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Friday’s Financial Update 8-18-2017: Investing vs. Gambling
We’ve all seen the news headlines this week of political drama in many forms. The market has been up and down depending on the news of the day. Despite these events, a diversified long-term focused investment plan is still the way to go to weather not only the news but also the market. Thought that…
[Video] Recharacterization…The Roth Conversion “Undo” Button
STEPHEN SMALENBERGER, EA Ever wished you could hit the “undo button” and everything would go back to how it was? Well this does actually exist and in the financial world this is known as a recharacterization. That is a big word that essentially means to unwind or undo a Roth Conversion that was processed at…
Friday’s Financial Update 8-11-2017
What difference do you notice in the pictures below? These two pictures represent the S&P500 Index performance from this past week and of course, an amusement park roller coaster. The path each of these took is the same. So what can we learn and where do we go from here? First, how did the ups…
[Video] Roth Conversions: What Are They & How Do They Work?
STEPHEN SMALENBERGER, EA We want to introduce a design element that we like to use in financial plans, when it makes sense. And this strategy is known as the Roth Conversion. Money may be put into a Roth IRA in two forms: Contribution(s) Conversion(s) As explained in prior articles and videos, the Roth IRA contributions…
The Cost of Uncertainty
Michelle Smalenberger, CFP® When investing in a stock, we choose to buy or sell based upon our expectation of what a company’s revenue and profits will be going forward. Continued growth happens because of a good business plan, forward-thinking ideas and a solid grasp of what their customers want. In order for companies to be…
Traditional IRA/401(k) & Roth IRA/401(k) Which is best? [Video]
How do you decide between a Traditional IRA/401(k) & Roth IRA/401(k)? In a prior video we talked about the three different types of account registrations to decide between when saving: Taxable, Tax-Deferred, and Tax-Free. Let’s focus on tax deferred and tax free. Both of those are retirement focused so let’s walk through how much you…
Caution: Speed Bumps Ahead
MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP® Fasten your seatbelts for bumps ahead! Let’s review some of the main stories driving market activity this week. CORPORATE EARNINGS: Companies have reported strong earnings which have continued to push up stock prices. Large gains from companies like Boeing, Ford, Verizon, and AT&T, among many others have reaffirmed confidence in their stock….
[Video] How Tax-Free Accounts Work
STEPHEN SMALENBERGER, EA There are only three types of accounts: Taxable Tax-Deferred Tax-Free We focused on the first two types already. Let’s focus on the last, Tax-Free. The accounts in this registration category include the following: Roth IRA Roth 401(k) Roth 403(b) Roth 457 Roth Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) The word Roth is really important…
Friday’s Financial Update 7-21-2017
MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP® No news is good news? This is a common phrase you may hear or even tell yourself when you “want” to hear it. Today the market ended down slightly. The news of the day to cause this was the hiring of Anthony Scaramucci as President Trump’s new communications director and the resignation…
[Video] How Tax-Deferred Accounts Work
STEPHEN SMALENBERGER, EA There are only three types of accounts: Taxable Tax-Deferred Tax-Free We focused on the Taxable accounts last time. Let’s jump in now and look at the second, Tax-Deferred. The accounts in this registration category include the following: Traditional IRA Traditional 401(k) Traditional 403(b) Traditional 457 Thrift Savings Plan The movement of money…
Friday’s Financial Update 7-14-2017
MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP® As this week took the market up to new highs, it is important to be reminded of investing disciplines that should be in place for your portfolio. Before quarterly earnings hit full steam, this is a great time to review for anything that should be added or changes that should be made….
[Video] How Taxable Accounts Work
STEPHEN SMALENBERGER, EA There are only three types of accounts: Taxable Tax-Deferred Tax-Free Let’s jump in and look at the first, Taxable. The accounts in this registration category include the following: Checking Savings Individual Joint Trust The movement of money within the type of account is seen below: Who are…
