Blog
Trump Accounts
A new financial tool introduced this year is the so-called “Trump Account”. These are new government-created tax-advantaged accounts for any child under the age of 18. Details are still emerging, as they aren’t actually scheduled to be...
Read MoreETF’s: What are they?
Most of us are familiar with mutual funds. They have been around for a very long time. The idea behind them is that people pool their investment dollars into one large fund and pay a manager to accumulate a well-diversified portfolio...
Read MoreTo Roth or not to Roth; That is the Question
Congratulations! You’re saving for retirement! You’re making plans for a life full of choices that only people with independent wealth get to make. Saving, however, is complex. Many of us get “lost in the weeds” of retirement saving,...
Read MoreLifestyle Creep
What is lifestyle creep? It’s the tendency for people to turn what used to be a luxury into a necessity as their income allows. Johnny and Sue graduated college. They had a household income of $75,000 ($4,500 after tax monthly). Rent...
Read MoreJust Put Their Name on It
In the world of financial planning, the expression “I want (insert person’s name) added to my account” is one of the most misunderstood ideas. There are many, many ways that someone can be added to a bank account, an investment account...
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The Downside of Upside
According to Innosight, the average lifespan of a company on the S&P 500 Index is 20 years. Reading that statistic made me think about all of the investors who have large amounts of their wealth in one or just a few places. Many own...
Read MoreTrick Yourself into Saving Money
Consumer-oriented businesses have become exceptionally good at convincing you to spend money. Demographic studies, web-browsing history, social media information, and purchasing patterns all can help companies identify who you are and...
Read MoreWhat Can You Buy With 529 Distributions?
Some of the biggest challenges many face when it comes to education are financial. Luckily, a 529 college saving plan can help. And they're not just for college anymore - added to the tuition eligibility are K-12, private and religious...
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What If Your Kids Decide Against College?
As a parent or grandparent, you may have diligently saved money in a 529 account to help fund your child's or grandchild's college education. But what happens if they decide college isn't the right path for them? It's a valid question...
Read MoreRetirement Income Sources
The stock market can be a scary place for those of us that are retired or getting close to that time in our lives. We spend a lifetime saving and investing, paying off debt, planning, and dreaming. We build a nest egg that we want to...
Read MoreShould You Use 2 Financial Advisors?
I’ve encountered many folks over the years that invest with more than one firm, as they feel like they’re “putting their eggs in more than one basket”. People feel like they’re diversifying their risk if they employ more than one...
Read MoreMarket Measuring Sticks
By all accounts, the U.S. stock market as a whole has had a very positive run over the last 5 years, even including the Covid-induced market crash in 2020. How do we measure that success? Well, we generally use an index like the Dow...
Read MoreMarket Measuring Sticks
By all accounts, the U.S. stock market as a whole has had a very positive run over the last 5 years, even including the Covid-induced market crash in 2020. How do we measure that success? Well, we generally use an index like the Dow...
Read MoreSaving vs. Investing
I recently ran across a piece of information from one of my business partners that I work with. It was a really neat graphic that categorized the investment landscape into two broad categories. After reading through it and giving it a...
Read MoreInterest Rates Dropped: Why Didn’t Mortgage Rates??
I had a conversation with a colleague today who deals in mortgages. He said his phone is already ringing with customer calls about refinancing their mortgage. Many wind up disappointed when he tells them that mortgage rates haven’t...
Read MoreGet Boring
Want to be healthy and wealthy? Get boring. There’s a headline that will grab absolutely no-one. Sometimes, however, we just have to learn about things that are relatively unexciting so we can do exciting things. Most great...
Read MoreThe Economy is Slowing Down
The U.S. economy is finally starting to show evidence of a slowdown, and that may not be a bad thing. As we all know, the Federal Reserve has been trying to stem inflation for the last 2 years. The institution has used its primary...
Read MoreGoal-Setting
Goal setting is useless. I thought I’d try the current wave of making inflammatory statements to get your attention then hook you into reading the article.
Read MoreState of the Economy, Market, and Finance
July 1st has come and gone. Now that we’ve started the back half of 2024, it’s time for a brief update on where we are in the money world. Let’s try to take a look at some important things that have happened and are currently happening...
Read MorePay Attention to Your Beneficiaries
Many people don’t spend much time thinking about what happens to all their stuff after they die. Not IF they die. WHEN they die. That time will come for all of us eventually. Addressing what to do with your things after death is...
Read MoreNear Retirees Get the Best of Both Worlds
As we advance through our careers and begin to near retirement, our retirement savings should start changing its nature. Younger people who still have a long time to wait should remain invested heavily in higher-risk and higher-return...
Read MoreElection Cycle and Market Returns
It’s that time… a year divisible by 4. That means it’s time for Americans to decide who will be our president for the next four years. I’m sure we all have opinions on the direction our country is headed, and thus have an idea who...
Read MoreMortgages, Interest Rates, and the Housing Market
Over the last 2 years, our housing market has been shaped by a couple of dominating factors. Factor one is the general acceleration of the interest rate environment. Factor two is the availability of homes to buy. It’s all highly...
Read MoreCan you make too much money?
This is a subject that’s been discussed before, but I feel like it’s extremely important to address today. The short answer is yes, absolutely. Prudent investing revolves around something called risk-adjusted returns. What does that...
Read MoreThe shrinking retirement dollar: why save now?
The typical American citizen lives a relatively predictable life cycle. At the age of 4 or 5, we enter the education system. After achieving whatever level of education we desire, we exit that system and become wage earners. We earn...
Read MoreAsset Allocation: Why Bother?
I just received this chart from our friends at MFS®. I’ve seen these many times over the years I’ve been in the business, and I think this is an extremely informative visual. What are we looking at here? This rather...
Read MoreThe Stock Market: A 2023 Recap
Through 9 months of 2023, the stock market was more-or-less stuck in the mire that bogged it down during the summer of 2022. We were in a bear market (another name for a market that’s significantly off its peak value) for well...
Read MoreSocial Security: Distribution Strategy.
Social Security is an extremely important part of any potential retiree’s financial plan. It’s complicated and there are thousands of different experts with opinions on how you should use it. Questions you may be asking...
Read MorePatience is Your Friend
In late 2007 and into 2008, the housing system broke, the stock market imploded, and the banking system cracked. The S&P 500, which peaked at 1,565.15 in October of 2007, fell to 676.53. That’s a 57% drop, in case you were...
Read MoreWhy Haven't I Made Money
“The market is up in 2023, so why hasn’t my investment portfolio made a lot of money?” This is a relatively common question that requires math, a narrative, and knowing how an index works to answer.
Read MoreWhat’s a Roth IRA Conversion???
A Roth IRA conversion is the practice of taking traditional IRA funds and turning them into Roth IRA funds. Wow, that was the easiest article I’ve written. Have a great day! OK, so yeah the above is true, but like everything else...
Read MoreInvesting Decisions: The Risk-free Alternative
Let’s start with the idea that your money is always invested SOMEWHERE. Whether that is in your checking account, stocks, bonds, or your mattress, you’ve made a choice to put your money somewhere and it’s either...
Read MoreInflation: Understanding its effects.
By now we are all keenly aware of the word “inflation” and what it means. News stories about skyrocketing egg prices, staggering home prices, and increased car prices have been dominating the news for a year or more. We...
Read MoreRetirement Prep: An investor’s guide.
Retirement preparation is, behind accumulating wealth, the most important financial step we will take in our lifetime. Let’s talk about what you should do to prepare for your own retirement and when you shout start that journey....
Read MoreMoney Market Funds: All the Rage in the Deposit World
The world of deposits, investing, and savings have all been extremely dynamic places to be over the last year or so.
Read MoreThe Value of an Investment Advisor
When getting to know people, one of the most common questions we ask one another is: “What do you do for a living?” Interestingly, our answer to that question is almost always wrong. When someone asks us what we do, we...
Read MoreCapital Gains Tax Trap
Many of us own securities outside of our retirement accounts. Those investments are exposed to tax implications throughout their existence. Things like dividend income, interest payments, and realized capital gain can all generate tax...
Read MorePast performance does not guarantee future results.
That disclaimer is attached to the bottom of many of these articles that you read. As a matter of fact, it’s likely the single most used disclaimer in my industry. Why would you care about this disclaimer and what does it really...
Read MoreWhat is a stock dividend and why do you care?
When we buy stocks, we all hope their price will appreciate. Buy stock in a company at $100. Hold that stock. Watch the company’s stock price grow. Sell your shares. Profit. It’s...
Read MoreThe S&P 500: What is it?
Almost everyone in America is familiar with the term “S&P 500”. We all know, in a nutshell, it is one of the most popular ways to benchmark the U.S. stock market. Have you ever wondered what the S&P 500 actually...
Read MoreRoth vs. Traditional Savings: Which one is best?
When saving for retirement, the I.R.S. tax code allows many of us to choose one of two forms of tax qualification. Without delving too deep into who may or may not be eligible for either one, or in which type of retirement plan...
Read MoreGrowth vs. Value
Today let’s talk about two basic types of stocks for investment purposes: growth vs. value. These types of companies serve a very different purpose in your portfolio. Both (or either) can be very useful...
Read MoreManaging Money: The Distribution Phase
Managing money: the Distribution Phase.There comes a time for most of us when we want to spend some or all of the money we have saved. Retirement is a unique concept when it comes to money. Most distributions involve saving...
Read MoreIRA Giving Strategies
Since the 1970’s, employers have slowly been leaving the older pension-style retirement plans (called defined benefit plans) and cycling into plans that allow employees to determine how much of their compensation they want to...
Read MoreInvesting in Uncertain Times
Investing in uncertain times:The S&P 500 has logged annual gains in 12 of the last 13 years. Since the housing market collapse of 2008, the market has been on more-or-less a consistent run upward. The one year it did...
Read MoreWhat if you don’t have a Will?
Here in the United States, property passes by 2 forms: by title and by will. Property with a qualified beneficiary or co-owner immediately passes as part of the property registration when an owner dies. Property without...
Read MoreWhat is Long Term Care?
Long Term Care is a giant dark cloud that hangs over retirement planning. Not only can the need for long term care rob your quality of life, it can financially ruin you in the process.Statistically speaking, the longer you live,...
Read MoreUnited Way Honors Caroline Korte with Ladd Mathis Award
We are thrilled to send our collective CONGRATULATIONS to our very own Caroline Korte! She was honored earlier today as this year’s recipient of The Ladd Mathis Award by the United Way of Paducah/McCracken County!...
Read MoreFixed income: an important part of many portfolios
In the past, I’ve spoken about portfolios and how they should be built. There are a lot of factors that come into play when putting an investment portfolio together for a client, but at its simplest form most...
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Is there Good Debt?
Over the last 100 years, the American consumer has been increasingly accepting of debt. Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing? What IS debt? How is it used? What does it do?
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