Blog Posts

ETFs and index mutual funds are emerging as the investment of choice for investors who are discovering the virtues of passive investing. Not surprisingly they have both seen an explosion of growth and are especially popular choices for retirement plans and investors with a long time horizon.

You’re probably aware that there are many options for retirement planning including 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth IRAs, and more. Some of the more common plans are employer-sponsored ones like 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and 457(b)s. These arrangements have higher contribution limits and let employees save for retirement on a post-tax or a tax-deferred basis, which is more typical.

In the realm of investing, few financial instruments have garnered more controversy than annuities. Unquestionably, annuities have their share of critics, especially when they are applied improperly, but, in the right situation, their benefits may be unmatched.

Life insurance and annuities have always been considered to be among the safest of all financial instruments. Even as banks were being shuttered during the Great Depression resulting in people losing their life’s savings, life insurers emerged as the bed rock of financial security.

It is not often that the topics of life insurance and annuities are brought up in the same discussion, primarily because they serve two very distinct purposes. Although they are both products of life insurance companies, life insurance policies are protection against dying too soon, and annuities are protection against living to long.

Intro

If you’ve been investing in stocks or bonds for several years, you may feel like you’re beginning to get a hang of this precarious trade. At this point, you may be making plans to diversify your portfolio or research a more complex investment strategy. But in reality, you should be using this time to get back to the basics.

Intro

With a new bear market settling in, new opportunities for a prosperous investment can feel few and far between. However, this current bear market caused by the COVID-19 crisis feels like a new beast entirely. In many ways, the US’ economy has been turned upside-down by this infectious disease. So, where are you supposed to turn to make an even moderately successful investment?

In the story of Alice in Wonderland, Alice arrives at a fork in the road and wonders aloud which road to take. A smiling Cheshire Cat appears and asks her what her destination is, to which she replies, “I don’t know.” The toothy cat then proffers the only possible response, “Well, then it doesn’t matter.”

Most people think estate planning is only for wealthy people.  Certainly, the 55% of Americans who died without a will thought so, even though all of their estates ended up in probate court subject to the laws of the state.  Sadly, the surviving families were thrust into a situation that resulted in unnecessary distress, expense and, for many of them, devastating financial consequence

If you are the parents or grandparents of a child of any age chances are good that the escalating costs of higher education are on your mind.