Maximizing returns” is a phrase that you’ll hear bandied about ad nauseam on both Wall Street and Main Street.
As in, “My goal is to maximize my returns.”
Is it though? Is that really the goal?
Bronnie Ware would beg to differ. More on her in a moment.
With so much financial information coming at us each day, and at a time when everything seems to be changing, trying to stay on top of the terminology can be overwhelming. It can be a daunting task even to begin figuring out whether you, personally, need to pay attention to any of it. One topic that seems to surface a lot – maybe because it sounds so ominous – is “bracket creep.” We have had many investors ask us what in the world this is and, when they hear the details, what they can do about it.
We all know that legal documents, at least for those of us who aren’t attorneys, can be complex and often overwhelming to digest. Your estate planning documents, for example, likely contain dozens of pages of unfamiliar jargon and language we simply seldom encounter – or would ever use ourselves – in day-to-day life. But these documents also happen to be something that just about everyone will need.
Few things in our lives have been so dramatically altered throughout the COVID-19 crisis as school and education. From online coursework to cancelled proms to a March devoid of Madness but full of uncertainty about whether or not college campuses would even reopen for the fall semester, there seem to be even more questions than answers.
Contrary to the popular saying, money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it in the right way. Behavioral economists and social psychologists have studied this topic – the intersection between money and happiness – quite a bit in recent years, and we can all benefit from their findings.
The coronavirus is dominating our attention so pervasively in the present moment that the notion of retirement seems even more distant for savers. That’s understandable—natural, even. But it’s precisely our fixation on the present that causes us to struggle to follow through on our intentions to secure our future. Let me show you why.
Financial elder abuse – defined by the National Committee for the Prevention of Financial Elder Abuse as the illegal or improper use of an elder person’s funds, property or resources – can take numerous forms and will cost seniors billions of dollars each year. Its impact on an elder person’s emotional, physical and financial health – and thus longevity – can be significant and long-lasting. To help protect an aging loved in your life, consider starting on the following six steps.
The government’s massive COVID-19 and economic relief package – the CARES Act, which was signed into law in March – contained some significant measures to encourage immediate charitable giving to nonprofits. These included revisions to the Internal Revenue Code intended to provide additional tax benefits to taxpayers supporting charities.
What programs in the government’s enormous coronavirus and economic relief package – the CARES Act, which went into effect at the end of March – apply to you, your financial goals this year, and your longer-term plan? How do you even begin to get a handle on everything in the law, or at least what’s important to you?
Is recent stock market volatility bugging you?
Do you wince with every headline announcing the expansion of quarantines, knowing the market will likely panic?
As a kid, if you get $20 from your parents the world opens up and the possibilities seem just endless. Candy bars, apps, the latest “it” thing and so much more can be yours. You pull out your spend, save and give jars and plop that crisp bill right into the spend container.
It never feels great to see the stock market drop, especially by a lot, and then watch as your portfolio’s value falls with it. Fear, frustration, anger, anxiety, helplessness – each is a totally understandable and even appropriate response. But all circumstances, no matter what part of life they touch, come with context. And nothing about the context surrounding current market events happens to change what you can and cannot control.
