Deliberate estate planning and wealth transfer strategies are useful for minimizing tax burden, streamlining legacy decisions, and protecting dependents and other beneficiaries. Rules regarding estate planning undergo frequent…
Addressing the Semiconductor Chip Shortage
Semiconductor chips are crucial components in a mind-boggling number of products for consumers, businesses, and government entities. These products include cars and trucks, computers, gaming devices, drones, data storage…
The Fed’s Updated Projections on Raising Interest Rates
Interest rates are one of the most important factors influencing economic activity, costs and prices of goods and property, and company profitability. As interest rates rise, debt becomes more expensive and carves into personal…
Investment Opportunities Differ by Policy Approach in Various Geographic Regions
As different governments and various institutions take a diverse array of approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic and social effects, certain geographic regions have emerged as potentially providing better…
Implications of the Biden Administration's Carbon-Neutral Initiative
The Biden Administration resolved this week to pursue complete carbon neutrality across the federal government over the next few decades. The implications for investment opportunities and risks, if the plan is brought to fruition…
SPACs Explained
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is an investment vehicle that enables companies to go public without going through an initial public offering (IPO), which is a complex and costly process that can take months or even…
Fed Plans to Lower Inflation
The significant impact of inflation on the value of an investment portfolio is an important consideration to understand when making strategic and tactical portfolio allocation decisions. A high inflation rate has a particularly negative…
Diversification within a Cryptocurrency Portfolio
Cryptocurrency is a relatively new “trendy” allocation among not only retail investors but also institutional investors including hedge funds and investment banks. Considering the significant regulatory and behavioral adoption risk…
Current Mortgage Rates and Where They are Going
Considering buying or refinancing a house is a very significant financial decision that has a significant impact on both short-term cash flow and long-term potential gains. When making this decision, it is important to consider many…
Recent Changes in Government Bond Yields
In part as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its many impacts on the world economy, US government bond yields have been steadily declining since mid-2019. Many factors have an effect on US government bond yields…
How Recent Changing Lumber Prices are Affecting the Housing Market
In recent months, lumber prices both soared to levels not seen since 2006 and dropped back down to pre-COVID prices. The fluctuation upward had a direct impact on the housing market, causing home prices to reach new highs…
Is it Better to use Excess Cash to Pay Down Student Debt or to Invest it?
During this time of greater-than-average rates of student loan forgiveness, many investors may question whether it is better to use excess cash to pay down student debt or to invest in the stock market…
New Capital Gains Tax Rates and Their Effect on Investment Strategies
Along with the new tax year comes potentially updated capital gains tax rates, for both long-term and short-term capital gains. Increases in capital gains taxes can occur as a result of…
Regulatory Risk for Cryptocurrencies
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…
Rising Inflation from Economic Recovery
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…
Government Stimulus and Consumer Trends
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…
Industry Disruptions and Diversification
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…
Extended Tax Deadline and Deductions
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…
Growth Stocks and Retirement Savings
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…
The Role of a Trust in Financial Planning
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…