The Financial Lab

I read a story in Market Watch about a guy who worked at a bank for 38 years.  He helped people with their investments.  His wife is even a financial advisor.  Yet the name of the article is “I failed at retirement:  how to avoid my mistakes.”  How can David and Travis help you avoid these mistakes? 

Just two years after leading LSU to a national college football title, head coach Ed Orgeron will leave his job at the end of the season.  The SEC school wants the program to go in a different direction.  But don’t feel sorry for “Coach O.”  He’s getting a $17 million buyout that will be paid in 18 installments.  So what’s next? What are the savings options if a client’s employer offers a buyout over time?  How can you calculate if it’s enough to retire now? 

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You've seen it at the gas pump, in the grocery store and even in some household bills - INFLATION! If you are currently retired, how can you keep up with these increased prices? Hear David and Travis explain how their Financial Lab can help design a customized plan to keep up with inflation and the unexpected cost of retirement.  

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Republicans and Democrats have been going back-and-forth over President Biden’s so-called “Build Back Better” plan … a $3-and-a-half trillion “wish list” of social spending programs.  But as economist Brian Wesbury points out to Fox Business, Uncle Sam doesn’t have a very good track record when it comes to spending our tax dollars wisely. Okay, I’m sure we could talk all day about how “greedy” the government is.  But what we’re really concerned about is how we can protect our life savings from that greedy government.  Where do we start?

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How long has it been since you took a good, hard, look at the investments in your retirement account?  Morningstar’s Christine Benz says you should do that at least once a year.  What you’re looking for is gains or losses that change your allocation percentages. Hear David and Travis explain the importance of rebalancing your retirement account (s) and how their approach to retirement planning can help YOU retire with confidence! 

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Dartmouth College professor David Blanchflower points to two major indices of consumer confidence that have dropped more or just as much as they did ahead of the 2008 crash.  He believes that the U.S. will firmly be in a recession at the end of this year.  That’s scary.  What steps should be taken to safeguard the savings for those who are nearing or have just entered retirement?, Has the pandemic changed your retirement date? Asset Manager Penny Pennington spoke to Yahoo Finance and said for many, it has. Have many of your clients moved their retirement dates up?  What goes into that kind of planning? 

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President Biden is pushing trillions of dollars in new spending … and his supporters in Congress are considering several different tax hikes to pay for it all.  One of them is a so-called “death tax” … that’s a tax that your family has to pay whenever they inherit something from you.  Are we going to need to do some strategizing to protect our family assets from Uncle Sam?

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In March of last year as the Covid scare was beginning, not long after that, President Trump shut down the economy and we had a 34% market decline.  Fast forward to today – “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki is calling for the biggest crash the world has even seen.  He put this up on a web site that sells gold.  Are we positioned for the “mother of all pull backs”?  Could these voices bring on the beginnings of a market slide, or are they only trying to benefit their positions?

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There are also lots of potential tax changes on the horizon … with President Biden saying he wants to raise taxes on “the wealthy.”  But it seems like these types of changes could end up affecting all of us - how do we get in front of these possible changes … is there anything we can do?

There’s something that academic economists call the “annuity puzzle.”  It refers to why some people are reluctant to consider using an annuity as part of their overall retirement strategy.  Forbes magazine says it may be because people assume that “annuitizing” their money means there won’t be anything left over to leave to their loved ones.  Is that true – is it an “either/or” choice, or could you possibly do both? 

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Required Minimum Distributions are back this year.  If you’re subject to them, you might want to start thinking about that.  But even if you’re not there yet, Morningstar’s Christine Benz says it might pay to start considering your options. David and Travis discuss their approach to RMD's using strategies to help reduce their tax obligations.    

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September has historically been a weak month for the stock market, and this year was no different.  We’ve seen a little more volatility, over the past few weeks.  So, should we be concerned?  

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