Yields on Treasuries debt with maturities of one year and longer declined leaving the yield on the benchmark 10-Year Note at 2.05% on Friday. The S&P 500 finished the week fractionally lower as investors processed new information with regard to threats from North Korea, the damage and rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey and potential threats from […]
Read MoreUpdates
Three questions to ask yourself before you retire
As you near the end of the final lap of your working years, and begin scanning the retirement horizon, you are likely to be seeking the information that you need to ensure a secure financial future. Here, we touch on three of the most important questions that you should be asking yourself as you transition […]
Read MoreSeptember Sale
Interest rates, as measured by Treasury instruments, were generally flat for the week. Stocks advanced with the S&P 500 gaining 1.37%. Gold rose 3% to its highest level since October 2016. As we move into September, historically the worst month for stocks, it will be interesting to watch for a turn in psychology sufficient to […]
Read More529 Plans: Advanced Questions
The cost of higher education and the burden of education loans upon recent graduates continues to be a recurring theme. Families with higher incomes have addressed these costs by contributing to tax-preferred savings vehicles, such as the 529 plan (named for a section of the tax code). We’re reasonably confident that 529 plans are here […]
Read MoreAging in place
The percentage of Americans over 85 is growing steadily, and with it a new conundrum: Where will the elderly live? For a growing number of folks who are still healthy, the answer is “right at home.” According to the federal Consumer Expenditure Survey, from 1987 to 2003 the percentage of persons over age 85 living […]
Read MoreRetirement is Not the End of Your Time Horizon
In my experience, common misconceptions investors have deal with their understanding of their investment time horizon. They tend to plan as though their horizons end at retirement or at age 70-1/2 when required minimum distributions from retirement accounts must begin. It is true, our goals, tolerance for risk, return objectives and allocations should be reviewed […]
Read MorePlanning for a long life
Not many years ago, the typical retirement age, 65, was viewed as the onset of old age. Today, gerontologists define matters differently: If you’re between the ages of 65 and 74, you are one of the “young-old.” To be considered “old”, you need to be in the 75-to-84 age bracket. After that, you’re known, demographically, […]
Read MoreRetirement Strategies
As we pass through the dog days of summer, the month of August is barely hanging onto a gain as of Friday’s close. The financial media is reporting the market in August is on track to be the worst of the year. No matter how August finishes, clear thinking investors know none of this month’s […]
Read MoreFeuding heirs
“I sincerely ask that all beneficiaries are sensible and do not argue.” This wish, expressed by Australian coal-mining billionaire Ken Talbot in his will, has gone unfulfilled. Talbot’s will was drafted in 2002, when his fortune was estimated at $130 million. At his death in an airplane accident in the Congo in 2010, his wealth […]
Read MoreSecurity and Securities in an Insecure World
One of the greatest investors, economists and educators of all time began his lecture, Securities in an Insecure World, with the following statement: In the field of financial security, as limited to the problems of investment policy, I would say there are three kinds of threats or dangers that investors should recognize as possibly existing […]
Read More