Month: January 2017

Accumulating wealth for retirement involves more than investment returns. Much of one’s good work in this area can be lost if the account owner does not understand rules for retirement accounts spelled out in the tax code. The penalties are steep. Chris English begins an explanation of these concerns in his piece, Q & A […]

BTN Research recently pointed out the worst day for the S&P 500 last year generated a loss of 3.6% which was a greater loss than the worst year for the bond market at any time over the last 40 years (1977 -2016). That statistic points out the usefulness of an allocation to fixed income categories […]

The market predictions for 2017 are out. One of our resolutions for each year should be to remind ourselves to take these exciting forecasts with a grain of salt. For an example of the lack of value in these calendar year predictions, one need look back just eight years to the beginning of 2008. The […]

The first four trading days of January got the market off to a good start for the year and the January Barometer followers are again touting the success of their indicator. Proponents claim since 1950, the direction of the market for the year has been predicted by the direction of the market during the month […]

When the Federal Estate Tax exemption amount rose above the old $600,000 per person level (the 2017 exemption amount will be $5.49 million per person), many individuals erroneously decided revocable trusts were no longer necessary in their estate plans. There are many reasons not related to estate taxes for considering a revocable living trust in […]