You know what they say about the best-laid plans going awry, well, with what has been going on in the financial world this year, that’s what has happened to countless retirement plans. For instance, let’s look at one hypothetical retiree who, until r

It’s an unusual time for people approaching retirement. While everyone wants to know if they are financially ready to retire, rising inflation and a slumping stock market may be fueling doubts. Some – especially those without a solid financial plan –

Inflation has been the dominant theme in investing across 2022 – and that goes well beyond domestic equities. Consumer prices have rapidly risen around the world, and even Wall Street's best emerging markets funds have felt the pinch. "Many emerging

Not everyone needs to hire a lawyer when their husband dies. However, there are some circumstances that make you a good candidate for handling the estate with a professional at your side. Of course, not every one of them needs to apply to your situat

It can happen in an instant. One day your dad is living on his own, independent and mostly healthy despite advancing age. The next he’s in bed with a broken something, dependent on his grown children and forced to move into a long-term care facility

The first session of the holiday-shortened week was a wild one, as a deep Tuesday morning dip evolved into a severely split market featuring pockets of red and green alike. On one side, you had big dips in economically sensitive sectors. Energy (-4.0

When you first decided to contribute to an IRA or an employer-sponsored retirement account, it probably seemed like a great deal – at least at the time. After all, you received an upfront tax deduction on the amount you contributed, and you were able

First, upstream basis is not about fishing! It is about using your estate plan to reduce capital gains or income tax. While estate taxes only affect the wealthiest of the wealthy, with the runup in stock prices and real estate values, capital gains t

While medicine has the Hippocratic oath, there is nothing similar that applies to the legal profession, “And that’s a pity,” observes San Diego lawyer and divorce mediator Shawn Weber. “Not only divorce, but across the board, so often our profession

Most kids are encouraged by their parents to save their money from their paper route or part-time job by throwing it into a bank savings account. While any kind of saving is better than nothing, there may be a way to do it where your kids can get tax

Entrepreneurs can provide essential groundbreaking advancements for industry and society. Unfortunately, while being an entrepreneur can offer lucrative financial rewards and great satisfaction, it has its share of risks, as well. Not all of those wh

U.S. equities managed to escape negative territory Friday and finish in the black despite some downbeat economic data – a welcome beginning to 2022's second half after a dreadful performance through the midway point. Front and center Friday was the I

To the list of classic midsummer activities like Fourth of July picnics and trips to the beach, you might add one more: Prep for next year's tax return. These six midyear tax moves are a good place to start if the goal is saving money next April. Ret

Through the sheer luck of the calendar, investors will be able to enjoy yet another long Fourth of July weekend away from their brokerage accounts. That's because the stock market is closed on the Fourth of July; Independence Day falls smack-dab on M

It's hard to blame investors for wanting to dive into a safe room following the S&P 500's worst first half of a year since 1970. Fortunately, they can find the protection they seek via defensive exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Sir John Templeton famous

Spoiler alert: If you plan to skip to the bottom of this article to find out whether you should include crypto in your 401(k), you’ll be disappointed. There is no “yes” or “no” answer.  What you invest in your qualified retirement plan depends on you

Establishing an estate plan is extremely important. As life changes, it is necessary to update your plan to fit new circumstances. Whether it’s a change in domicile, the death of a family member, new grandchildren or a significant change in assets, i

The future is clean energy, or so the International Energy Agency (IEA) hopes. The autonomous, Paris-based intergovernmental organization set a goal of a net-zero economy by 2050, meaning that all greenhouse gasses produced by human activity will be

A broad down day for the major indexes put the cherry on the melted sundae that was the stock market’s first half of trading in 2022. The S&P 500 declined 0.9% on Thursday to 3,785, securing a 20.6% decline for the year’s first six months – its worst

Let's talk about how much you should save in your emergency fund and go over some ways that the savings positively impact your life. What's up, everybody? It's your boy, Brandon Copeland, aka Professor Cope, and you are now tuned to another episode o

I’ve witnessed an interesting trend happening among  corporate executive clients. Many have been leaving their jobs at large companies and setting up their own consulting businesses. After the grind of 60-hour-plus weeks, they are finding plenty of a

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have exploded in popularity as a niche in the cryptocurrency space. An NFT is, at its core, a piece of data stored on a blockchain. But the ownership of that data can change. So, an NFT could be tied to the ownership of

A slow macroeconomic news day resulted in one of the lowest-volume sessions of 2022, though a few individual equities endured more than their fair share of volatility. The S&P 500, which finished with a small gain Wednesday, posted the index's smalle

There's almost always a tax angle whenever you face a major turning point in life, even if it seemingly has nothing to do with taxes. That's because taxes are always lurking in the background when life's biggest moments arrive. Going to college, gett

If you’re about to make a move to Medicare from your private insurance, you might want to make sure you’ve had all your shots - especially your vaccination for shingles. That’s because coverage of recommended vaccines under Medicare is more complex t

You work hard for decades and save diligently for retirement, but unfortunately, you can’t retire from paying taxes. An important part of enjoying a fruitful retirement is understanding how taxes apply to different types of income and planning accord

On paper, a recession is a fall in GDP for two consecutive quarters. Unfortunately, the actual GDP report lags the quarter-end by at least a month and is constantly revised as new data is evaluated, making it hard to confirm a recession before the fa

Who uses your pantry? The clients we serve are seniors and families. We’re open three times a week and have a specific shopping day for the seniors in an effort to cut down waiting times, and then we have two open pantries for individuals and familie

Stocks started the day on solid footing as investors cheered reports that China is easing back its COVID-related restrictions by reducing the quarantine period for international travelers coming into the country to 10 days from 21 days. Those gains w

How do you know when you can retire? The answer seems simple: When you have enough income coming from your investments and other sources to sustain your lifestyle. The problem for many retirees and those who are starting to think about retirement is