The Federal Reserve meets again on June 13th-14th for its periodic Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. This meeting is a critical one. There is a general expectation that the Fed will finally pause historic rate increases at this meeting. To illustrate the point, a May 23rd Forbes...
by Glenn J. Downing, MBA, CFP®
There's a lot of financial stress out there - we hear it from our clients. People who don't have a financial worry in the world are afraid. And, given two high profile bank failures recently and the release of the Durham report last week, I suspect...
How to get a big pay hike
If you want a big pay hike, sometimes the only way you're going to get it is by jumping ship to a new employer who values your skill set and experience and is willing to pay for it. Otherwise you may have to settle for an annual cost of living increase. People...
No More Revenge Spending
There’s a new term out there – revenge spending. When people were hunkered down during COVID, they couldn’t go out to spend. When things opened up, people took their revenge on the lockdowns and spent like never before. And the...
As I’ve noted elsewhere, it used to be that if a man wanted to impress a woman, he’d flash a bankroll. Now she’d likely flee in horror at such Neanderthal-like behavior. It is the platinum card she wants to see. On second thought, actually using a credit card...
With all the goings-on at the Silicon Valley Bank, I thought I’d do a post on FDIC insurance since the topic has come up in a few client phone calls lately.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures bank deposits up to a $250,000 limit per registration per bank. Let me...
Tax Reasons for the Subchapter S Election
There are lots of great reasons to organize your business as a corporate entity with a Subchapter S election. You have limited personal liability, flow-through of net income, ability to take a Section 199A deduction, and ability to, as the owner,...
January of 2023 kicked off with a bang. We’re in the midst of a stock market rally that we haven’t seen in over a year. The market rose, and rose, and kept rising – all in the last 8 weeks. We’re far from all-time highs, and expect that to be the case...
Have we reached a stock market bottom yet?
"Are you kidding me? After the big price drops we've seen the last few days?"
We get it. Pessimism is popular right now. But here we give you an optimist’s case for the market:
Look at the three major stock market benchmarks – the Dow...
By Jonathan Cameron, CFP®
We have not seen a prolonged stock market decline like this since 2008! The year 2022 has been an awful year in markets. You don't have to go far for the media to remind you of this every hour on the hour. But this is not 2008, of course. Here's what you need to know...
By Glenn J. Downing, MBA, CFP®
We all know it is coming – that at one point Till death us do part becomes a reality. What a sad time - someone dear to us has gone away, never to return, and will be missed greatly.
Do Nothing Until You Really Need to
As a financial planner, I...
By Glenn J. Downing, MBA, CFP®
You want to retire in a few years, right? And you know you haven't saved enough. But there are bills to pay, and at the end of the month there’s nothing left. In fact, there’s often a shortfall. What can you do?
Short...