Portfolio Management

It’s that special time of year: Time to make sure your financial goals are on track and that your investment strategy will get you there.Of course, this is something that we can help you with all year long, but year-end is a particularly good time to check in on both short-term and long-term goals. Give your financial plans a once-over with this checklist.#1 Review your goalsIt can be helpful to remind yourself what you’re aiming for in the first place: a comfortable retirement? Being able to purchase that vacation home? Paying for all your children’s college educations?Once you understand where Read More

Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are an increasingly popular — and valuable — form of equity compensation. Here we answer common questions about RSUs. What are restricted stock units? A restricted stock unit (RSU) is a type of compensation in the form of company shares. An employer issues RSUs to employees, giving them interest in company stock. When issued, they contain some form of restriction, typically a time-based restriction through a vesting schedule (often four years). Once vested, RSUs are assigned a fair market value and are considered income. There are two important dates when it comes to RSUs: The Read More

You’ve heard not to put all your eggs in one basket, but that’s exactly what you’re doing if your investing strategy doesn’t involve a variety of investment types. Here’s a closer look at how to build a diversified portfolio for increased long-term success. What’s the point of diversification? Investing comes with inherent risks along with the potential for great returns. Spreading your investment dollars across a variety of investment types and asset classes helps you manage and hedge against risk, while also helping you maximize your returns. While neither of these — mitigating risk and improving returns — can Read More

Investing isn’t just about how much money you have to invest or where to invest it. A good investment strategy takes in another important component: Time. What is the investment time horizon? The time horizon for an investment refers to how long you will have the money held in the investment before you need the funds, whether for retirement or some other purpose, like a child’s college tuition. The length of time you’ll be invested will vary depending on the ultimate financial goal. Where risk tolerance comes into the picture Generally speaking, the longer the time horizon, the more Read More

Rebalancing your portfolio can help you stay on track to meet your financial goals. But when is the right time to rebalance? Learn more about this key investing tactic. First, what is a balanced portfolio? To understand the how and when of rebalancing, it makes sense to first understand what a balanced portfolio is. In a nutshell, it means a portfolio with an asset allocation that is in line with your financial plan, which includes your financial goals, your individual risk tolerance, your time horizon, and so on. What does it mean to rebalance your portfolio? A portfolio doesn’t Read More

Wondering what the difference is between the equity and fixed income markets, and how to decide where to invest your hard-earned dollars? Here’s our primer on these two types of investments. When it comes to equity vs. fixed income investing, there are some major differences, including the types of securities that are traded, the level of risk involved, and the expected returns. Even the profile of the average investor for each type of investment tends to be somewhat different. Here’s a quick look at some of the top things differentiating the two: EQUITY INVESTMENTS FIXED INCOME SECURITIES Trading Read More

It sounds like something from a James Bond movie, but it actually has to do with your investments. Here we’ll take a high level look at what it is and how it might be applied to your portfolio. Games of chance — think dice, roulette, or craps — are known for producing random outcomes. But can these outcomes be determined in advance? That was the question posed by a mathematician named Stanislaw Ulam. He would play game after game of solitaire, plotting the outcome of each game in order to observe outcome distribution, trying to determine how probable it was Read More

Turbulence in the markets and a lot of noise around so-called opportunities can create a heady environment for investing. With so much noise, how can you know what to do? Here we take a closer look at market volatility, and offer some “dos” and “don’ts” for the investor preparing for retirement.Global and national economic factors, tax and other government policy, interest rates, and influences from a variety of industry sectors can all have a say in how the market behaves. And when that behavior is more erratic or fluctuates more than “normal,” it’s referred to as volatility. What is market volatility, Read More

Like all taxes, Medicare taxes can be clear as mud. Here, we spell out what every high income earner needs to know about which Medicare-related taxes you may be required to pay. First, here are the basics of the three types of so-called Medicare tax that might affect you: Medicare Contribution Tax There’s a 2.9% Medicare tax applied to wages and net self-employment income. If you are an employee with wage earnings, then you pay 1.45% of that employment tax. Employers pay the other half of the full tax. Net Investment Income Tax There’s a 3.8% net investment income Read More

We heard a lot about inflation in 2020, partly out of the concern of some in the financial world who predicted inflation might increase sharply following the COVID-19-related government stimulus. But is it really a risk, and how might impact your investments? For many, inflation is a dirty word. For some, it conjures images of long lines of drivers waiting to fill their cars with gas in the 1970s. For others, it spikes fear that the prices of goods and services will increase faster than wages. Why Does Inflation Matter? Inflation has been lower than the Federal Reserve targets Read More