The last 10% or greater correction experienced by the market as measured by the S&P 500 ended on February 11, 2016 with a decline of 13.31%. The index has since risen from that low point of 1,829.08 to Friday’s new high close of 2,651.50. Over that 95 week run the index is up 44.96%. Following […]
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Insurance and divorce
Beneficiary designations for life insurance or retirement plans are an often overlooked aspect of estate planning. A change in life circumstances may suggest a need to change those beneficiaries. Beneficiary designations can be the source of estate litigation, as a recent case demonstrates. Ronald and Heidi Lee had been married for ten years when Heidi […]
Read MoreA Pocket Full of Bitcoin
In spite of the already plentiful media commentary on Bitcoin, inquiries about the phenomenon continue to come in. Following is an abbreviated, nontechnical summary of our thoughts on the subject. In brief, if you are not already a regular user of online banking services and you do less than half of your Christmas shopping at […]
Read MoreThankful and Hopeful
The S&P 500 Index finished the week with a close over 2,600, a new high. The 10-Year Treasury Note yield held steady at 2.33% while the yield on the 2-Year continued to edge higher and closed the week yielding 1.75%. The current economic numbers continued to display the U.S growth cycle trudging higher. Get ready […]
Read MoreFederal Estate Taxes
Dear Trust Officer: What is going to happen with federal estate taxes in 2018? —Interested Observer Dear Interested Observer: The IRS has announced that, under current law, the inflation-adjusted exemption from federal estate and gift tax will grow to $5.6 million in 2018. For a married couple, that means a total estate of $11.2 million […]
Read MoreLow Volatility
The lack of volatility is again being discussed as a sign of the end of the bull market. Low volatility by itself is not a danger to markets. Markets become dangerous when low volatility causes investors to become complacent. Long periods of low volatility can lull investors into becoming comfortable with typically risky assets to […]
Read MoreThe Enemies of Investors
Tax policy, interest rates, trade policies, regulatory reform, job growth, consumer spending and finance, technological transformation, and political dysfunction are potentially disruptive. Investors must continuously monitor these and other changing external variables and make corresponding adjustments to their models for the economy and securities markets. These changing variables are part of life, but change is […]
Read MoreThe Framework for Tax Reform
On September 27 President Trump released a nine-page “framework” for new tax legislation. The framework adds some detail to the one-page outlines that had been released earlier by the administration. The new target for the corporate tax is 20% instead of 15%. The “border-adjustable tax” is history. Pass-through entities (used by most small business owners) […]
Read MoreEarnings and Valuations
For the seventh week in a row, the S&P 500 closed at another all-time high. Bullish traders have supported their buying by pointing to what has been a good earnings season. Factset compilations note that with 55% of companies reporting, 76% of S&P 500 companies have reported positive earnings per share surprises and 67% have […]
Read MoreTax-conscious Bequests
The advent of a higher amount exempt from the federal estate tax ($5.49 million in 2017) has reduced the need for tax-aware estate planning, but it has not eliminated it altogether. Estates of any size will be subject to income taxes, as will their beneficiaries. Planning may permit this burden to be reduced. Take charitable […]
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