How do you make investment decisions? Do you look at data? Or look for an interesting opportunity?  Interestingly, most people don't look at facts when making decisions. They prefer a good story.¹

Learn the 3 R's

to help you prepare for market volatility.

It's impossible to predict when the market will drop or how far it will fall. With this in mind, investors should take steps to position their portfolios against potential risk during times of growth.

"While pandemic disruptions remain, 2022 offers hope of greater normalcy"

In 2021 the markets bobbed up and down through a year that had a little bit of everything: politics, bubbles, meme stocks, inflation, runaway rallies and sudden drops.

Although we don't have a crystal ball, we do have a few clues as to what we might look forward to in the first months of 2022.

What Can We Expect 3 - 9 Months Ahead?

POAs and other advanced directives are becoming more important.

The point of the POA. A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document that delegates an individual’s legal authority to another person. If someone is incapacitated, the POA would allow a trusted party to make decisions on his or her behalf.

There are several types of powers of attorney:

How often do you think about retirement?

Most of us think about it a lot — at least four times a week.¹

You've reached the retirement summit - now what?

We put a lot of time into saving and investing money for retirement, but we don’t spend nearly as much effort developing a strategy for withdrawing those assets once we retire.
However, developing a retirement strategy is similar to planning a mountain trek — how we get down from the peak is just as important as how we scale up it.

If it seems like the cost of, well, everything has gone up lately, it’s true.

The inflation rate jumped in the first half of 2021, leading to price increases on everything from gas and groceries to bigger ticket items such as cars and homes.
The jump in inflation can be especially jarring after nearly a decade of steady, low rates.¹  But what causes fluctuations in the inflation rate?

And most importantly, could rising prices pose a risk to your plan for retirement?

This topic is showing up more often in news stories which can cause anxiety. As with all financial decisions, it's important that we gather information and think logically about how inflation could impact our future plans

Today we'll explore some of the common questions about inflation. We’ll also look at how to think about inflation as you plan for a retirement that could span 20, 30 or even 40 years.

Cola and Social Security.

The news keeps getting better for Social Security recipients.

It's now projected that benefits will increase 6.1% in 2022, up from the 4.7% forecast just two months ago. That would be the most significant increase since 1983.^1,2

It’s all about inflation. Social Security cost of living adjustments (COLA) are based on the consumer price index, which rose 5.4% in June — its largest 12-month increase since 2008. The official announcement is expected in October and, once it’s confirmed, the revised payment will go into effect in January 2022.³

More than 65 million Americans receive Social Security, and the annual cost of living adjustments are designed to help recipients manage higher costs. At the start of 2021, recipients saw a 1.3% increase.⁴

In a perfect world, logic would always guide our financial decisions. Emotions wouldn't come into play. However, we don't live in a perfect world. . . far from it.

What would you say if someone asked you to name your most valuable financial asset? Many high earners believe their most valuable assets are their savings and investments. You may have substantial savings in both your home, savings, and investment accounts. They’re the most significant part of your tangible asset portfolio. And yet, none of these is your most valuable asset.