August has historically been a rough month for markets. This year proved no different as the stock rally ground to a halt. Stocks tumbled before paring back some of their losses, with Wall Street still trying to figure out when the Federal Reserve will end its long campaign of interest rate hikes. There were some…
The basics of creating a financial plan for small business owners. (Image credit: Getty Images) There are many different kinds of small business owners in all stages of their business. Some have just started putting their ideas into action in a startup, while others are in the growth stage or even planning an exit strategy.…
As a business owner, creating income is always a goal to support both your business and your lifestyle. Below we put together a short list highlighting a few ideas that could potentially provide more tax deductions and increase your net income. As you can see, as a business owner you may have options to lower…
At the start of this year, Wall Street managers and analyst reported that 2023 would not be a great year to invest and investors should be defensive increasing their cash positions in lieu of expected volatility. BlackRock’s Chariman and CEO reported in the eve of 2023 that Investment Managers should throw out their investment playbook,…
Now that we have reached the half-way point of the year, let’s review the last 6 months in the market. At the beginning of 2023, there was a prevailing sense of negativity as both the S&P 500 and bonds experienced significant double-digit losses. However, we argued that the smart investor should stay invested. We were…
May 2, 2023 “Sell in May and go away” is probably the most widely cited stock market cliché in history. So let’s take a look at this historical seasonal pattern to see if it is indeed true in this current market cycle. What is sell in May? “Sell in May and go away” is the…
Three months ago we along with much of the consensus were forecasting an imminent recession in Europe with the US following not far behind. We were also worried that China’s zero COVID policy would negatively impact China’s economy resulting in another year of anemic growth. We further viewed that Central banks worldwide would have to contend…
“After a strong start to the year driven by institutional investors, skepticism over the sustainability of the rally is now unanimously in question as bears begin to wrestle control from the bulls,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. This pretty much sums up what we have been observing since the start of…
January’s return surprised pretty much the entirety of investors including Wall Street. As of month end January 2023 most investors remained unconvinced by last month’s rally sitting on one of the largest money market balances since September 2021. Recall 2022 wiped out TRILLIONS of dollars in market value. Not to mention, January has seen a…
Starting in 2024, owners of a 529 plan can rollover unused balances into a ROTH. Thanks to the 2022 Secure Act, Americans who saved for college in 529 plans will soon have a way to rescue unused funds by converting the account to a ROTH. With specific limitations, investments would keep growing tax-free in a…