Blog

Charitable Giving: What to Do Before You Donate

Making a charitable gift can be a fulfilling experience, but before you donate, it’s wise to do a little research. Taking the time to learn about a charity can help you determine whether the nonprofit organization is legitimate and whether its charitable purposes match your intentions. Use this five-step checklist to guide you through the process.

Answering Your Questions About the Fitch Downgrade

On August 1, Fitch Ratings—one of the top three international credit rating agencies—downgraded its credit rating for the U.S. government from AAA to AA+, and although this may seem like bad news for U.S. markets, this isn’t likely to have a long-term effect. To better understand why this may not be cause for concern, it’s important to take a look at the reasoning behind this decision as well as the U.S.’s history with downgrades.

Understanding Yield Curves

Yield curves have been mentioned many times over the years in financial news as an important economic indicator. Here is a helpful and informative article from PGIM Investments explaining the topic.

What You Need to Know About SECURE 2.0

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, an omnibus spending bill that includes the SECURE 2.0 measure (a.k.a. the Securing a Strong Retirement Act 2.0). SECURE 2.0 is intended to make retirement saving more straightforward and accessible to a wider range of people. As such, it encompasses many aspects of financial planning and retirement saving.

The bill is quite broad (more than 4,000 pages), so this is a high-level summary addressing the items most likely to affect individuals.

Recession!! Or Recession??

Is there a straightforward definition of recession? Unfortunately, when you leave it to a group of economists, you’re going to find some differences of opinion. Right now, I think the label is less important. Read on to find out why.

I Bonds - What to Know

Over the last few months a few of my clients have asked about I Bonds. I know these have gotten some attention in the media and I thought there may be others who are curious and would appreciate a summary. Click here to learn more.

Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There

The current market volatility, and the decisions we all can make in times like this, brought this statement to my mind: Don’t just do something, sit there.

To Buy or Not to Buy . . . When Do You Need Life Insurance?

Whether you need life insurance depends partly on your stage of life. Here’s a look at how your phase of life affects your life insurance needs

Understanding Roth 401(k) Contributions

Roth 401(k) plans are great savings opportunities for many people. The following questions and answers will help you decide if Roth 401(k) contributions are right for you.

Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA)

You may be eligible to take advantage of a tax deferral strategy called Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA).