Plain-language articles on investing, taxes, retirement income, market context, and planning updates from our CFP® team.
Although there is much uncertainty regarding future tax rates, as of January 1, 2013 a number of taxes are scheduled to change. Let’s review the changes and examine which year-end tax strategies may be worthwhile to pursue. Although there is much uncertainty regarding future tax rates, as of January 1, 2013 a number of taxes […]
I was scanning the news and this headline grabbed my attention. As you can see, Research In Motion (RIM) reported that they actually lost money last quarter, but their stock price went up as a result. How can this happen? It is due to the fact that although they lost money, they lost less than […]
As you know, Jennifer has flown the coop. She was swept off her feet, proposed to, and whisked away by a Navy man to a new life. We are a nice place to work, but how do you compete with that? We need a replacement. Dave’s wife Bonnie helped us during our transition and showed […]
“I SURVIVED THE TRANSITION, AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY NEWSLETTER”! I think that would be an appropriate T shirt for our clients about now. After all, what was the transition all about? Why did we move your accounts away from LPL? After all that paperwork and hassle, what was the point? Let’s talk […]
Both buying locally and wholesale have advantages: local purchases typically are associated with the benefits of better service and buying wholesale is typically associated with reduced costs. The good news is that at Financial Plan you get the best of both worlds. Not only do we pride ourselves on providing financial planning tailored to the […]
As you can see, our newsletter the Plan has a new look. But that is not all that is new. In November we brought aboard Jamie and Jeanne’s son Nathan Twining to serve on our staff. Many of you have already met Nate or spoken with him over the telephone. Nathan worked at Wilson Engineering […]
Despite incredibly low mortgage interest rates, real estate agents are still reporting a high percentage of all-cash home purchases. But is an all-cash home purchase always the right decision for a buyer’s overall financial needs? To help answer this question we can compare two scenarios of a hypothetical home buyer looking to purchase a $300,000 […]
As our client base has grown, so have the servicing challenges. To meet those challenges we have continued to bring on more employees; over the past few years we have added a new advisor and a new staff member. The larger size of our firm allows us to continue to give you the responsive service […]
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, allow me once again to admonish and warn you: forecasting the direction of the market is harmful to your financial health. Although I have preached on this topic for decades, we continue to see clients making the mistake of attempting to forecast. The results are generally […]
Let’s be blunt: Over the past thirty years we have studied the conventional wisdom, we have put it to the test, and we have rejected it. Our time-tested investment philosophy is based upon reason and academic science, and has proven superior to conventional wisdom. There are four basic tenets to our philosophy: 1) Returns Future […]
