Here you will find articles and resources to help you navigate your finances and to stay up to date on company news. 

Welcome to the Blog

2023 has been quite an interesting year so far. Markets have been up, which is a nice change after a down year. But this has all been during the steepest rate hikes we’ve ever had in US history and we aren’t out of the “recession worry” woods quite yet. While positive performance is always welcomed, […]

Investments

From Vanilla to Rocky Road – Navigating the Transformation & Risks of the S&P 500 Index

With the Federal Reserve communicating both rate hikes AND rate cuts, it’s a bit confusing on what an ideal mortgage structure would be. The current rate projections (below) are helpful but we should be cautious as projections can change and have been changing throughout this rate cycle.    *Source: Bloomberg, FactSet, Federal Reserve, J.P.Morgan Asset […]

Financial Planning

Mortgage Strategies for Rising, Then Falling Rates

Coming off of 3 recent bank failures (Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature & Silvergate) and with other bank worries on their heels, I wanted to offer some comments on the implications and how to ensure your assets stay protected. Reassurance First of all, there are a number of reassurances out there. It is certainly an […]

Financial Planning

Bank Failures & Keeping Your Assets Protected

With 3 recent bank failures and more bank concerns on their heels, the consequences of raised interest rates are surfacing more and more.   The banks that failed (SVB, Signature and Silvergate) were relatively unique and in a riskier position than other banks, but without interest rate hikes, they may still be here today. We […]

Investments

Weathering Bank Failures and Economic “Breaks”

It is worth noting that the stock market and the economy are two separate things. The stock market is forward looking and may rebound before the economy does. . We can’t predict short term changes and our environment is ever changing, so comments about expectations should always be taken with some grain of salt. But […]

Investments

Expectations & Considerations for 2023

2022 wasn’t all bad. We had the Winter Olympics, the US officially leaves the pandemic phase of Covid, NASA successfully completed the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). For financial markets however, it’s a bit harder to find a silver lining (although silver was positive for the year – I couldn’t resist). The tables below summarize […]

Investments

Lessons from 2022 & Pandemic Performance

During election season, it’s only natural for us to focus on the election results and what they mean for future progress. We should be careful though not to let our emotions about election results overly influence our investment decisions. While policy certainly can impact company profits, there are also a lot of other influences that […]

Investments

Control of Congress & the Stock Market

Moving to or investing in another country opens up some amazing opportunities. Doing so though comes with additional complexities, taxes and risks that you should be aware of. To help, we’ve summarized some of the top items to be aware of as your finances becomeglobalized: Global Financial Planning Checklist . As you can see, there […]

Global Financial Planning

Global Financial Planning Checklist

As we approach year end, it’s a great time to re-visit planning strategies while there is still time to implement and benefit. For a summary of our top year-end planning considerations, see our checklist and write up below: . . . Maximize Tax Advantaged Savings There are various deadlines for tax advantaged saving opportunities (retirement, […]

Financial Planning, Tax Planning

Financial Planning – Year-End Checklist

Another .75% rate hike was announced by the Federal Reserve (on 9.21.22) and another .75% rate hike is still expected before year end. Beyond the rate raises, Jerome Powell’s words have remained very “hawkish” (or focused on limiting inflation and committed to raising interest rates), which continues to caution investors on what’s to come. Below […]

Investments

“The chances of a soft landing are likely to diminish.”

Founder & Lead Advisor

Brett Spencer, CFP®, CEPA, GFP