The older we get, the more critical it is to ensure our affairs are in order and have an estate plan. But what exactly is an estate plan, and what should be included? Estate Plan Basics An estate plan is the management and organization of your assets should you pass away. It also includes documentation determining who can make medical and financial decisions should you become incapacitated. Most people think that estate planning just includes a will. While a will
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In honor of Military Appreciation Month, we recognize those in the military as well as their families. Military members and their families face one-of-a-kind challenges, such as deployment to conflict zones, overseas assignments, and the constancy of change – all of which make dedicating time to personal finance a challenge. Luckily, there are special tax breaks and other benefits unique to service members. Follow these five tips to take advantage of potential benefits and simplify your military family’s personal finances.
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When you created your investment strategy, your asset allocation reflected your goals, time horizon, and tolerance for risk. Over time, however, any of these three factors may have changed, and your portfolio may need adjustments to reflect your new investing priorities. Diversification The saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” has some application to investing. Over time, certain asset classes may perform better than others. If your assets are mostly held in one kind of investment, you could
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Markets Have Worst Quarter Since 1Q2020 Global equity markets had a volatile first quarter, ending down for the quarter, as March was not enough to make up for the poor returns from January and February. Additionally, the bond market suffered its worst quarter since 1980. For the first quarter of 2022: The DJIA was down 5.2% The S&P 500 was down 5.5% NASDAQ was down 10.2% The Russell 2000 was down 8.9% The themes that drove market performance in the
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There’s a growing bipartisan push to prohibit members of Congress from buying or selling stocks. The shift follows news reports that several senators sold stocks shortly after receiving coronavirus briefings in early 2020 and that at least 57 lawmakers have failed to disclose financial transactions since 2012 as required by law. Congress passed that law – the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, also known as the STOCK Act – in 2012 to fight insider trading among lawmakers with increased
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Wall Street has little recent history to go from, but at least two things are possible Starting in late 2021 and throughout all of 2022, Wall Street has debated what markets might do if Russia invades Ukraine. On February 11th, Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Adviser, warned that Russia could attack Ukraine any day now and the following day President Biden and Putin spoke on the phone. After that call, the White House said that Biden “was clear
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Planning ahead can help turn a stressful retirement into a successful one The day before the AFC and NFC Championships were played on Sunday, ESPN broke news that Tom Brady was officially retiring from football. Well, by the time Sunday night ended and football fans knew that the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals would play each other in Super Bowl LVI on February 13th, it was later reported that Brady told the Tampa Bay Bucs he’s still not sure
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Year In Review 2021 was another year filled with concern, whether it was the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation, or the Federal Reserve and interest rates. Even with that uncertainty, the US markets still had a very strong performance and by the end of the year: The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 20.95% The S&P 500 ended with a gain of 28.71% The NASDAQ was up 22.18% At the beginning of 2021, few investors expected these types of returns. However,
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A pre-retirement checklist to make early (or earlier) retirement a reality As we approach the New Year, maybe the dream of an early retirement starts to take shape in your mind. Maybe you’re researching when you might first qualify for Social Security retirement benefits (hint: for Social Security income, the youngest age when you can apply is 61 years and nine months old – you would then receive your first Social Security check four months later – one month after your
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As we head for the last trading weeks of 2021, we start thinking about 2022 The January Effect was first noticed by investment banker Sidney Wachtel in 1942 and the theory proposes that a pattern existed in the price of stocks in the last few trading days of December and the first few weeks of January. During this period, particularly starting in January, the theory is that stocks – especially smaller cap stocks – tended to rise. Studies Confirmed –
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