Investing

[Video] Maximize Annual Retirement Contributions

Maximize Annual Retirement Contributions One of the items at year-end that we need to be thoughtful of is how much money we’ve put into your retirement accounts available to us.  This is one item that is part of our year-end tax planning checklist. In this video, we discuss maximizing your annual retirement contributions: MICHELLE SMALENBERGER,…

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Quarterly Earnings

Third Quarter Earnings Are In Full Swing (Unlike The Cubs)

 Third Quarter Earnings Are In Full Swing (Unlike The Cubs)! Just like we watched our beloved Chicago Cubs inch out wins during the playoffs, quarterly corporate earnings keep us watching with anticipation. Corporate earnings are reported each calendar quarter and provide us with insight to how a company is operating. The earnings number represents how…

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Financial Design Studio Consolidating Retirement Accounts

[Video] Consolidating Retirement Accounts

What To Consider When Consolidating Retirement Accounts Are you nearing retirement or maybe in retirement?  Or have you had a 401(k) at an old employer and now need to decide what to do with the different accounts?  Can you consolidate them, move them, or need to just leave them where they are? To move a…

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Financial Design Studio Portfolio

Tax Reform & Portfolio Protections

What kind of news have we heard this past week that is impacting the financial markets? TAX REFORM First, we’ve seen progress toward tax reform. The House of Representatives passed the 2018 Fiscal Budget which will now move to the Senate for a vote. This step has to happen in order for overall tax reform…

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What In The World Is Going On?

MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP® You can picture the movie scene where a character says: “Don’t move” while the others cautiously stand still and watch. You could say this is reminiscent of the world at the moment.  Instead of standing in paranoia, we are waiting for clear direction. There are so many random, unconnected events happening all…

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Friday’s Financial Update 9-15-2017

MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP® During the months of August and September, we’ve seen continued positive performance in the financial markets.  With this higher performance has come an increase in volatility attributed to a variety of reasons which we will dig into. The following chart is extremely helpful for comparing volatility and putting it into perspective.  As…

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