How Might Rising Interest Rates Affect Your Stock Investments? The Federal Reserve’s actions can have a marked influence on the economy and financial markets. For instance, some market analysts believe that the Fed’s massive, multi-year bond-buying program coupled with a record-setting period of near-zero interest rates fueled the six-year bull market for stocks. Now investors […]
How Do I Pay for Health Care Costs While Living or Traveling Abroad? Generally speaking, public and private health insurance plans in the United States — including Medicare and most private policies — only pay for treatment and services provided to individuals while they are in this country. Therefore, as an American living, working, or […]
If you watched the Republican presidential debates, you might have noticed that a number of candidates yearn for a return to the gold standard—that is, that every dollar issued by the government would be backed by a comparable value in gold bars that were stashed away in a government vault. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas […]
Focus on Time in the Market, Not Market Timing. Sports commentators often predict the big winners at the start of a season, only to see their forecasts fade away as their chosen teams lose. Similarly, market timers often try to predict big wins in the investment markets, only to be disappointed by the reality of […]
Few Cost of Living Adjustments for Retirement and Health Plans for 2016 – The IRS has released the cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) affecting dollar limitations for Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), defined contribution and other retirement-related items for tax year 2016. In general, most limits will remain unchanged for 2016 because the increase in the cost-of-living index did […]
Even though April 15 now seems a distant deadline for filing your 2015 tax returns, in order to take advantage of some of the biggest tax reduction strategies, you have to act before the end of this year. Without further ado, here are Three Year-end Tax Reduction Tips that you may want to execute by […]
Investors are exposed to financial risk in two ways: company-specific risk or market risk. Long-term investors can virtually eliminate exposure to company-specific risk by diversifying among many different securities in the same asset class.1 Market risk is managed — but not eliminated — by holding investments in several different asset classes. Both types of risk […]
While investors are keeping a close watch on the Federal Reserve for indications of when it will start raising interest rates, the consensus among economists is that it will begin its credit-tightening cycle at some point this year. Of course there are two sides to the interest rate coin: the investor and the borrower. Rising […]
Income-oriented investors have had a tough go of it for the past several years. Persistently low interest rates have curtailed traditional sources of yield. Yet, by broadening their search criteria, investors may uncover new ways to diversify their income portfolios with potentially more attractive options. Consider Total Return When evaluating income-generating opportunities investors need to […]
In a move that reinforces the rapid shift in public sentiment regarding same-sex unions, the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that all marriages — and “the constellation of benefits” that are linked to marriage — must be recognized and enforced in all 50 states.1 While the law brings happiness and relief to those affected, […]
