Objective information about retirement, financial planning and investments

 

Stock Market Highs and Your Retirement

After a significant drop in March of 2020 in the wake of the pandemic, the S&P 500 has staged an amazing recovery. The index finished 2020 with a gain in excess of 18%. So far in 2021, the index is in record territory and has closed at record … [Continue reading]

Financial Fraud – Tips to Protect Yourself

While Bernie Madoff passed away in April of 2021, financial fraud is still very much an issue. Along with the "old fashioned" types of fraud, we now have cybercrime to worry about. Financial fraud is all over the news. Whether high-profile Ponzi … [Continue reading]

Choosing A Financial Advisor? – Ask These 6 Questions

Deciding to hire a financial advisor can be a tough decision for many investors. Once you've made this decision, how do you go about finding the right advisor for you?  Here are six questions to ask when choosing a financial advisor:  How do you … [Continue reading]

4 Reasons to Accept Your Company’s Buyout Offer

Companies will use buyout packages for groups of employees from time-to-time to provide those employees an incentive to leave the company. The company may have a variety of reasons behind their desire to reduce their workforce, such as reducing … [Continue reading]

401(k) Fee Disclosure and the American Funds

With the release and subsequent repeal of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rules for financial advisors dealing with client retirement accounts, much of the focus in recent years has been on the impact on advisors who provide advice to clients for … [Continue reading]

Review Your 401(k) Account

For many of us, our 401(k) plan is our main retirement savings vehicle. The days of a defined benefit pension plan are a thing of the past for most workers and we are responsible for the amount we save for retirement and how we invest that … [Continue reading]

4 Benefits of Portfolio Rebalancing

The past couple of years have been a roller coaster ride in the stock market. The S&P 500 lost 4.38% in 2018 mostly from a poor fourth quarter performance. The market recovered nicely in 2019 with the index posting a 31.49% total return for the … [Continue reading]