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What A Difference A Year Makes

Investing is always a challenge. But investors have endured two radically different investment environments the last two financial years. These almost-comical headlines from CNBC – by the same author, no less – perfectly capture the 2018 and 2019 investment financial years. Here’s what’s interesting. In 2018, all the talk was about how strong the economy…

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“Bund Yields Bounced Last Week” – WSJ

This was the curious headline in the Wall Street Journal recently talking about how German 10-year government bond yields (affectionately known as “Bunds”) climbed 0.15% in one week. That’s quite a move. But what wasn’t talked about is what the yield climbed too. As you can see in the chart below, the yield climbed all…

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fee-only Chicago FINANCIAL ADVISOR DEER PARK BARRINGTON DRAFT THANKGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving From All Of Us! [Video]

Thanksgiving is the season and time of year where we all get to stop reflect and celebrate what has happened throughout the last year. And we all have stories from this past year. And one that we are thankful for is your receptiveness to our growing team.  And one of the things I’m personally thankful…

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Are You Paying Too Much For Your Car?

Over the last five years, there has been a DRAMATIC INCREASE in the average car purchase payment. Let’s look at how much we actually pay for our cars and recommendations to make this less expensive for you and your family. Other than apple pie, nothing’s more American than having a car. We need them to…

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Study Your Pay Stub[Video]

So we’ve all had the joy of opening a pay stub, expecting a big amount, and then looking at the bottom and being very disappointed. The goal in this video is to walk you though your pay stub, whether this is the first time reviewing a pay stub or you have done it years upon…

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Presidential Election Years And The Stock Market

Like it or not, we’re within a year of the 2020 Presidential Election! And with it comes the usual assortment of emotional predictions about where the country and stock market will be headed depending on who wins. Since making emotional investment decisions is an almost sure-fired way of hurting long-term investment returns, we like to…

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fee-only Chicago financial advisor health insurance comparison draft

Health Insurance Comparison [Video]

Health Insurance Comparison So today we want to talk about your insurance. And how to choose the right plan for you and your family. There are lots of factors that go into what we pay for life insurance and the three biggest ones that come to mind are your premium, deductible, and out-of-pocket maximums. Premiums But…

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The High Price Of Trying To Time The Market For Profit

“Is now a good time to get into the market?” “There seems to be a lot of bad news out there…should we sell now and get back in later?” Trying to time the stock market is as old as the stock market itself. Investment “professionals” have made millions of dollars over the years peddling newsletters…

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Having Teaching Moments About Money With Your Kids [Video]

Having Teaching Moments About Money With Your Kids Money can be fun, but it is a tool too.  Let’s see how to teach kids about money.

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Stock Market Sets New Record High: What’s Driving It?

The S&P 500 Index closed at a record high on Monday October 28. With all the noise this year about trade wars, slowing growth, and impeachment it’s a surprise to see the market power through these worries.  What’s driving the record high market?  First, third quarter 2019 earnings for large U.S. companies have been good….

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fee-only Chicago Financial Advisor Deer Park Barrington College Savings

Illinois Is #1 For A Change In College Savings – In A Good Way!

The State of Illinois isn’t making many “Top Ten” lists that are positive these days. But there is one Bright spot (pun intended): The Gold ranking of the Bright Start College Savings 529 program as rated by Morningstar. Most states sponsor a 529 college savings plan. You don’t have to live in that state in…

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Employee Benefits

Employee Benefits: Health Insurance And HSA [Video]

So a major cost that many people are always thinking about is health insurance. We are going to discuss these employee benefits with health insurance and HSA’s.

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