Posts by Jacob Milder, CFP®, ChFC®
A Note On Market Volatility
Surprise! Stock markets can be volatile. Ask your fee-only financial advisor to help you remain disciplined.
Read MoreEvaluating Portfolio Performance – Part 1
This article will help you understand the risk/reward trade-offs inherent to investing, and put your portfolio performance into context so you can have a better, more informed and smoother investment experience.
Read More5 SECURE Act Changes…and How You May be Affected
In December of 2019, under the cover of darkness and impeachment hearings, some of the most significant tax legislation of the past 20 years passed in unusual bipartisan fashion: the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, or SECURE act. The name- which undoubtedly took weeks of debate to come up with and agree upon, speaks to the purpose, though not the entirety or sweeping nature of the act; a rare legislative accomplishment for an otherwise gridlocked Washington. While the act addresses a number of retirement chads left hanging after the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, it also makes changes to 529 plans, medical expense deductions, kiddie taxes and more. The focus of the plan is clear, however, in its attempt to modernize and streamline retirement savings for Americans.
Read More2019…A Year to Remember
As is often the case following a negative year, (the US Markets lost over 5% in 2018), 2019 was (globally) a banner year with total US Market returns over 30%, International markets over 20% and even the US and Global Bond market’s joining in the celebration with returns of over 8.5% and 7.5% respectively. In fact, US Stocks were THE place to be in 2019; they were the tickets to Hamilton, U2 and BTS (Boomers, find the nearest Millennial and ask them) wrapped up into one beautiful gift basket!
Read More10 End of Year Action Steps to Potentially Reduce Your Tax Burden
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…to take advantage of tax savings opportunities.
As we begin the final weeks of the year, consider the following action items to potentially reduce your tax bill and improve your financial footing in 2020 and beyond.
When Batting .700 Isn’t Good Enough…
You’re smarter than the average investor, right? You’ve done the research and despite hearing how difficult it is to predict the market’s direction over a specified period of time, you’re confident you know better than the CFAs, Ph.Ds and Quant’s building the algorithms on Wall Street. You even understand that, by definition, if the stock market…
Read MoreRiding High… 2Q2019 Review
The sky is falling mentality has just pushed the stock market to record highs. That the housing market is slowing, wages are stagnant-or negative in real terms, and you can get a higher return investing your money in 3-month government debt than 10 year debt (yield curve inversion) doesn’t seem to matter and the markets…
Read MoreUsing Covered Calls to Generate Income and Hedge Concentrated Stock Positions
Deciding to sell a stock you’ve inherited or held on to for 25 or more years can be difficult and even emotional, and increasingly I find myself suggesting alternative strategies than an outright sale for the purposes of diversification.
Read MoreZoom Out
“Why should I invest money in the market when it’s near all-time highs?” – Investors, c. 2015, 2005, 1997, etc
Read MoreWinter is Coming… but When?
After a bruising final quarter of 2018, 2019 kicked off with a bang, with US Stock Markets finishing the first quarter up roughly 14% and US Bond Markets up nearly 3%. International Developed Markets and their less-developed emerging brethren also performed well, up 10.45% and 9.92% respectively. Unfortunately, those gains weren’t enough to push international markets…
Read MoreRead This Before Investing: The Investment Policy Statement
Enter the Investment Policy Statement or IPS. The IPS is not a contract and makes no guarantees. Rather, it articulate the types of investments (ingredients) and range of outcomes an investor should expect given their risk tolerance.
Read MoreA Valentine’s Day Gift
December’s market selloff- or rather, January’s recovery, provided investors with a tremendous gift. We now have the rare opportunity to reassess our portfolio and perhaps more importantly, our behavior and tolerance for risk, without the usual triggers for such evaluation; namely significant loss of capital. As many studies have shown, the vast majority of investors…
Read More2018 Market Review
As we reflect on 2018, it is tempting to sugarcoat the year by simply reporting that it was a record-setting year for stocks – because so many investors would rather quickly forget the end results. So here are the end results: 2018 was the worst year for stocks since 2008 and only the second year…
Read More2Q Newsletter Commentary
Key themes from the second quarter of 2018.
Read MoreFilling Your Tax Bucket
How do you recognize 300K of capital gains in your taxable account without paying taxes? This article addresses this question and explains, in simple terms, how our tax system works.
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