Updates

The year-end fiscal 2023 government funding bill contained legislation that makes the most significant changes to the U.S. retirement savings system in decades. The SECURE Act 2.0 legislation builds on retirement savings changes passed in 2019 and contains new provisions that further raise the required minimum distribution (RMD) age, shift to automatic plan enrollment and…

December 1, 2022 November gave investors reason to be thankful, including a bucket of good-enough economic news that contributed to a second consecutive month of gains. Better-than-expected inflationary data and signals from the Federal Reserve (the Fed) that its interest rate hikes may soon slow – even as they continue – likely played a role.…

November 1, 2022 The nature of the market can at times lead us toward strange metaphors to explain its movements, but to spare you the one about a cart pulled by two competing horses, let’s describe October’s result directly: Despite the Federal Reserve’s higher-for-longer interest rate strategy and persistently high inflation, strong corporate earnings helped…

The year-end holiday season is full of important financial deadlines. Mark your calendar accordingly. Fall 2022 market closures Nov. 24: Thanksgiving Day Dec. 26: Christmas Day (observed) Dates to remember For deadlines that fall on a weekend, action may need to be taken by the preceding weekday. Oct. 1: Last day to establish a SIMPLE IRA plan or…

October 3, 2022 Inflation remains persistent. To fight it, the Federal Reserve (the Fed) indicated it would need to raise rates higher than originally expected for longer, sending shocks through the market. As in previous months, these events drove the market’s major currents in September as investors concluded that a deeper recession in 2023 may…

September 1, 2022 The Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) resolve, the end of a rally, trouble overseas and a strong jobs growth report were some of the ingredients of August’s strange brew of market news and events. We entered August in the midst of an upswing for stocks that had provided consistent, broad gains since mid-June, likely…

Before your child was even born, you were planning. What will we name him? What color should we paint her room? What is the best childcare alternative? But with all the demands and decisions that new parents face, one important aspect is often unintentionally overlooked in those early stages – college. However, with tuition rates…

August 2, 2022 The Federal Reserve (Fed) continued its aggressive battle against inflation, raising the federal funds rate another 0.75% at its July meeting – the fourth rate bump this year. We’re now in a neutral 2.25% to 2.5% range, and the central bankers are on track to raise rates to a mildly restrictive 3%…

June 30, 2022 As the Federal Reserve (Fed) committed itself to battling inflation this year, one question looming large was how aggressive a tack it would take. In June, we received a second, clarifying answer. In light of continuing high inflation, the Fed took a more forceful approach than it had indicated just weeks earlier,…

June 1, 2022 The churn of now-familiar currents produced a market seemingly driven by headlines as the S&P 500 closed more than 1% up or down 10 times on the news of the day. At different moments, inflation and the Federal Reserve’s response to it, China and COVID-19, rising food and energy prices, and the…