Blog

Summertime Checkup

Summer’s here, and the time is right for vacations, outdoor activities, and fun. It’s also a good time to consider a few financial matters. Here are some questions to ask yourself mid-year.Goals still the same for 2022? Has...

Weekly Market Insights: Markets Rally; Earnings Better Than Expected

Undaunted by another Fed rate hike and news of a contracting economy, the stock market rallied last week on better-than-expected corporate earnings.The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 2.97%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500...

Lower the cost of your life insurance.

The Fed Makes Its Move

Rising Rates & Your Account

Weekly Market Insights: Hawkish Fed; Stocks Retreat

2022 Contribution Limits

Weekly Market Insights: Fed Tightens Money Policy

Merry Christmas

May the spirit of the season fill you and your loved ones with joy, and may your celebrations be warm, merry, and bright! Copyright FMG Suite

Fallout from the Chinese Property Market

There’s a famous saying about a hurricane starting from a butterfly flapping its wings on the other side of the world. That “butterfly effect” is certainly happening in terms of the Chinese property market’s...

Weekly Market Insights: Will the Fed Taper in 2021?

Stocks turned lower last week amid the increasing probability of a Fed tapering, mixed economic data, and growing concerns about the economic impact of the Delta variant.The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.11%, while the...

Weekly Market Insights: Modest Losses After Choppy Week

Rising bond yields and improving economic conditions led to a choppy week of trading that ended in modest losses for investors.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.46%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 declined 0.77%. The...

Weekly Market Insights: Is Stimulus Near?

Stocks marched higher last week on an improving outlook for the passage of a fiscal stimulus package.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.03%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 tacked on 1.67%. The Nasdaq Composite index...

Weekly Market Insights: New Infections Increase Anxiety

Despite news of another COVID-19 vaccine candidate, stocks were mixed amid investor anxiety over an increase in new infections and economic lockdowns.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.73%, while the Standard & Poor’s...

Election 2020: Biden’s Policy Initiatives

Now that several major news groups have projected Joe Biden the winner of the presidential election—and Congress appears divided with Democrats in control of the House and Republicans the Senate—it’s a good time to...

Weekly Market Insights: Markets React to Election

Stocks soared last week as investors anticipated that a split Congress would raise legislative hurdles to changing corporate taxes and adjusting regulatory oversight of big technology companies.The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped...

Weekly Market Insights: No Stimulus, Stocks Lag

Stock prices dropped last week as hopes for a fiscal stimulus bill faded and investors focused on rising COVID-19 infections, here and abroad.The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 6.47%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500...

Election 2020: Managing Your Emotions

It’s a startling statistic.45% of consumers with $100,000 or more investable assets expect to make changes to their investments due to the upcoming 2020 presidential election.1Second-guessing your investment strategy is natural,...

Election 2020: Economic Issues in the Crosshairs

It should come as no surprise to hear the economy is the top issue for voters in the 2020 election. Nearly 8 in ten voters say that the economy will be very important to them when they cast their votes.1But when voters say...

2020 RMD Income Tax Relief is possible

Are you one of the many retirement account holders who took a mandatory distribution this year? If so, you may be able to manage the taxes associated with Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from traditional IRAs and 401(k)s. There...

What is Reg BI?

Recently, you may have heard that financial industry regulators established a new set of rules designed to guide investors who work with an investment professional. This new set of rules is called “Regulation Best...

30-year Home Loans Fall to Historic Lows

Lately, it can feel like each day brings a new headline about fluctuating market behavior. But amid the ups and downs of 2020, there may be some potential good news on the horizon. On July 16, 2020, the interest rate for a 30-year...

Weekly Market Insights: Stocks See a Mixed Week

Stocks were mixed last week as investors reacted to positive economic data, progress on a COVID-19 vaccine, and the continued nationwide increase in COVID-19 cases.The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.29%, while the Standard...

Working from home

work from home

Well I get to be famous

My wife barges into my little sanctuary of a home office and announces that she needs photos of someone working for home for her advertising piece and the next thing you know, I am a star in a ad for copiers. LOL. I guess if that's the...

With the extension of tax season there are opportunities

IRAs play an important role in helping you achieve your long-term financial goals and with the extension of tax season, this window of opportunity remains open. On March 18, 2020, in response to the President’s COVID-19 Emergency...

Had to breakout this morning

Well for the first time in forever, I left the house and went to Walmart to pick up our order. We got milk, eggs and vegetables but I see some people are still buying mountains of food, There were a couple of people buying so much that...

Today’s recipe home made cinnamon rolls

While we are on lockdown. I decided to get creative and drag out the bread machine. .A quick search on the internet gave me the basic recipe and I modified it as follows: Ingredients For the Cinnamon Roll Dough: 1 cup milk 1 large egg...

Coronavirus Relief Bill

The markets are up this morning on the news that the government is close to passing a 1.6 trillion corona virus relief bill. As I am writing this the S&P 500 index is up over 6.7% and the DOW index is over 7.6%.

Taxes Delayed 90 Days

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, taxes are delayed 90 days... You can still file early but if you need the extra time you have till July 15th 2020 to pay the tax man.

Working from home

It's been a crazy two weeks. As a country, we have reached a spot none of us have seen before. As families and individual we have locked ourselves away and practiced "social distancing". The grocery stores are empty and everyone is...

ISC Coronavirus Update

I know we are all worried about the corona virus and what it is doing to our brokerage and retirement accounts. Scott is ISC's President and he has put this in pretty plain language in his blog and I wanted to share this with you....

Update on Coronavirus

It is official today, many of you are going to be experiencing workplace disruption because of your employer’s corona virus policies. Many of you are already going to be working remotely and many more of your employers are...

End of the Bull Market?

This could be the official end of the long running bull market. If you are watching the news: OPEC had a fight between Russia and Saudi Arabia sinking oil prices overnight. It was a violent selloff and oil was down 20% on this jump....

Corona Virus

I received the following information from one of our friends at Fidelity. This is a very well written article expressing Fidelities views on the corona virus. Coronavirus and Stocks in Perpsective : https://institutional.fidelity...

The Secure Act

The government made some changes to the way retirement plans are handled going forward. Somethings to know: 1. You may be able to delay taking RMDs until age 72. 2. There will be no more stretch IRAs. 3. Even if you are over 70.5 years...

Congratulations

Congratulations to Lori Arnold, the winner of our Olive Garden gift card, at Vernon colleges spring semester commencement. We hope you enjoy a great meal.

AND THE EXECUTOR IS

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger is famous for more than just his time on the bench. When he died in 1995, he left a 176-word will that gave no specific power to his executors.1 As a result, he reportedly cost his estate tens...

Another Fall Recipe - Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese

My Family loves Macaroni and Cheese. I am talking the nasty Kraft powdered orange cheese facsimile. They will eat that stuff by the case from Sam's club. You can guess my opinion on that kind of Mac and Cheese and I have been working...

How to Ask for Gifts to a 529 Account

Sending my son off to college has been on my mind lately. I have a 16 year old son and like most parents of 16 year old boys, I am trying to get him to think farther ahead than his next video game. As his parent, I realize that these...

Before we start making new Years resolutions

Before we start making new years resolutions. It can be a good idea to check and see where we stand on certain issues. If you haven't reviewed your life insurance this year, let's spend a minute and go over it together and see if we...

Just a Fall Recipe

Nothing about financial information here. It’s just that time of year again and I have a real affection for peanut brittle. Here is the recipe I use. 2 c. Sugar 0.5 c. Water 1 tbsp butter 1 c. Corn syrup 2.5 c. Raw peanuts 1 tsp...

Long Term Care Insurance

Probably the second most asked about question with our clients is "What can we do about long term care" QOL Brochure

Free Falls Town Flyers Soccer Game June 29, 2019

I thought this was interesting. The Falls Town Flyers team is having a superhero's night meaning all military, first responders and healthcare workers get in free on June 29

Unclaimed Money

Today as I was reviewing our monthly video that was about to be sent out. I thought you know it has been a while since I did that myself...... What was it you ask? This months video is about looking for unclaimed money. I am sure glad...

The Economic Journey of Your Morning Coffee

This morning 100 million Americans began their day in the same way—drinking their first cup of coffee.¹ Few, if any, took a moment during this morning ritual to contemplate or marvel the complex journey that brought their...

Market Volatility

What do we need to do about volatility in the stock market? We have been hearing more questions on the ups and downs in the stock market in the last few months, than we have in all of the last year. When you look at the talking heads...

9 Facts about Social Security

Tip: How Much? Check your Social Security earnings and see an estimate of your benefits on the website, www.ssa.gov. Social Security’s been a fact of retirement life ever since it was established in 1935. We all think we know how...