Here are two hypothetical examples of Roth conversions made at different times that show a stark difference in what could be left for your beneficiaries.

In typical Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde fashion, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell first gave markets hope that after the Fed raised rates at its final meeting of 2022, they might pause to watch what a 4.25% Fed Funds rate would do to inflation and the economy. Predictably, markets soared on the possibility of a pause on rate increases. Then — just as suddenly — he stepped up to the microphone following last week’s meeting and said the Fed still isn’t done.

Everyone seems to believe we are on the brink of a recession, and the debate is about when it will start, how long it will last, and how severe it will be. Anyone who works in any sort of forecasting knows these three pieces of information are vital to formulating a forecast, and right now, we don’t have answers to any of these questions.

While people were on the move in one of the busiest travel seasons in recent memory, Wall Street was pretty quiet (in a good way). Volumes are typically thinner during these short trading weeks, and Thanksgiving week is notoriously the slowest of weeks, rivaled only by the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

After a strong showing the previous week, the major domestic equities gave back most of the prior week’s gains and closed slightly lower last week.

The Federal Reserve met last week and raised the federal funds rate another 75 basis points (0.75%) to a range of 3.75%-4.00%. This really wasn’t a surprise; the markets pretty much expected the fourth consecutive increase of 75 basis points. (It’s the sixth move upward in 2022.)

The sad truth remains that we’ve had nearly zero growth this year, coupled with extremely high inflation exacerbated by high energy costs. At the same time, interest rates are moving steadily upward and adding to the misery. It’s not exactly a recipe for a robust and healthy economy, and we don’t need to see two or three quarters of negative growth to confirm we are in a recession (or, at minimum, a stagflationary environment)

Baking soda is a common household product that is stored in our pantries and garages. But do you know the many uses for Baking Soda?

AGE-INDUCED DISABILITY: FINANCIAL, RETIREMENT & ESTATE PLANNING

The benefits of lifelong planning and saving are the purposeful equivalent to Charles Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest.3 In other words, if you entered retirement with reliable sources of income, a portion of your investment portfolio allocated for growth and appropriate safety nets, your likelihood of surviving a crisis — be it a stock market crash, a global pandemic or extreme weather events (all of which occurred in 2020) — could potentially increase. With that in mind, if you’d like to shore up your financial portfolio for the future, please give us a call.

As we near retirement, it’s usually a good idea to begin consolidating accounts. This is because it can often be easier to manage fewer accounts as we grow older. It also can help our loved ones or a hired financial professional step in to find and manage money on our behalf.

Every day between now and 2030, 10,000 baby boomers are expected to turn age 65. If that includes you, you have less than 10 years to map out your retirement plan. Let’s get started!

It’s not often we experience a year like 2020. Pandemic. Recession. End of the bull market. Divisive election. Now it’s time for a year-end reset to prepare for 2021.

Planning for retirement can be a tall order when you’re still juggling a mortgage, tuition and family vacations. But to get this right, you need to start now.

Recent research has found that millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the early months of the pandemic have decided to call it quits and retire early.

Why purchase an annuity when the market is performing well? Remember the adage: What goes up must come down. If and when the market experiences a decline, your potential profit is reduced and your income may drop.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), enacted in late March, offered provisions related to distributions from tax-advantaged retirement accounts. Specifically, the goal is to enable Americans to have advantageous access to cash to help sustain them during periods they may not be able to work due to the coronavirus.

In normal times, the stock market is often a reflection of the economy. But these are not normal times. Even though April was marked by a global shutdown of businesses, rampant unemployment and low economic growth, the S&P 500 Index ended the month up 12.9%. This represented the highest one-month gain since 1987 and posted the fastest recovery of the fastest bear-market decline in 90 years.