Blog

 by Kimberly R. Taylor, IACCP®​

Thinking about retirement?  If you are like most, your focus is on the ‘retirement from’ aspect.  You may be happy and excited about ending your 9-5 workday world.  The daily commute, travel, responsibilities and pressures are something you are excited to end.  For some, work has been very fulfilling and enjoyable.  There is a bittersweet sense as you think about finishing your career.  Then there are those who wouldn’t retire if you paid them – but they tend to be the rarity.  Retiring from your career takes planning which should begin years or (hopefully) decades ahead of time.  With people living well into their 80s and 90s, there are many years to consider following retirement.  That is where the ‘Retirement to’ question comes in.
 

by Dan Zalipski, CFA & Scott Rosenquist, CFA

Market Update

Equities in the U.S. were largely unchanged in the past month with the S&P 500 up approximately 0.5%.  The international developed markets took a breather with a 5 day sell-off, with most major international indices shedding approximately 1%.  The slide seemed to be triggered by weakness in commodities, and lower expected demand for oil.  Nearly every fixed income asset class posted negative returns over the past month.  Solid U.S. economic reports helped push prices lower as investors shifted assets towards riskier spaces.  The Fed signaled its intention to increase interest rates in December, and progress surrounding U.S. tax reform is also pushing yields higher, which in turn puts downward pressure on the fixed income prices.

by Scott Rosenquist, CFA

Capital Gain Distributions

Mutual fund companies are starting to release their estimates for 2017 capital gains distributions.  What do investors need to know about these distributions? 

To start, what are capital gains distributions? 

by Dan Zalipski, CFA & Scott Rosenquist, CFA

Market Update

Equities here and abroad continued their march higher over the past month backed by strong earnings and solid economic reports.  Returns were especially strong with smaller companies who stand to benefit from potential tax reform.  The small company index, measured by the Russell 2000, was up about 4.7% over the past month.  Emerging markets also performed well, with the Emerging Market index adding about 2% over the past month. 

by Jon Flaherty

How often have you become caught up in the “keep up” game we so often play and illustrated so perfectly by the Jones family?  With so many places to spend money, whether it be the newest car, latest technology or that bigger house we’ve always wanted, it becomes far too easy to stay in constant “upgrade” mode. 

by Scott Rosenquist, CFA

The behavioral aspect of finance and its potential impact on investors reaching their financial goals is an important topic to be aware of.  I’d like to spend another minute to discuss additional biases from the two categories (Cognitive and Behavioral) I introduced in my last post. 

 by Thomas Rueger, JD​

Nothing about an emergency sounds good. We don’t want to hear about them, we don’t want to think about them, and we certainly don’t want them to happen to us. But, if we’re honest with ourselves, we all know that we should be prepared for them. Even worse sometimes than the emergency can be the resulting consequences, especially the financial toll it can take if the proper precautions were not taken.

by Dan Zalipski, CFA & Scott Rosenquist, CFA

Market Update

U.S. Equity indices resumed their march higher, erasing the prior month’s brief decline.  International equities joined the party but were outpaced by their U.S. counterparts.  Emerging Markets continue to impress with strong returns.  Various risks spilled over into the fixed income sector causing a short-lived flight to safety.   Investors pushed yields lower as they reacted to headline risk involving North Korea on one side of the globe and a series of hurricanes on the other.  The move in yields quickly reversed as tensions eased for a while.  

by Scott Rosenquist, CFA

Behavioral finance introduces the idea of biases investors exhibit and how they can affect decision making.    In the previous post I discussed loss-aversion, an emotional bias whereby investors feel the pain of losses more than the pleasure of gains.  We identified how this could lead to irrational decisions to avoid taking a loss.

by Dan Zalipski, CFA & Scott Rosenquist, CFA

Market Update

U.S. Equity indices declined over the past month as negative headlines continued to fuel uncertainty in the U.S. markets.  Events related to healthcare legislation, geopolitical tensions on the Korean peninsula, and doubts surrounding President Trump’s agenda all contributed to the decline in U.S. equities over the past month.   Smaller company stocks were hit harder than the larger companies - more on that below.