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Financial Wellness Is Wellness
Wellness, in all its many facets, is increasingly becoming part of daily life. It’s a holistic, whole-life approach that involves optimizing our physical, mental and emotional fitness. The goal is to have a healthy, fulfilling, active life with joyful relationships and experiences.
Taking time for self-care and accessing resources to help you are all popular methods to achieve wellness. What’s often missing is the financial dimension. Even worse, finances may be seen as in opposition to achieving wellness, as a scarcity or saving mindset may mean making sacrifices rather than choices.
The Roth-Only Catch-Up Contribution Rule Will Get Time to Catch Up
The SECURE 2.0 Act, which was passed in December 2022, made a significant change to the IRS catch-up contribution rules. The catch-up contribution allows those aged 50 and above to contribute an additional $7,500 to an employer-sponsored pre-tax retirement plan.
SECURE 2.0 tied that contribution to income level, requiring individuals earning $145,000 and up to make that contribution to a Roth account with after-tax dollars.
SECURE 2.0 tied that contribution to income level, requiring individuals earning $145,000 and up to make that contribution to a Roth account with after-tax dollars.
Women and (Their Own) Business
Starting and growing a business brings unique challenges. For many entrepreneurs, the main focus is keeping things ticking over for now and the immediate future. The planning required to ensure that the business will be a source of wealth over the long term can take time and effort. For women-owned businesses, there is an additional level of complexity as women’s financial journeys follow a different trajectory.
August Market Commentary: The Sunny Side of the Street?
Data releases in July told a story of a stronger-than-expected economy, with headline CPI falling and the labor market remaining robust.
The doom-and-gloom scenario of an all-but-inevitable recession seemed to be replaced by something that looked like optimism around the prospect of a soft landing. Even Fed Chairman Powell, in the press conference after the FOMC meeting in mid-July, softened his language by referencing a “noticeable slowdown,” as compared to the previous language on recession.
The doom-and-gloom scenario of an all-but-inevitable recession seemed to be replaced by something that looked like optimism around the prospect of a soft landing. Even Fed Chairman Powell, in the press conference after the FOMC meeting in mid-July, softened his language by referencing a “noticeable slowdown,” as compared to the previous language on recession.
Understanding Alternative Investments
Alternative investments are simply investment products designed to differ from stocks, bonds, and cash. They were developed decades ago and have long been used by institutional and high-net-worth investors to diversify existing portfolio holdings.
Today’s alternative strategies are offered in more easily accessible structures, making them available to many more investors.
Today’s alternative strategies are offered in more easily accessible structures, making them available to many more investors.
Student Loan Repayments Get Easier with the SAVE Plan
After being on hiatus throughout the pandemic, federal student loan repayments will begin again in October. While loan forgiveness on a broad scale doesn’t look like it will be happening, a new plan, called the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan (SAVE), will replace the Revised Pay As You Earn Plan (REPAYE). The SAVE plan has some key provisions that can lower monthly payments and also provide a path to some loan forgiveness.
July Market Commentary: The Fed Takes a Micro-Holiday
June Recap and July Outlook
The Fed finally hit “pause” on interest rate increases in June after fifteen months and ten consecutive rate hikes. The “dot-plot” indicated that Fed officials think two further increases may be necessary in 2023, and it’s become clear that it is only a brief pause
The Fed finally hit “pause” on interest rate increases in June after fifteen months and ten consecutive rate hikes. The “dot-plot” indicated that Fed officials think two further increases may be necessary in 2023, and it’s become clear that it is only a brief pause
Health Savings Accounts Just Got More Powerful
Healthcare is one of the biggest expenses in retirement. Medicare doesn’t cover everything, and healthcare costs tend to increase over time. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) were created to help people put aside money for the expense of healthcare in retirement – and thanks to inflation, they can now be even more beneficial.
A Quick Mid-Year Financial Check-Up to Keep You on Track
The first six months of the year have seen a volatile equity market and increasing interest rates, and despite the Fed’s recent pause, we’re likely to see more of the same in the next six months. With inflation still high and the Fed articulating a plan to keep putting the brakes on the economy, the potential for recession is back in the headlines.
June Market Commentary: A Hot Labor Market Complicates the Fed’s Timeline
May Recap and June Outlook
Debt Deadlines, Defaults and Downgrades
The debt ceiling is making news again. Will Congress raise it? Will the U.S. make history by defaulting on our government debt?
If it seems like this a story you’ve heard before, that’s because it is. Over the past decade, there have been seven occasions where we’ve seen negotiations (or lack thereof) over the debt ceiling come uncomfortably close to Congress’s deadline to act.
If it seems like this a story you’ve heard before, that’s because it is. Over the past decade, there have been seven occasions where we’ve seen negotiations (or lack thereof) over the debt ceiling come uncomfortably close to Congress’s deadline to act.
May Market Commentary: The End of a Fed Cycle?
The biggest news in the Fed’s statement after their meeting on May 3 was what it didn’t say.
The Fed’s statement from March contained the language “the Committee anticipates that some additional policy firming may be appropriate” for the Fed to achieve its 2% inflation goal.”
The Fed’s statement from March contained the language “the Committee anticipates that some additional policy firming may be appropriate” for the Fed to achieve its 2% inflation goal.”
Financial Capability Beyond April
April is Financial Capability Month, an initiative that started in 2004 as “Financial Literacy” and has evolved over the last 20 years.
April Market Commentary: All’s Well That Ends Well? Not So Fast…
March Recap and April Outlook
Equity markets, using the S&P 500 index return as a proxy, at first glance appear to have shrugged off the mid-month drama of multiple domestic, regional bank failures and the forced sale of a massive Swiss bank.
Equity markets, using the S&P 500 index return as a proxy, at first glance appear to have shrugged off the mid-month drama of multiple domestic, regional bank failures and the forced sale of a massive Swiss bank.
How Do You Create Lasting Wealth?
For most people, steady, ongoing work is the foundation of their wealth. Career success and a good salary, or building and growing your own business, is the means to a lifestyle you enjoy now and the promise of a stable financial future.
Women Investors Seek Goals, Not Just Gains
Women investors have unique strengths. Over the last few years, several studies have found that women investors outperform men significantly. The first of these, by the University of California at Berkeley, found that women outperformed by a full percentage point over a six-year period
CNET Money: The Fed's Ninth Straight Rate Hike Comes After Banking Chaos. Experts Unpack What's Next
InvestEdge Planning contributes to this article with CNET Money. Read the article here...
March Market Commentary: Why Aren’t Rate Hikes Working?
February Recap and March Outlook
If there’s an aphorism for February that you could embroider on a pillow, it would be, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Markets appear to have finally started taking Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s warnings seriously and caught up to the rhetoric that the Fed has been consistently pushing out. Rates will be higher for longer, yields went up, bond prices fell, and equity markets finally acknowledged that the pivot was nowhere in sight.
If there’s an aphorism for February that you could embroider on a pillow, it would be, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Markets appear to have finally started taking Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s warnings seriously and caught up to the rhetoric that the Fed has been consistently pushing out. Rates will be higher for longer, yields went up, bond prices fell, and equity markets finally acknowledged that the pivot was nowhere in sight.
Setting Your Business Strategy for 2023: New Challenges, More Opportunities
With record-setting and inflation and a red-hot labor market that turned hiring to support your business into a competitive sport, last year seemed about ten years long. Will we see a return to normal this year? The Fed may have something to say about it. The messaging is clear that lower inflation is the priority, not the economy. The “soft landing” may be possible, but a recession seems more likely.
How can business owners plan for another year in which full recovery may still not be in place?
Break down the challenges
Identify strategies
Be realistic
Access the resources you need
How can business owners plan for another year in which full recovery may still not be in place?
Break down the challenges
Identify strategies
Be realistic
Access the resources you need
February Market Commentary: Powell’s Not Done
January Recap and February Outlook
The market adage is “as January goes, so goes the year.” Is it true? According to an analysis by Fidelity, January returns are positive about 75% of the time the full year turns out positive.
The rally was certainly a relief after last year’s dismal performance, and while stocks and bonds are still positively correlated, the return to solid bond performance at least means the 60/40 has a chance of righting the ship.
But the data continues to be open to interpretation. Strong economic indicators like employment, a better-than-expected earnings season, and consumer spending don’t seem to match up to the very rapid change in GDP expectations.
The market adage is “as January goes, so goes the year.” Is it true? According to an analysis by Fidelity, January returns are positive about 75% of the time the full year turns out positive.
The rally was certainly a relief after last year’s dismal performance, and while stocks and bonds are still positively correlated, the return to solid bond performance at least means the 60/40 has a chance of righting the ship.
But the data continues to be open to interpretation. Strong economic indicators like employment, a better-than-expected earnings season, and consumer spending don’t seem to match up to the very rapid change in GDP expectations.
Recession, Recovery, or Both?
The markets are starting to feel like Groundhog Day. Almost every month, it’s a cadence of employment numbers, CPI, Fed — market reacts.
With inflation starting to trend down, even if only slightly, optimism has been making a comeback. That means moving our analogy to another charming rodent. It seems like the Fed is playing whack-a-mole with coordinated statements designed to tamp down expectations for a rate cut anytime soon. The Fed wants to keep asset prices lower to aid in slowing the economy and help it get inflation under control.
Avoiding the Big Retirement Risks
January Market Commentary: The Fed Goes Meta
December Recap and January Outlook
While the equity markets, as measured by the S&P 500 index, was up in the third quarter, December was a disappointment from the gains seen in October and November. There’s no understating the volatility seen in the market this year. For context, Dow Jones Market Data indicates that the S&P saw more market moves of 2% (both up and down) in 2022 than in 2020. The 46 moves over the 2% threshold are approximately four times the 10-year average of 11.3.
Inflation is dropping, if slowly. Employment is lower, but strong, which is supportive of the economy, and GDP returned to positive. What’s causing the volatility? Many factors are in play, but arguably the largest is the Federal Reserve’s moves on interest rates, and the messaging from Chairman Powell and the Fed Governors.
While the equity markets, as measured by the S&P 500 index, was up in the third quarter, December was a disappointment from the gains seen in October and November. There’s no understating the volatility seen in the market this year. For context, Dow Jones Market Data indicates that the S&P saw more market moves of 2% (both up and down) in 2022 than in 2020. The 46 moves over the 2% threshold are approximately four times the 10-year average of 11.3.
Inflation is dropping, if slowly. Employment is lower, but strong, which is supportive of the economy, and GDP returned to positive. What’s causing the volatility? Many factors are in play, but arguably the largest is the Federal Reserve’s moves on interest rates, and the messaging from Chairman Powell and the Fed Governors.
The SECURE 2.0 Act Has Created Some Retirement Planning Opportunities
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 makes it easier to accumulate retirement savings at every stage of the financial journey. But the Act also took steps to potentially enhance retirement savings for those close to or in retirement. Required minimum distributions (RMDs) can be burdensome from both an income and a tax planning perspective. The Act creates some breathing room by extending the age at which RMDs kick in and builds in some opportunities to prepare a multi-year plan to maximize income and minimize taxes.
SECURE 2.0 Act Enhancements Across the Retirement Continuum
It’s not the most imaginatively named legislation, but the SECURE 2.0 Act expands the 2019 SECURE Act to make it easier to have a successful retirement. The legislation tackled retirement savings at several points on the financial journey, with a provision to enhance or facilitate saving and investing for almost everyone.
Whether you have student loans, need to catch up in the final years before retirement, are facing taking required minimum distributions in retirement, or want to enact a charitable giving strategy, new rules create a smoother path.
Combining all the different facets into one piece of comprehensive retirement legislation is an efficient way to enact changes, but it’s also a good reminder that retirement is never a “one-and-done.”
Whether you have student loans, need to catch up in the final years before retirement, are facing taking required minimum distributions in retirement, or want to enact a charitable giving strategy, new rules create a smoother path.
Combining all the different facets into one piece of comprehensive retirement legislation is an efficient way to enact changes, but it’s also a good reminder that retirement is never a “one-and-done.”
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