Financial Planning
An Introduction to Bond Ladders
Bonds play an important role in a diverse investment portfolio. As fixed-income securities, they can provide a stable return until they mature. As with any investment, bonds are subject to a certain amount of risk. Interest rate risk, for one, is the possibility that interest rates will rise after an investor buys bonds, causing them…
Read MoreIt’s Time to Have “The Estate Plan” Talk
Talking with loved ones about estate planning and inheritance can be challenging, especially as it centers around two difficult topics — money and death. But talking with your adult children about their inheritance can provide significant advantages for you and them. It can help your heirs better prepare for the future and give you a…
Read MoreThe Sequence of Returns Risk in Retirement
Markets go up and down in ways that are not entirely predictable. For long-term investors, what the market is doing in the present isn’t that troubling; they’ve got a long time to ride out potential downturns. But for recent retirees, an ill-timed market downturn can have a negative impact on their nest egg, increasing the…
Read MorePreparing Your College Student for Financial Independence
Making the transition from high-schooler to college student involves dipping their toes in the real world and making important financial decisions. The first piece of this is paying for tuition – whether or not the parents pay, there are scholarships involved, or that student loans are leveraged (55% of students took out loans in 2020).…
Read MoreHow Women Can Overcome Obstacles to Retirement
Women face unique challenges when it comes to employment, income, and caregiving. As a result, they often must take a different approach when it comes to preparing for retirement. Here’s a look at some of the retirement hurdles women face and how to address them. One hurdle that women face is that they still, unfortunately,…
Read MoreHow to Weather a Market Downturn
Long-term investors will experience a number of market downturns over the course of their lives, which can be triggered by everything from natural disasters to political turmoil. So, if you’re investing for retirement or another long-term financial goal, you need to know how to weather a market correction without being thrown off track. Assess what…
Read MoreWhy Investors Should Avoid Overconcentration
A concentrated position in a single stock can happen to investors for many reasons. They may receive company stock as part of their employee compensation package or they may have bought shares of a single company, hoping to choose a big winner. However, it’s unlikely that a single stock will outperform the market as a…
Read MoreLessons from the FIRE Movement
FIRE, which means Financial Independence / Retire Early, is an investment practice and lifestyle that focuses on saving aggressively and spending frugally. While the movement has been around since the 90’s, it has gained more exposure recently as the financial fallout from COVID-19 has more people considering what financial independence and freedom mean. FIRE adherents…
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Local Financial Advisor Completes Advanced Training from America’s IRA Experts at Ed Slott and Company, LLC Members of Ed Slott’s Master Elite IRA Advisor GroupSM Attend Semiannual Workshop on the Latest Retirement Account Planning Strategies, Estate Planning Techniques and Tax Laws Phoenix, AZ – May 31, 2022 – Calvin Goetz, Founder & President of Strategy…
Read MoreNegotiating Workplace Benefits
It’s a job seeker’s market. The Great Resignation, which began in April 2021, has seen many leave their jobs by the millions, often in search of greener pastures. It has also produced a labor crunch, often leaving employers desperate to fill positions across industries. If you’re competent, reliable, and easy to work with, then you’re…
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