Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum have gained a following of traders and early adopters over recent years, driving prices higher and garnering attention from businesses, consumers, and financial institutions. While the price appreciation of cryptocurrencies has been significant in many cases…

As the economy reopens, inflation is surging quickly due to increased consumer appetite for goods and services, along with constrained supply for product inputs like computer chips and lumber. As this article notes, “shortages of new cars and trucks due to a shortage of computer…

The precise economic impact of various government stimulus programs, and the removal of such stimulus, is often difficult to predict. However, it can potentially be a profitable endeavor to successfully estimate how fiscal and monetary policy changes may affect consumer trends in certain industries…

Various market price dislocations occasionally deliver investors opportunities to build tactical overweight positions in certain sectors and industries to take advantage of relatively inexpensive equity or debt valuations. For example, in the spring and summer of 2020, equity valuations in the hospitality industry…

he IRS has extended the federal income tax filing deadline for tax year 2020 from April 15 to May 17, 2021. As taxpayers think about tax-avoidance strategies for last year and the current year, a worthwhile endeavor is to assess whether avoiding taxes is worth the cost. For instance, investing in a municipal bond can be a way to avoid taxes on income from bond interest payments, but…

Diversification is a key element in structuring most portfolios geared toward retirement savings. It is typically appropriate for a retirement portfolio to gradually become more conservative and less susceptible to volatility and risk as one approaches the retirement age at which the portfolio…

A trust offers investors numerous options that can serve to decrease tax liabilities and establish mandates in alignment with a personalized wealth management strategy. Laws governing trusts are established at the state level and can vary greatly from…

As most of us been spending more time at home over the past year due to the restrictions of a global pandemic, pets have increasingly become a source of companionship and company. Behavioral trends like this provide opportunities for an investor who can identify the beneficiaries and invest accordingly. Puppies and kittens need…

A product is only as good as its inputs, and when it comes to investing in cutting-edge technology, the availability and affordability of product inputs can make the difference between an exceptional return on investment and a bankrupt company. One such example is the case of the semiconductors required for new auto and truck models…

Purchasing a home is a transaction that, for many, embodies the epitome of the American dream. In the wake of a year that delivered the steepest increase in housing market value of any year since 2005, however, as this article notes, it’s worth assessing the financial considerations involved in the decision to buy versus rent a home…

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) typically experiences a change of top leadership under a new administration, and accompanying the incoming leadership is a regulatory approach that potentially diverges from the approach taken by the previous administration. Thanks to extensive discretionary enforcement authority that the SEC wields in regards to companies and financial markets…

The temptation to frequently trade stock positions can be alluring to investors who see sensational news headlines about various companies and observe other individuals making the occasional large capital gain on a short-term position. This tendency is understandable, given that many endeavors in life require frequent effort and action to achieve success. Perhaps counterintuitively, however…

During an economic recovery, U.S. Treasury yields tend to rise as investors sell “safe” assets like government bonds and move into growth-focused equities and other more aggressive, economically sensitive investment assets. As the demand for Treasuries decreases, the price generally decreases accordingly, driving up yields that move inversely to price. While economic recovery can be very beneficial…

Investors have until April 15, 2021 to make contributions to their Roth and traditional IRA accounts under the maximum allowances for tax year 2020. Tax-advantaged retirement accounts are one of the best ways to save and invest money, due to the fact that taxes can detract significantly from investment gains with short-term and long-term capital gains tax, dividend tax, and interest tax. This benefit is meaningfully amplified over time due to…

The share prices of several companies, including GameStop and AMC, recently appreciated rapidly to levels that are seemingly disconnected from the companies’ intrinsic value as estimated by most traditional stock valuation metrics. These price increases were driven largely by two factors: social media conversations and…

The geographic optionality stemming from corporate work-from-home policies has hastened an economic and lifestyle trend that has seen many individuals and families moving from states with high taxes and high costs of living to less expensive states. Many professionals have gained the flexibility to work from anywhere with…

Inflation has a significant impact on financial planning because it can meaningfully lower the value of a future investment portfolio. In fact, inflation is one of several reasons that holding excess cash can be disadvantageous; in modern times, cash has overwhelmingly lost value in terms of purchasing power. In order to simply…

As we approach the end of 2020, investors have the opportunity to assess their objectives, risk tolerance, and investment strategy going into the new year. Financial goals often evolve over time, as families grow, careers progress, and preferences change. The end of the year is…

This week Tesla was added to the S&P 500 Index, which serves as a widely used benchmark for passive investing and as a simplified proxy the performance of the broader U.S. stock market. Tesla’s nascent inclusion in the index is a reminder to investors to be aware of…

While it may be tempting for investors to attempt to identify the “best” companies and to create a concentrated portfolio with those stocks, even the most stalwart and profitable companies can carry significant idiosyncratic risk. Changing consumer trends and ill-timed capital expenditure decisions, for example…