by Randy Chalmers on June 2, 2023.
I know I’m not alone in this, and occasionally you and your family are sitting around talking (and dreaming) about what you would do if you won the lottery. As the purchases get discussed, the topic arises of how you would take the money, in a lump sum, or as an annual payment over the...
by Dave Conley on May 26, 2023.
Every few years we have this discussion about whether or not we are going to raise the debt ceiling. Let’s just be honest, the debt ceiling will be raised. Since 1960, it’s been raised 78 times (more than once a year). The chart below shows the times the debt ceiling has been raised since 1970....
by Randy Chalmers on May 19, 2023.
Everyone has met someone who had a friend who “made a fortune on XYZ stock on a hot tip”, but much like expecting to win the lottery, expecting to cash in on a hot tip probably won’t happen for you, me, or even someone you know. Seemingly everything we do in today’s world is at...
by Dave Conley on May 12, 2023.
As a financial planner, I know that Social Security benefits are (or will be) a critical source of retirement income for many of our clients (and most Americans), particularly those who are 55 or older. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), in 2021, the average monthly Social Security retirement benefit for a retired worker is $1,557. Over the next 3 weeks I will cover strategies you can take to maximize your potential Social Security benefit.
by Dave Conley on May 6, 2023.
As a financial planner with 25 years of experience, I understand that investing can be daunting, especially in uncertain times. With recent news of bank financial distress, it's natural for many clients to feel anxious about the safety of their investments. However, I'm here to assure you that the US economy, markets, and financial system are resilient, and there's no need to panic.
by Randy Chalmers on March 3, 2023.
The saying “time in the market is more important than timing the market” is a key element that is hard to live by for a lot of individual investors. They see their portfolio drop and want to move to stocks or mutual funds that have been outperforming their current allocations, however, most of the time...
by Dave Conley on January 6, 2023.
Predicting the direction of the market is like predicting when you will hit the bulls-eye in a dart game. The majority of the time throughout market history, the markets have been rising. History shows that the chance of your money growing in a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds is much like the odds of your next dart hitting any number on the dartboard... except the bulls-eye. If you are going to try and time the market by moving your money in and out, you have to ask yourself how confident are you that you can hit the bullseye when you do.
by Dave Conley on December 23, 2022.
Recessions are painful, no doubt about it. But they are necessary to clean out the excesses of prior growth periods... “You can’t have such a sustained period of growth without an occasional downturn to balance things out.”
by Dave Conley on December 9, 2022.
In simple terms, speculators are trying to out-smart the markets while investors simply participate in the markets. The investment time horizon is also a very important factor as speculation tends to be over the short-term while investing is over the long-term.
by Dave Conley on December 2, 2022.
The S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average are not reality. Reality is not price-to-earnings ratios and technical market studies. Symbols on the computer screen are not the real world. In the real world, companies create wealth. Stock certificates don’t. Stock certificates are simply proxies for reality.