Category: General
95 posts categorized as "General"
Mar 31, 2020
By Theresa Fry, Senior Vice President and Manager, IRA’s and Retirement Planning
If you find your spring holiday plans disrupted by the coronavirus, you may be encouraged that the federal government has planned another type of holiday appealing to retirement account holders.
The holiday? In addition to the federal stimulus checks, small-business loans and tax breaks making the headlines, the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed March 27 also makes available some relief for retirement account owners.
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Mar 17, 2020
Listen to this exclusive podcast Featuring Mark Keller, Chief Investment Officer of Confluence Investment Management
Chief Investment Officer Mark Keller of Confluence Investment Management highlights not just one, but three factors contributing to recent market volatility: Coronavirus, an oil price war between OPEC and Russia, and the growth of private sector debt – outside the banking system – over the last 11 months of economic expansion. Listen to this exclusive podcast for more details.
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Feb 24, 2020
By Joanne M. Welker, CFA, Senior Vice President and Manager, Advisory Services
The equity market is down big today based on concerns of the coronavirus and its impact on supply of goods. Amazon is worried about Prime Day – i.e. Grappling with coronavirus outbreak, they are already taking steps to avoid supply-chain disruptions in China. While it can be seen how this would cause a reaction in the market,
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Jan 7, 2020
By Joanne M. Welker, CFA, Senior Vice President and Manager, Advisory Services
Unlike last year at this time, 2019’s year-end statement should provide feelings of relief, pride, and satisfaction versus last year’s fear and consternation after the market’s decline in December 2018. Once you get past the celebratory feelings, there are some things you should consider and keep in mind when reviewing your year-end statements.
The S&P 500 was up 28.9% in 2019,
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Oct 30, 2019
By Jeffrey R. Wolfe, Senior Vice President, Manager of Wealth Planning Strategies
As we come to the climax of the Scary Financial Mistakes series, you know how it’s going to end. The young victim just escaped the monster, made it to the car, turns the key and . . . nothing. Car won’t start, monster gets them, and moves on to the next co-ed. Now, what if you found out that the reason the car didn’t start was because they didn’t do something completely preventable,
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Oct 23, 2019
By Theresa Fry, Senior Vice President and Manager, IRAs, Retirement and Education Planning
One of the biggest fears most people have about retirement is running out of money. Retirement decisions can be scary because your financial well-being depends on you making the right decisions for you and your family. Deciding when to take Social Security is one of those important retirement decisions that once made, generally cannot be un-made.
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Oct 16, 2019
By Dan Schulte, Vice President and Manager, Annuities and Insurance
The idea of having a prolonged physical illness, disability, or a long-term cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer’s can be frightening. So much so that you might not want to think about it at all. However, having a long-term care need without proper planning could result in a significant economic hardship for you and your loved ones.
Consider this:
- The national average for 24-hour home care or for one year in a nursing home can cost more than $100,0001
- At least 70% of people over the age of 65 will require long-term care at some point in their lives with 20% requiring care for longer than 5 years2
- From 2004 to 2018,
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Oct 9, 2019
By Edward “Ed” V. O’Neal, Vice President and Manager, Retirement Plans
Sometimes just the surprises and uncertainty in our daily lives can be scary! At times, things just don’t work out as planned and events can happen that we didn’t anticipate; like a job change or health issue. And typically, these situations seem to happen at the worst possible time and can lead to some unplanned and frightening financial challenges.
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Oct 8, 2019
By Joanne M. Welker, CFA, Senior Vice President and Manager, Advisory Services
Coffees, cereals, cookies, candies and now even Spam have a Pumpkin Spice edition product, so we thought maybe we should too! With a Pumpkin Spice financial plan, we help our clients’ dreams from turning into pumpkins and assist them with spicing up their lives along the way.
While it is true that a financial plan can help do these things,
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Oct 2, 2019
By Debbie Placke, Vice President, Manager Financial Planning Tools and Marketing
Ghosts, goblins, monsters, spiders – What scares you? When it comes to your finances, mistakes and oversights can be very scary and costly! During October, we will review some scary financial mistakes people commit in the hopes that you can avoid making them yourself.
For starters, do you have a financial plan in place? Whether you are just beginning your career,
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