The reduction in marginal tax brackets that came from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in 2017 has made it even more advantageous to utilize a Roth IRA conversion. You can convert pre-tax retirement assets at today’s lower marginal rates and never pay income tax again on that money. It can play a significant [...]
Happy New Year! The beginning of the year is a great time to set new intentions, whether it be prioritizing things that are important to you or setting new goals. Reflecting on the previous year and making adjustments for an improved 2019 is a great thing to do, for our personal aspirations and our [...]
As 2019 approaches, and with US stocks outperforming non-US stocks in recent years, some investors have again turned their attention towards the role that global diversification plays in their portfolios. For the five-year period ending October 31, 2018, the S&P 500 Index had an annualized return of 11.34% while the MSCI World ex USA Index [...]
Equity markets around the world posted negative returns for 2018. Looking at broad market indices, the US outperformed non-US developed and emerging markets. REIT indices outperformed equity market indices in both the US and non-US developed markets. You can see the full report for 2018 here.
In the fourth quarter of 2018 we saw increased wages, an increase in jobs, and Q3 earnings surge. However, risks such as trade tensions, the Federal Reserve tightening monetary policy and a lack of qualified workers to sustain current growth led to volatility and pullbacks across all markets. Though stocks do not seem overvalued when [...]
The third quarter of this year saw mostly positive results. US stocks were up 7.12%, while Developed International stocks experienced gains of 1.4%. Emerging Markets and Global Real Estate saw negative results. Year to date, US stocks are up 10.6% and International stocks are down 2.7%. International stocks have experienced positive returns in their local [...]
The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) for 2019 begins October 15 and runs until December 7. Anyone who is on Medicare, even if you are happy with your current plan, should take that opportunity to review your plan and make sure it’s still serving you in the best way possible. When AEP comes around this [...]
