Social Security Resumes Some Paper Statements Unless you have an online account with them, the Social Security Administration is resuming mailing paper statements to workers every 5 years (at ages 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 & 60). You do not have to wait till you receive your paper statement, by accessing your Social…
High Fees in Retirement Accounts Most workers have access to a retirement plan at work. Unfortunately many plans are larded with high cost funds. A study by the Center for American Progress found that US workers,already struggling to save enough for retirement, are being further held back by fund costs.“The corrosive effect of high fees in…
5 Years since Market Bottom It is just over 5 years since the market hit the bottom after the Great Recession in March 2009. The overall U.S. stock market has more than tripled or gone up 218%1. It is nice to see our portfolios in the black after the gut wrenching bear markets of 2000…
How the Markets Performed in 2013 Contrary to the pundits’ expectations, last year was a remarkable year for the market,despite many headwinds like the persistently high unemployment, Government shutdown,increased national debt limit ceiling and a sluggish economy. The US stock market went up a stunning 33.4%, international stocks appreciated 14.6% and even with a slight uptick…
Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) Yesterday the ACA healthcare exchanges formally opened. For most of us who have health insurance, there is nothing we need to do. However, there are certain groups of people and businesses that need to pay attention and make some decisions between now and March 31, 2014. If your employer offers you health…
The Bond Market The media has been telling us we need to get out of bonds. Instead of blindly following the media’s hysteria, remember why you own bonds. They are there for safety to counterbalance the volatility of stocks and for income. Bonds are not in your portfolio to beat inflation – that is what…
The Market Who would have thought the market would be hitting all time highs, with the constant wall of worry that we are bombarded with. In just over 4 years since the market bottom in March 2009, the U.S stock market has appreciated 161%, or 27%/year.1 If you are not retired and have been regularly adding to your…
November Election The upcoming election seems to be consuming an inordinate amount of media attention and the hype seems to be escalating all the time. Not sure about you, but I have tried to shut this media frenzy out (admittedly not easy). As far as actually working on meaningful legislation, there does not seem to be much progress,…
New Graduates – Start Thinking about Retirement Congratulations to all the new graduates that are entering the work force now. They have a tough slog ahead with a weak job market and a lot of debt. The good news is they can take small steps now that will reap tremendous returns down the road: Plan on being…
While writing this newsletter there are lovely fluffy snowflakes coming down – hopefully winter’s last hurrah before spring starts in earnest. How the Markets Performed during the First Quarter After a lackluster 2011, the New Year has started off with a bang: For the first time in a while bonds had a negative return (only just…