Traders who had donned their Dow 50,000 hats in February watched the oldest and best-known index slide into correction territory last month, shedding 10%. Since its year-to-date peak, the tech-heavy Nasdaq retreated by about 12% at its lowest point. The S&P 500 Index has yet to enter an official stock market correction, with a total […]
March Comes in Like a Lion Read More »
March Madness—Smart Tax Moves That Save You Money The April 15th tax deadline is just around the corner. For some, you’ll file and be done with the madness sometime in March. Others will sneak in just under the deadline. You may carve out some time to file with a software package. Or, given the complexity of
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In the early hours of February 28, global markets were shaken by significant geopolitical developments, as the U.S. and Israel carried out coordinated strikes on Iran that resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader. Iran responded with missile strikes, which escalated tensions and raised uncertainty in global markets. It’s not surprising to see heightened
The Iran War: Navigating Stock Market Volatility During Uncertainty Read More »
A quick review of the table of returns shows that the new year started favorably. As we saw last year, global markets continue to outperform, but there has been a shift in leadership in U.S. stocks. Notably, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is lagging, while smaller company stocks, as measured by the more speculative Russell 2000
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When I was young—much younger—we lived next door to a family whose breadwinner was a physician, and the mother stayed home with the kids. I recall Mom telling us that when her husband was in medical school, she would shop for groceries with a price counter. When she put an item in the shopping cart,
Financial Fitness Starts Now: Simple Steps Toward Long-Term Stability Read More »
As a generation, baby boomers are starting to wonder how we can leave our mark upon the world. What, besides material possessions, can we hand down to the next generation? How do we capture and define the wisdom and values that we’ve cultivated over decades of experience? How do we pass these precious assets down
Planning Your Legacy: Where to Start Read More »
Social Security is one of the most valuable yet misunderstood retirement assets. For many households, the difference between an average strategy and an optimized one can amount to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime benefits. Understanding how benefits are calculated—and how to strategically claim them—can materially improve your retirement outcome. How
How Social Security Benefits Are Calculated — and 5 Strategies to Maximize Them Read More »
The bull market that kicked off in late 2022 kept rolling through 2025, with the S&P 500 recording another impressive year, climbing 16.4% following back-to-back gains that exceeded 20% in 2023 and 2024. Table 5: Key Index Returns December % 2025 % Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.7 13.0 Nasdaq Composite -0.5 20.4 S&P 500
Tax reform usually promises a kinder, gentler, simpler tax code. For some folks—those who don’t itemize—the enlarged standard deduction that came with the 2017 revision of the tax code may have delivered. For others, tax season is anything but simple. Whether you’re gathering records to hand off to your tax advisor or navigating prompts in
Key Numbers as You Plan for 2026 Read More »