Is The Bond Market Predicting A Recession?
There was a lot of hype this week in the media regarding the “inversion of the yield curve”. A lot of attention is awarded to this technical indicator because typically when the slope of the curve “inverts” history suggests that this event is frequently followed by...
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Percentage of Pay vs Flat Dollar Amount
Retirement Contributions - Percentage of Pay vs Flat Dollar Amount Enrolling in a company retirement plan is usually the first step employees take to join the plan and it is important that the enrollment process be straight forward. There should also be a contact,...
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Will There Be A Santa Claus Rally This Year?
Going back 120 years, December has traditionally been a very good month for the stock market. Within the last 120 years the S&P 500 has been positive in December 73% of the time. The Russell 2000, which is the index for small cap stocks, has been up 87% of the...
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Navigating Student Loan Repayment Programs
I had the fortunate / unfortunate experience of attending a seminar on the various repayment programs available to young professionals and the parents of these young professionals with student loan debt. I can summarize it in three words: “What a mess!!” As a...
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What Happens To My Pension If The Company Goes Bankrupt?
Given the downward spiral that GE has been in over the past year, we have received the same question over and over again from a number of GE employees and retirees: “If GE goes bankrupt, what happens to my pension?” While it's anyone’s guess what the future holds...
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Volatility, Market Timing, and Long-Term Investing
Volatility, Market Timing, and Long-Term Investing For many savers, the objective of a retirement account is to accumulate assets while you are working and use those assets to pay for your expenses during retirement. While you are in the accumulation phase, assets...
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How To Pay 0% Tax On Capital Gains Income
When you sell a stock, mutual fund, investment property, or a business, if you have made money on that investment, the IRS is kindly waiting for a piece of that gain in the form of capital gains tax. Capital gains are taxed differently than the ordinary income that...
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The Stock Market Dropped 800 Points Today. Is This A Warning Sign?
There was a large sell off in the stock market today. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all dropped by over 3% in today’s trading session. After a long bull rally, big drops in the stock market often lead investors to the question: “Is this big drop in the market...
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How Could The Midterm Elections Impact The Stock Market?
The most common question that I have been asked over the past few weeks is: “If the Republicans lose control of either the House or the Senate in November, what impact do you think that will have on the markets?” How much the stock market may go up or down in the...
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Target Date Funds: A Public Service Announcement
Target Date Funds: A Public Service Announcement Before getting into the main objective of this article, let me briefly explain a Target Date Fund. Investopedia defines a target date fund as “a fund offered by an investment company that seeks to grow assets over a...
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