Our Weekend Word

Several kinds of taxes may be due shortly after a family member’s death. During this emotional time, it’s often worthwhile to employ a tax professional to alert you and the family to important deadlines. You can help the tax professional—and potentially save time and money—if you understand what needs to be done.

The finance industry is constantly changing.   Between regulations, technological improvements, product evolution and industry sentiments everything is seemingly in a state of flux.  

Industry sentiment is one that tends to be the most difficult to manage.  Everyone has thoughts and feelings and we don’t always agree, but occasionally these sentiments become magnified for better or worse.  One product has a long history of being disparaged, potentially unfairly.

By now, most people are familiar with 529 plans as a tax efficient way to save for college expenses. One thing that keeps people from contributing, however, is the feeling that you’re getting a raw deal if you don’t use the money for college.   

In previous renditions of the Weekend Word we have discussed the various changes facing the industry and our general stance, and place with in them.  As these topics have become more prevalent more and more articles are being written about “Questions You Should Ask Your Advisor”.  So, we thought we would take the time today to answer some of those burning questions.

Retirement was once broken down to us in three stages: The Go Go years, Slow Go years, and then No Go years.

When we first think about retirement planning we think about the Go Go years, because that’s what we look forward to and its closest to the lives we’ve become familiar with.  The final two stages could mean a lot of change and can weigh on people as they inevitably approach.

Many of you who know us have probably heard us say that the bond market is much smarter than the stock market. So, we don’t put much value in stock market jitters, but when the bond market speaks, we listen. And right now, the bond market isn’t screaming, but it is clearing its throat.

This is an interesting time in the world of finance.  We have volatility back trying to make up for lost time, talk of trade wars, virtual currencies, tax reform and countless others.  Most articles nowadays are either overly negative, beating a dead horse or just fluff designed to grab your attention. So, as you can imagine looking for Weekend Word topics of late has been challenging to say the least.  In my attempts to find a topic for this week I stumbled across a very interesting chart that I thought was worth sharing.

On March 1, 2018, President Trump announced that the U.S. plans to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Markets around the world were shocked by the news, with major U.S. indices declining more than 1 percent just when it looked like they were recovering from the February downturn. Why did markets react so strongly? Is this a more serious threat going forward? In a word, yes.

First, let’s define what’s going on and why it matters.

It’s that time of year again and Aaron, our resident baseball expert, is champing at the bit for the upcoming season.  

There is little more instantly satisfying than shopping online.  You skip the crowds, have access to countless reviews and have it delivered to your door in no time. Couple that with the ability to occasionally avoid that pesky 6.5%^† sales tax and it seems like a no brainer.  I mean who doesn’t want to get an instant 6.5%^† discount on a purchase?