Casual Friday: Financial Insights

This week we chat with Lena Fisher, a realtor who, though her Homebuyer Happy Hour, has helped to guide countless new homebuyers through the buying process. In our session, she helps to walk us through the process of identifying a property to purchase, understanding what you will get from your budget, and she sheds light on the importance of being pre-approved for you mortgage loan. Music: Cold Fu...

In our experience in working with younger investors, we have found that many people start to get serious about their finances once they start a family.  When you have a little one you're now responsible for, the stakes get a little bit higher, and everybody becomes more interested in getting a plan together, so they can make sure their needs are taken care of. This week Brian discusses four k...

There’s an old adage on Wall Street that suggests, “As goes January, so goes the year.” This week Brian discusses the stats behind the theory, and reviews its impressive (though recently flawed) track record. Given stocks closed red in January, how worried should investors be? So Goes January, So Goes the Year: https://i2.wp.com/lplresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/so-goes-january-so-goes-th...

Fears that the deadly coronavirus would spread further around the globe intensified last Monday, leading to the biggest one-day drop in the S&P 500 Index since October 8, 2019. In fact, it was the first time the index moved 1% in either direction since early October—spanning 71 trading days. This week, Brian discusses past market reactions to outbreaks similar to the corona virus, as well as h...

In the last episode we discussed the fact that since 1940, the S&P 500 Index hasn’t been lower during an election year when an incumbent president has been up for reelection. But, because we’ve had so many requests about election years and markets, we thought we’d take another look at this impactful year. In this bonus episode, Brian discusses the fact that stocks actually have traded in a tig...

2020 is off to a roaring start for markets, and we have seen the major indices pick up right where they left off in 2019. However, many investors are eyeing the upcoming presidential election as an impending storm that could cause real trouble for the stock market. However, that scenario isn't always the case, as we review in this week's episode. While pre-election years (like 2019) have...

Did you know that the President recently signed a bill passed by Congress that makes some huge changes to the rules relating to saving for retirement? This week Brian and Ryan review the SECURE Act, and discuss 10 of the biggest changes that come from the law, including a change to the age when required minimum distributions must be taken, changes in 401(k) options, and how beneficiaries inheritin...

While not a perfect predictor of stocks (is there a perfect predictor), it's true that when S&P 500 returns in the first five trading days of a new year have been higher, the full-year total return for the S&P 500 has been positive 80% of the time. This week Brian discusses that factoid, and what it might mean for your investment accounts. In the episode, he also referenced LPL Resear...

This week Brian talks about some of the tax law changes for 2019 as you prepare to head into the new tax season. Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100499 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Send in your questions!

Are you able to see the future? Nope, neither can we. However, this week, Brian, Nik, Steve, and Dawn gathered to discuss the 2020 outlook for markets and the US & global economies. We broke down the 2020 outlook research piece from LPL Research to help us figure out where the investments may be headed as we embark on the new decade. If you would like to read the research piece from LPL, click...

Have you ever wondered why your financial planner asks you how much you make a year, or what your expenses are? One answer is that they are trying to get information that's key to creating a retirement income projection, or a financial plan. In this episode, Ryan and Brian cover the important information from your financial life that goes into the creation of your personalized retirement plan...

'Tis the season! Nope, we're not talking about the holidays. We're talking about the increase of scam phone calls, and scam phone calls relating to Social Security in particular, over the holiday months. At the end of last year, Social Security reported an increase in phone scam allegations by 30,592 in December 2018. That's more than the prior 14 months combined! This week Rya...

You’ve heard it and I’ve heard it—never discuss religion and politics. It’s easy to understand why. Some folks hold very strong opinions, and it’s easy to get swept up into an un-winnable argument. Interestingly enough, though, politics and religion aren’t considered the most difficult subjects to tackle, according to a 2014 study by Wells Fargo . Barely more than one-third of today’s parents repo...

Our office gets lots of questions from clients about whether converting money from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA makes sense for them. It's a great question, because a Roth IRA has some tremendous advantages and it could make sense if you need to reduce your required minimum distributions down the road. As Brian discusses in this episode, a move from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA has some...

If you're a business owner and considering retirement, you may quickly find that retiring isn't as simple of a process as it is for an employee who has decided to hang it up.  Instead, succession planning for business owners has a far greater complexity, that often includes items like finding successors, seeking a business valuation, and starting the process much earlier. Its items like...

Last year, college seniors graduated with a degree, a well-paying job (hopefully), and an average student loan debt of $29,200. No one is surprised by the high debt burden, as soaring college costs have been well documented. While a college education is a worthy investment, this kind of debt is a heavy burden for someone that is 22 or 23 years old. This week we review some of the ideas covered in...

As we get later in the year, we get more and more questions from folks about the rules surrounding required minimum distributions from retirement accounts, why they need to be taken, and what are the best methods for drawing the money out. For that reason, Ryan and Brian sat down again to review some of the in's and out's of "RMD", and discuss some of the method their clients p...

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced in late September that she would support an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. We’ve received many requests from our clients asking what exactly this may mean for the stock market, so Ryan Louie and Brian Ullmann are here to discuss the potential impact on your investments. Tracking # 1-900423 Music Attribution: Hopeful Start by John Bartma...

In this episode we discuss some 6 key mistakes you should try to avoid as you consider when and how to draw your Social Security benefits. Tracking # 1-897311 Music Attribution: Hopeful Start by John Bartman, License CC BY-SA 4.0 (Attribution-ShareAlike License) Send in your questions!

As a follow up to a previous episode about young investors and recessions, Brian, Nik, and Ryan define the term "risk tolerance" and how something like risk tolerance is determined and how it may impact the construction of your portfolio. Tracking # 1-890543 Music Attribution: Hopeful Start by John Bartman, License CC BY-SA 4.0 (Attribution-ShareAlike License) Send in your questions!

Brian, Nik, and Ryan delve into the question of how recessions might impact young investors. Should they worry about their retirement portfolios, or do recessions actually benefit their investments? We try to answer the question of what these younger investors (under 50) should really be worried about if recession is on the horizon. Tracking # 1-882558 Music Attribution: Hopeful Start by John Bart...

In this episode we touch on how Social Security paid a small cost-of-living adjustment this year. We also talk about how the COLA is determined, put it into context, and see what it means for your Social Security benefits going forward. Another number affected by the cost-of-living adjustment is the earnings test threshold. We cover about how much you can earn in 2019 without having benefits withh...

In this episode Nik and Brian discuss the "yield curve," what it is, and why it may be a good predictor of coming recessions... even though it doesn't tell us exactly when a recession may hit or how bad it may be. In August, a brief inversion of the yield curve between 10 Year treasury rate and 2 year treasury rate, which rattled equity markets. Tracking # 1-882558 Music Attribution...

Markets don't like uncertainly, but thanks to the trade skirmish between the US and China, they are getting a heavy dose of it now. In this episode Brian and Ryan discuss whether a trade deal between the US and China is still possible, what might motivate the two countries to reach an agreement, and what the effects would be on markets if a deal was reached..... or if one isn't. Tracking...

Have you ever thought about retiring early? No.... we mean REALLY early. If so, the "FIRE" movement could be for you. In this episode we discuss what the FIRE movement is, how people are using this money management philosophy to try and retire super early, and how realistic the FIRE scenario really is.  Tracking # 1-879324 Music Attribution: Hopeful Start by John Bartman, License CC BY-S...