Forecast Frenzy ‘Tis the season when financial institutions provide their forecasts for the coming year.  Several firms have already published their forecast. RBC and several other firms believe the S&P 500 will make new records in 2024. Whereas Wells Fargo and others have differing opinions. Wells Fargo’s forecast for 2024 said, “It’s really hard to…

Help! I Can’t Make Roth IRA Contributions Anymore Have you noticed that you can’t make direct Roth IRA contributions once your income gets too high? Whether you are filing taxes as Single or Married Filing Jointly there are “Income Limits” for who can contribute to a Roth IRA. Roth 401(k) Has No Income Limits However,…

Timely Economic Perspectives Recently the Wall Street Journal ran with a headline about “Quadruple Threats”1 to the economy. Not to be outdone, on the same day, Marketwatch.com posted an image highlighting five current threats to the economy. These threats are made to be, and can be, concerning. I break down the threats below to help…

Advisor says you cannot retire? Do you currently work with a financial advisor? What do you do when your financial advisor says you cannot retire? Just keep working? Have they told you to NOT RETIRE but just keep on working? Learn the key questions your Financial Advisor should be asking you before they provide a…

ABC’s of Successful Investing As the kids have gone back to school, it is a good time to review the ABCs of successful investing. A – Adjust Your Expectations Expect that stock market selloffs, which are normal, will occur quite regularly – it’s just the nature of beast. But historically the losses have been temporary.…

The Retirement Planning Gem Have you heard of the Health Savings Account (HSA)? Or as I like to call it, the retirement planning gem. This is NOT the Flex Savings Account (FSA) that is use it or lose it! The use it or KEEP it account! This is the use it or KEEP it account…

Timing the Market Why is it that many investors feel the urge to time the stock market? Consider the following… Since 1950, stocks have been in a bull market 83% of the time – despite all the crises and declines.1 You would think investors would be happy with that kind of result. But that isn’t…

Stock Market Returns Are NOT What You Think What would you guess is the S&P 500 average annualized return from January 1, 2000 to January 1, 2020? Would you think 9%? Maybe 10%? Heard 12% on the radio? Maybe you heard 12% on the radio? Reality is much more sobering: 6.2% average annualized return for…

The Magnificence of Diversification Diversification is often defined as “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” It’s something we do to reduce volatility and manage risk. But there is another reason to diversify. We diversify in an attempt to increase the return on our investments. Diversification provides opportunity for investors to both reduce risk…

Bank Failures Are More Common Than You Think Check out this link to learn more about the almost 600 bank failures in the past 23 years! Bank failures are more common than you think and you can use this link below to review on your own. Check Out This FDIC Link You can learn more…