With the negative economic headlines in the U.S. largely easing during the first quarter, there is only one obvious macro concern hanging over the market, but it happens to be a big one. The Brexit negotiations continue to drag on in Europe, and while an agreement has been reached to…
On Yield Curves and Recessions
Over the past few weeks, an increasing number of market-focused articles and analyses have begun to discuss the U.S. Treasury yield curve, which was recently described by CNBC as “one of the most reliable recession indicators in the market”. And indeed, the yield curve’s history of predictions is an impressive…
Investing in the O-Zone Layer?
By most metrics, the U.S. economy has fully recovered from the 2008 financial crisis and recession: housing prices have exceeded their pre-crisis peak, the stock market remains at stratospheric levels (even after its late-year stumble), and unemployment measures stand at multi-decade lows. However, the recovery has been extremely uneven, with…
Know Your IRA Penalty Exceptions
Tax-deferred retirement accounts are an integral part of any well-designed financial plan, but they do come with certain drawbacks. Some individuals who have been particularly aggressive deferring income into 401(k) plans or IRAs might eventually find that a significant portion of their net worth—if not essentially all of it—is tied…
What is "Passive Investing"?
Over the last several years, the ongoing debate over the relative merits of “passive” versus “active” investing has picked up steam, with the passive camp steadily gaining ground against the more traditional active portfolio managers. Lured by the simplicity and low cost of an ever-increasing number of passively-managed index funds…
VIXsplosion? Volatility-Related Investments Implode
In our Q4 2017 newsletter, we noted that the market had entered into an almost unprecedented period of market calm, at least as measured by one major measure of market volatility. We wrote then: “the CBOE S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX), often simplistically referred to as the market’s ‘fear gauge’,…
Should I Pay Down My Mortgage?
As both short-term interest rates and 30-year mortgage rates continue to edge higher, homeowners are beginning to question anew the relative benefits of paying down mortgage debt versus setting aside their excess cash for other purposes. Determining “the right amount” of mortgage debt to hold is a complicated decision, and…
Tax Reform Becomes Law
After a frenzied process marked by numerous rewrites and edits, Congress closed out 2017 by passing the most aggressive tax reform bill in decades. Headlined by a significant corporate tax cut, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act fundamentally rewrote portions of the tax code, promising to impact households and corporations…
What's Your (Retirement) Number?
For a while, the TV commercials were seemingly ubiquitous: a variety of working professionals and business owners, walking around their offices or homes with giant 6-figure or 7-figure numbers trailing behind them like overly dependent puppies. The numbers, of course, were meant to represent the workers’ “retirement numbers”, the amount…
Do You Need (More) Life Insurance?
The financial planning process is, by its very nature, an exercise in exploring sensitive and delicate issues. But perhaps no topic generates as much discomfort and anxiety among clients as life insurance. In general, most people—especially younger, healthier individuals with young children—find it difficult to confront the idea of their…
