“De-Risking.” This is a phrase you may hear more frequently as the market dips lower and lower.  It is a term often used when discussing how those who are near retirement can prepare when they know their future years of employment and wages are coming to an end, and their savings have dwindled dramatically due to stock market losses. The phrase references the idea of converting some of your stock investments to more stable assets. You should aim for preservation of principal, and a source of guaranteed income for as long as you live, regardless of stock market conditions. Call

While inflation has certainly been in the news a lot lately, one topic that hasn’t been discussed all that often is private pensions. Unlike Social Security payments, they typically don’t offer cost-of-living adjustments that keep up with inflation rates. State and local government pensions do typically offer cost of living increases, but this sometimes causes those who are in the private sector to assume their pensions do the same. This difference means that those receiving private-sector pensions may need to focus more on their future income stream in order to keep up. Call us, we can help you crunch the

There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal this past week that discussed some interesting ideas. The current tight labor market, coupled with the remote and flexible opportunities in the job market, may make retirees think about going back to work in one form or another. Especially when you consider that working may have benefits other than fiscal. However some retirees “would return to the workforce, if only they weren’t held back by cognitive blind spots. These blind spots cause them to ignore the possibility of returning to the workforce—even if working at least part-time would make them

“On the surface, retirement planning hasn’t changed all that much over the years. You work, you save and then you retire. But while the mechanics may be the same, today’s savers are facing some challenges that previous generations didn’t have to worry about,” says a recent CNBC article. We’ve touched on some of those challenges before. One significant change in recent years, that you’ll have to factor into your retirement strategy, is that life expectancy is up. People are living longer on average, and as a result, their savings might not last them the rest of their retirement. This is

“Slow and steady wins the race” is an idiom we’ve all heard. But you probably haven’t thought to apply it to planning for retirement. Taking a slower, more consistent approach often leads to a better outcome. It’s easy to forget this, and to take risks in an attempt to catch up. That’s not necessary. Remaining cautious with your retirement strategy and making sure you know all your possible options is important. Reach out to us to learn more. 

We’ve received questions from some of our clients asking what a hike in the Fed rate means to them. As a result, we reached out to an investment strategist to see what they said. “This year’s expected series of rate hikes, the first since 2015, marks the beginning of Fed Policy normalization. But it also has increased market volatility and changed sector leadership so far this year.” This opinion is consistent with others’ views that this will likely mean more volatility and pressure in market valuations. If this is of concern to you, call us. We can tell you about

Last week many people heard about the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System losing more than $3 million when it sold off its direct investments in a Russian Bank. (read more here) However, they aren’t the only pension funds in possible trouble. Many state pension funds have Russian financial holdings. “Pensions in the U.S. and around the world hold Russian stocks in their international equities portfolios, with the holdings making up perhaps 1% of total pension assets.” According to the Wall Street Journal.  The article goes on to state “Retirement systems divesting from Russia can expect to sell at a significant loss,

With news reports saying the markets are nearing “bear market territory,” people are starting to ask us what that actually means. Let’s start with definitions: “A bear market is when a market experiences prolonged price declines. It typically describes a condition in which securities prices fall 20% or more.” “Bear markets also may accompany general economic downturns such as a recession.”  How does that affect you? It depends on where your savings are. If you have invested directly in the stock market, you are at risk for this type of decline in the value of your portfolio. On the other