As we approach the final quarter of 2023, we want to address some year-end planning issues related to retirement plan distributions and upcoming open enrollment elections. There have been many changes to retirement planning, but most are minor or occur in later years. The SECURE Act 2.0 (“Secure 2.0” or the “Act”), signed in December 2022, was intended to enhance…
“One hot mess” seems to be a prevailing theme as we collectively face multiple challenges. In response to recent economic events, we recently made some relatively modest allocation changes by decreasing stock exposure. The main positive is that we continue to experience economic growth in a low-interest-rate environment. Moreover, the probability that Congress will pass additional fiscal stimulus with the…
After a long advance, stock markets are now experiencing a pullback from record levels. There appears to be increasing angst about inflation and coming tax increases creating fear among some that the market is due for a much more substantial sell off. We do not think a severe correction is on the immediate horizon, but a further pullback in the…
In the presence of chaos and uncertainty, it is important to set strong filters to separate the noise from actionable items. One area where taking action can possibly make a difference is taxes. We will likely have a split government but even if both Democratic senate candidates win their run-off election in January, it will be extremely unlikely to see…
The debate on Tuesday night was not productive for understanding policy changes and how they will affect markets. While there are more investors who feel Trump’s policies are better for markets than Biden’s, there is no need to panic if Biden wins the election. In fact, it would be difficult to discern who would be better for the stock market…
