Looking to year end I know it’s a busy time. But it’s not too soon to start thinking about taxes. Many questions about the new administration have come my way, including questions about new tax proposals. Joe Biden’s plan is aggressive, but it may not get out of the starting gate if the Republicans hold the Senate. As you probably know, two early January runoffs in Georgia will determine the fate of the upper chamber. [...]
Market psychology is the prevailing sentiment of investors (both buyers and sellers) at any point in time. This term is often used to explain sudden movements up or down in the markets. Fear, greed and performance expectations are all factors that contribute to the markets’ overall market psychology. Learning how the market works can reduce the number of surprises you experience and increase the degree of success. If you find yourself unsure how to handle the [...]
The September Market Commentary was delayed by a week so that we could provide you with our comments about the important events that took place last week; specifically, Larry Summers removed himself from contention to be the next Federal Reserve Chairman at the beginning of the week, and the Federal Reserve released notes last Wednesday from their recent meeting. Below is a summary in plain-English of what the Federal Reserve (Fed) said in the September [...]
For the month of August, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.63%, the Nasdaq Composite rose 4.34%, and the S&P 500 rose 1.98%, all for their third consecutive monthly advance. Many of the meetings we have had with clients and prospective clients over the last month or so have shared two common questions. Obviously, we do not meet with all clients every day. As well, we know that in a group of people if one [...]
A few years back, I found this fabulous blog by Alison Van Dyke, and each time I read it I'm reminded how current the ideas still are today. She was a fee-only financial planner in San Francisco who worked specifically with new parents. The ideas she posted are easy, fun, and best of all- help your children build some of those goal setting/goal meeting values that we all hope our children will have. So… in [...]
This Rare Credit Expires April 16th, 2012 Have you been considering making a change with your IRA? Or do you have an old employer retirement plan just sitting around that you could rollover into an IRA? Well, here’s one more reason to consider Chladek Wealth Management. If you rollover an IRA or 401k/403b/457 to Scottrade by April 16th, Scottrade will apply a $100 cash bonus to your account.1 In addition, Scottrade will reimburse you for [...]