Virus Tales

When the medicine, shutting down our economy, is worse than the cure, alternatives surface. For now, 1st quarter Gross Domestic Product, as reported by BEA, decreased at an annual rate of -4.8%. As I pen this, the Standards & Poors 500 index is up approximately 2.5% and up over 31% from its low on March… Read More

How to Stay Safe from COVID-19 Scams

Unfortunately, we live in a world that we need to constantly protect ourselves and our families from people that are trying to take advantage of us and others. Please beware from the known COVID-19 scams. Economic Income Payments: There are fraudsters trying to trick people into giving them their financial information by reaching out via… Read More

Daily Commentary

Headline News: U.S. stock futures are set to open higher at the end of a volatile week of trading. Analyst expect a 14.1% decline in corporate Q1 earnings after mixed results from banks and consumer discretionary firms so far. President Trump is set to sign the $484 billion coronavirus relief bill after it passed the… Read More

CARES Act Relief for IRA Account Holders – What does it mean to you?

There were several items that went into the CARES Act, but there are a few items that I would like to focus on specifically. Temporary Waiver of 2020 Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) This is great news for investors that begrudgingly withdraw from their IRA accounts every year because the IRS requires them to do so.… Read More

From the Trenches

Warfare, every day: Surgeon-in-chief, at Columbia University and Chair of the Department of Surgery, Dr. Craig Smith, informs and inspires his warrior-troops every day. It turns out, as reported by the Wall Street Journal that the same surgeon who gained some fame by completing President Bill Clinton’s quadruple bypass surgery send emails to his colleagues… Read More

Faith

At our small practice, is our most cherished value. Each of us, Bobbie, John, Christina, and me*, have absolute faith in each other that our interests are not only aligned with that of our clients but also that they come first in everything we do. We also have faith that Americans and our innovators are… Read More

“My retirement account is going down faster than my deposits, for Pete’s sake!”

And “I stopped making contributions to my retirement account until the “Stock Market” recovers.”- Otto said. Cecilia, on the other hand, is oblivious to the value of her retirement account, and her contributions continue. So, what are the outcomes? The following hypothetical example tests the question.* Let’s say Otto stops making retirement plan contributions when… Read More

Black Swan

Black Swans, that’s what the latest burp in equity markets is called. That is, previously unseen events which are highly disruptive, with uncertain outcomes. In a six day sell-off the Standards and Poor’s declined approximately 13% wiping out the gains for the year. Fear is as contagious as the Coronavirus which has now become the… Read More

The Greeks

In late 2009, you may remember, the Greek economy suffered the longest recession of any developed capitalist-based economy, overtaking the U.S. Great depression. Not only did the Greeks spiral into history’s deepest and longest recession but also, failed to make their International Monetary Fund loan repayments on time – they went broke. Their friends, the… Read More

IRA Betrayal

On December 20th the SECURE Act – Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement, was signed into law. There went yours and my daughter’s Stretch IRA: If you recollect, under the old rules, a beneficiary, an heir, could stretch the required distributions over their lifetime. This had the effect of allowing funds to build over… Read More

Planning & Economy