for charitable contributions for taxpayers who do not itemize their deductions. T...

The IRS has released its recent "Dirty Dozen" list of tax scams that taxpayers should be aware of. This year, the list once again includes scams in which criminals attempt to impersonate the IRS or other tax authorities to get access to taxpayers’ private financial information. In addition, misleading or false tax advice being spread on social media has led many taxpayers astray by convincing them...