The bond market sustained its latest broadside from the U.S. hot economic data warship on Thursday. Not only did the advance reading for 2024 Q1 U.S. GDP come in weaker than expected, but inflation readings also came in hotter than expected.
Pre-tax or Post tax?
A question that I am frequently asked is whether it is better to make retirement account contributions on a pre-tax basis (Traditional) or a post-tax basis (Roth). The answer to this question is highly specific to each individual and their current/future earnings, however we can consider the way think through this question. For all retirement account contributions, you are going …
Economic & Market Report: How Low Can We Go
The long overdue correction has finally arrived. No sooner did the market peak at 5264 on the last trading day of March than the calendar flipped to the start of the second quarter and the market has been moving sustainably to the downside. Now that the correction is underway, how low can we reasonably expect the market to go? Why …
Risk Tolerance
How much risk is appropriate for you to take with your investment portfolio? This is another one of those questions that is difficult to answer as it is highly specific to each individual and their unique situation. I recommend consulting with a fiduciary financial advisor that can help you answer this question for your specific circumstances. However, there are two …
Estate Planning
I am often asked which estate planning documents are necessary vs which documents are less important. The answer is very specific to each person’s individual situation; however I can share a few basic portions of a well rounded estate plan below. This list is not exhaustive and I would recommend consulting with an advisor or an Estate Planning attorney regarding …
Economic & Market Report: Worth Its Weight In Gold
When thinking about portfolio diversification, investor minds often focus on how much in bonds to own against their stock allocations. But as we saw most recently in 2022, limiting our diversification thinking exclusively to these two asset classes can have its limits. The good news is that capital markets offer a variety of highly liquid asset classes that are widely …
Economic & Market Report: Outlook 2024 – 3/4 Pole
Hard to believe the first quarter of 2024 is drawing to a close. As we pass the 3/4 pole in our 8 furlong race through the calendar year, it is worthwhile to assess the key market events that are now behind us and what lies ahead in the horse race to the year-end finish line. Starting gates. A key market …
Economic & Market Report: The Monopolistic Seven
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in conjunction with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general announced an antitrust lawsuit against technology giant Apple. The filing claims that Apple engaged in anticompetitive behavior through its control of the iPhone, resulting in harm to businesses and consumers. This suit is the latest in a series of recent bipartisan antitrust …
Rollovers
In today’s world, people tend to move between employers much more often than they did years ago. One reason is that Pension’s are much less common and have largely been replaced with Defined Contribution (401k, 403b etc.) retirement plans. These plans are an important tool in retirement and they are also quite portable. This post will explain how this works. …
Economic & Market Report: The Ides of March
The middle of March was certainly a bad time of year for Julius Caesar, but what about capital markets? After all, it was almost exactly one year ago when investors were looking directly into the abyss of another potential financial crisis with the sudden unraveling of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and global banking giant Credit Suisse. Where do we …