Dec 9, 2019
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President
The stock market’s month of December has begun in a manner very similar to the early days of October. The first couple days two months ago saw steep losses that pushed the averages to their lowest levels in a month or more. That quick decline was immediately followed by several days of strength that recovered nearly all the brief pullback. For the rest of October and for most of November the averages continued higher,
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Dec 5, 2019
By Bruce Buerkle, CFA, Senior Vice President, Manager Securities Research Support
The popular averages rebounded strongly this year from the significant pullbacks that occurred during December 2018. This contributed in part to the markets posting negative returns last year. Multiple closing high records have been achieved during 2019 by the DJIA, S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite. A few of the variables that may have impacted your investments this year are highlighted here.
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Dec 3, 2019
By Jeffrey R. Wolfe, Senior Vice President, Manager of Wealth Planning Strategies
At year end, many enjoy giving gifts to loved ones. For those that may face a potential federal or state estate tax, making annual gifts may help save on those taxes in the long run. Under federal law, every person can gift up to $15,000 per person per year. Married couples can combine their gift giving ability and make up to $30,000 in gifts.
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Nov 27, 2019
By Joanne M. Welker, CFA, Senior Vice President and Manager, Advisory Services
When I read Dan Schulte’s blog last week about addressing Long Term Care denial, I was thankful my father didn’t experience such denial and it prompted me to want to share my personal long term care story with you –
My personal Long-Term Care Insurance Story
I first heard about Long Term Care insurance when I was in my mid-twenties and my dad was upset about the insurance company denying coverage on my mom.
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Nov 26, 2019
By Chris Whiting, CFP®, Executive Vice President, Director of Sales and Marketing
2019 has been another strong year for many equity markets. So, while many investment portfolios likely have positions with unrealized gains – a well-diversified portfolio will probably also have some positions that over time have lost value – and therefore have unrealized losses. No one likes to lose money, however an approach to consider which may benefit your long-term investment strategy is to sell some of your positions that are at a loss and use those losses to offset gains in other securities.
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Nov 25, 2019
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President
It was another week in which the market was primarily influenced by the trade talks. The mix of headlines and rumors and tweets seemed to be the only potion that was able to cast any spell on the markets. Wall Street continues to ignore the drama of the impeachment hearings, preferring, at least for the time being, to treat the unfolding spectacle as make believe.
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Nov 21, 2019
By Dan Schulte, Vice President and Manager, Annuities and Insurance
Americans will travel near and far during the coming weeks to gather with family and friends for the holidays. Many families will have someone close to them- possibly a parent- who needs help with activities of daily living for an extended period (long-term care). Even with this reality, most families do not address their own likely future need for long-term care.
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Nov 19, 2019
By Edward “Ed” V. O’Neal, Vice President and Manager, Retirement Plans
It has become increasingly clear that there is a growing retirement savings gap in the U.S., with most workers not saving enough for retirement. Additionally, plan sponsors are beginning to understand the economic impact to their businesses, through potentially increased health care and disability claims, with employees who cannot retire due to lack of financial preparedness or adequate retirement savings.
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Nov 18, 2019
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President
Coming down the home stretch of 2019, the market averages continue to gallop ahead. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained a little over1% for the week, lifting its year-to-date gain to a little over 20%. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) added 0.89% last week to nose-out DJIA with more than a 24% YTD gain. The NASDAQ Composite Index (COMP) advanced just 0.77% for the week,
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Nov 14, 2019
By Theresa Fry, Senior Vice President and Manager, IRAs, Retirement and Education Planning, Jeffrey R. Wolfe, Senior Vice President, Manager of Wealth Planning Strategies and Bruce Buerkle, CFA, Senior Vice President, Manager Securities Research Support
If you are like most investors, you likely own some mutual funds. They are common in IRAs, 401(k)s, taxable accounts, etc. However, when you own mutual funds in a taxable account,
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