Financial + Investment + Retirement Blog

Downturns and volatility are part of investing, just as winds and waves are part of being at sea. As investors, we can’t control markets, but we can control how we set up our portfolios and how we react.

Inflation concerns are really about the negative impact of unexpected inflation on the real value of your invested wealth. An asset is therefore most useful as an inflation hedge when its nominal returns move closely with unexpected inflation

Market expectations associated with election outcomes are embedded in security prices. Investors are individually and collectively assigning probabilities on these and other inputs as they agree to buy and sell securities in the market, building expectations about the future into market prices.

The last few weeks have produced many examples of a stark contrast between stock market performance and economic indicators. So why the apparent disconnect?

We can’t tell you when things will turn or by how much, but our expectation is that bearing today’s risk will be compensated with positive expected returns. That’s been a lesson of past health crises, such as the Ebola and swine-flu outbreaks earlier this century, and of market disruptions, such as the global financial crisis of 2008–2009.

Among many SECURE Act provisions, the law allows savers to delay required distributions, make penalty-free withdrawals for certain expenses, and offers new tax incentives for small-business retirement plans.

As 2019 draws to a close, it is time to consider year-end financial planning strategies and begin considering what approach to take for 2020.

HSA plans offer triple tax-free benefits: money is deposited on a pre-tax basis, grows tax-free and can be withdrawn without paying taxes as long as the money is spent on health and medical expenses. In addition, an HSA does not require future Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) at age 70 ½ like IRAs and 401(k)s.

Even though 529 plans are evolving into estate planning tools and expanding to cover K-12 costs, their original purpose as a savings plan for college will continue to be their primary benefit.

Investors should understand that IPOs have generally underperformed broader market benchmarks in recent decades and their fundamental characteristics suggest lower expected returns.