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7 Spring Cleaning Moves for Your Finances
Here’s how to get your financial house in order Forget cleaning out the closet, scrubbing the floors and washing the windows. The start of spring is an even better time to get your finances in order. “One thing on many people’s minds is cleaning. But what if you put...
Weekly Market Commentary
-Darren Leavitt, CFA It was an extremely busy week on Wall Street. First-quarter earnings results were highlighted by Apple and Amazon. Investors encouraged by their results sent higher shares on the back of increased dividends, increased share buyback programs, and...
OCTOBER 16: DEADLINE FOR CORRECTING 2022 IRA CONTRIBUTIONS
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Follow Us on X: @theslottreport Maybe you made a Roth IRA contribution for 2022 and then discovered your income was too high. Maybe you contributed to a traditional IRA but later discovered that the contribution...
5 Retirement Fears Keeping Us Up at Night
Inflation, stock swings and more erode Americans’ confidence in future financial security When it comes to retirement readiness, many Americans are feeling disillusioned. A spring Gallup poll found that only 43 percent of nonretired adults expect to live out their...
Taxation of Retirement Income
When you retire, you leave behind many things—the daily grind, commuting, maybe your old home—but one thing you keep is a tax bill. In fact, income taxes can be your single largest expense in retirement. Taxation of Social Security Benefits Many older Americans are...
75% of retirees fall short of a key retirement income goal. These steps can help
KEY POINTS Today’s workers are tasked with making sure they will have enough money when they retire while also juggling competing financial priorities. While planning for retirement may seem daunting, experts say there are strategic moves you can make to improve your...
As Social Security reform talks heat up, changes to the retirement age, payroll tax may be on the table
KEY POINTS Without action from Congress, Social Security may only be able to pay full benefits for another decade. As lawmakers weigh potential fixes, getting bipartisan agreement won’t be easy. Lawmakers are hashing out plans to shore up Social Security’s ailing...
June 2022 Market Review and Outlook
Monthly Commentary - June '22 -Darren Leavitt, CFA It was just an ugly month of June for investors and for that matter the 1st half of 2022. All asset classes seemed to fall except for the US dollar. The month started with a “peak inflation” narrative that was...
April 2022 Market Review and Outlook
Monthly Market Commentary – April ’22 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Global financial markets had a rough month in April. Inflation continued to be top of mind for investors as data continued to show historic increases in prices. The Federal Reserve still appears to be behind...
Biggest Social Security Changes for 2022
Benefits are going up, but so are the Medicare premiums deducted from monthly checks Social Security beneficiaries will have a lot to cheer about in 2022 — but they may have a few things to grouse about as well. Here’s a rundown of what will change for Social Security...
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Your Wealth Must Reside Somewhere!
Your wealth must reside somewhere! It must have a permanent place of residence. You must own, control, and have use your money, or you haven’t built any wealth, you just stashed some money away. About 90 % of Americans keep their wealth in either taxable, unavailable, and/or volatile residences that limit what you can do with their money. If what you thought was true about your money, wasn’t true about your money, when would you want to know? I first heard this question from Don Blanton, a fine southern gentleman with a distinct southern Georgia drawl, and I’ve been unable to “unhear” it, since.