The October 9, 2017, issue of The New Yorker included a shocking article titled “How the Elderly Lose Their Rights.” The author, Rachel Aviv, was interviewed by National Public Radio. This article should be read carefully by everyone who is 65 or older, and by everyone who has a relative who is 65 or older. […]
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Year End Pre-Review
The S&P 500 finished the week at 2,675.81, another new high. Year-to-date, the index is up 19.52% and if the year had ended on Friday it would have been the 4th largest calendar year gain for the index so far in this century. If the index can at least hold onto its current month-to-date gain […]
Read MorePaying for investment advice
Investment advisors may be compensated in several ways. In some cases, they charge clients a fee for their advice. Sometimes they earn commissions from the investment products their clients buy based upon that advice. Life insurance is sold on commission, for example. Sometimes the advisor may earn both fees and commissions. Trust departments and trust […]
Read MoreRecent Past Performance is No Guarantee…
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 […]
Read MoreInsurance 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 […]
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