So, I say it every four years, and I’ll say it again. The US President is one person whose job cannot last more than 8 total years. This person does not in the long term affect the worldwide economy. Therefore, and ergo, for the sake of your own sanity and that of your financial advisor,…
What is a secret blunder lurking in many people’s investment accounts? Uninvested cash left sitting for months, years, even decades. How does this happen? A simple misunderstanding upon transferring or adding new money to brokerage accounts. Here is how money gets invested in a brokerage account: Here is what often happens: …
Great news! The IRS has clarified a part of the Secure 2.0 Act (only took two years) and now employees can more easily than ever raid their 401(k) plans. That’s right, once per year, you can take out money from your active 401(k) plan up to $1,000 without having to prove a specific hardship. You…
Yep, it’s time again to remind dear readers that the stock market isn’t a living thing that hates you. It’s a place where people exchange shares of companies based on a price buyers and sellers think is fair at the moment. The only bad emotion in the stock market the regret felt by those who…
Over the last couple of years in a higher interest rate environment, the appeal of I Bonds went from Zero (kind of like their returns prior to 2021) to Kardashian-level break-the-internet appeal. Many clients have asked if they should get on that train. My answer – as always – is “it depends.” Last week’s blog…
After many years of low inflation, starting in 2021 I Bonds began having their moment. So, here is a primer on how I Bonds work (today’s blog) and how you might use them in your portfolio (next week – that’s right, a two-part cliffhanger blog!) I Bonds are a type of U.S. Treasury savings bond…
Thanks to alert reader and all around supportive husband Sean Sullivan for showing me this graphic from Visual Capitalist illustrating how much income it takes to live comfortably in each state. This is helpful in my business, because often clients talk about relocating to a less expensive place to live. But what does…
I’ll make this quick: Roth Conversions for people entering retirement are often not the best idea, despite what you read in (numerous, unending, relentless) articles in financial media. Yes, some of you may have outsized buckets of tax-deferred money, which means you did a great job saving in tax-deferred retirement accounts when that was the…
Waaayyyy back in the day, when I worked for a large discount brokerage that shall remain unnamed, but was headquartered in Boston, and still shall remain unnamed, management introduced a groundbreaking new software called the Retirement Income Planner. The irony that our new offering for those transitioning to retirement was called R.I.P. was not lost…
Have you ever wondered why your financial advisor describes your retirement readiness in terms of a known gambling mecca? Is he or she so uncertain of their advice, that they are actually saying it’s all just a crap shoot? It might help to explain the progression of retirement projection techniques by giving a little history.…
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