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How do Black Friday and Cyber Monday retail sales affect the stock market?
What typical investors need to know We all read and hear about various special deals, “doorbusters,” price cuts, and early opening hours on Black Friday. We also read and hear about the Cyber Monday deals. These sales days...
Read MorePlanning for Long Term Care: You Are Not Alone
It may be difficult to imagine ourselves in declining health as we get older, but avoiding the subject of aging, and hoping for the best possible outcome may not be the answer. Otherwise known as the “ostrich effect” when...
Read MoreYour 2021 Year-End Planning Checklist
It may be easy to forget we're nearing the end of the year. Even during the busy end of year rush, it's a good time to reevaluate your 2021 finances and turn an eye toward 2022. What can you do now to potentially improve and streamline...
Read More2021 Year-End Planning for Retirees
For some, 2021 has flown by—and as we approach the last quarter of the year, it's a good time to begin planning for the next one. Year-end planning is especially important for retirees and those hoping to retire in 2021 or 2022....
Read MoreOctober is National Financial Planning Month
Five tips to finding a financial professional that fits you and your family The financial professional you pick to manage your assets and advise you on key financial decisions may affect your retirement and other major financial goals...
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Budgeting for Teachers: A Learning Curve
If you are an educator, you know how important budgeting is. Whether you take a summer job to have a year-round income or rely on your school year to pay for bills, budgeting your money properly may help you to stay on track with your...
Read MoreAdvantages, Challenges, and Opportunities for Businesswomen Today
Being a woman in business today comes with many obstacles, but it may also bring some unique advantages and opportunities. By navigating challenges and taking advantage of opportunities that come their way, women can go further in...
Read MoreAll About Financial Planning
No matter where you are in life, you may have at least a few financial goals. Perhaps you want to buy a house, save for your child’s college education, or retire early. Regardless of what your goals are, financial planning can...
Read MoreLife Insurance :Changing Times, Changing Needs
When Judy purchased her life insurance policy 10 years ago, she thought her insurance planning was complete. She assumed that if she paid her premiums on time, she could sit back and not think about life insurance anymore. Judy’s...
Read MoreLabor Day 2021: The Pandemic's Impact
2020 was one of the most disruptive years ever for the U.S. job market, almost as significant as the unemployment during the Great Depression in 1933 and surpassing joblessness during the Great Recession from 2006 to 2008. Many...
Read MoreLife Insurance and Divorce: Protecting Your Family’s Future
Sometimes in life, things don’t work out as planned. One of the most trying examples is when a couple decides they can’t make their marriage work and, subsequently, files for divorce. Divorce can take a significant...
Read MoreBack to School Checklist
It’s so easy to get caught up in the bliss of summer that, before you know it, the new school year is a week away. To avoid being struck with last minute panic, here are a few things to ask yourself before the first day of school...
Read MoreA Water Trend Takeover
Achieving a healthy lifestyle can seem daunting—after all, leafy greens and supplements aren’t for everyone, so switching up their drink of choice is proving to be a viable option. Improving your overall wellness...
Read MoreShortages and Bottlenecks Expose Weak Links in U.S. Supply Chains
U.S. consumers won't soon forget the troubling shortages of personal protective equipment during the early days of the pandemic, or when the first stay-at-home orders spurred panic buying and stress-inducing shortages of toilet paper,...
Read MoreInvesting in Your Vacation
Why do most avoid this important investment? Why do so many of us not use our vacation days? Salespeople talk about “leaving money on the table.” Well, employees leave vacation on the table. And the cost to us is...
Read MoreThe Heat of Summer Means More Boating Days
Consider a safety course and make sure you adequately insure your vessel On bright and sunny summer days, the allure of the water can be irresistible. If you live near a lake, river, or ocean, boating trips may be the perfect getaway...
Read MoreThe Different Stages of Financial Freedom
If you're living paycheck-to-paycheck or stuck in a job you don't love just to pay the bills, it can be easy to feel as though you're financially trapped. But financial freedom doesn't need to be elusive—with some focused and...
Read MoreWhy is ESG Investing So Appealing?
For more than 200 years, long before the advent of modern stock markets and electronic trading, some investors have been committed to socially-responsible (SRI) investing.1 This involves choosing companies and products that...
Read More4 Hot Weather Safety Tips for Pets
Summertime is great for walking and playing in the sunshine with your pet. Unfortunately, pets have a harder time keeping cool when the temperatures soar. Here are some tips to keep your pet safe, healthy, and happy under the fun sun....
Read MoreHow Technology Can Improve Your Financial Wellbeing in 2021
The coronavirus pandemic has motivated financial professionals to take full advantage of technology. Many of them are pairing various tech solutions with their unique human touch to help clients work towards their financial well-being....
Read More3 Types of Funds for Socially Responsible Investing
While making money off investments is often a major goal, the new generation of investors is also focusing on where they put their money in the hopes that their investments will do more for the greater good.[1] The move toward socially...
Read MoreLife Insurance: Is It Missing From Your Plan?
Life insurance may be a cornerstone of a sound financial plan, providing potential financial stability to a surviving spouse, children, or other family members in the event of your untimely death. Sadly, many Americans have no life...
Read MoreInflation, Inflation, Inflation
Economic Blog Thursday, May 20, 2021 Inflation was the word of the week. In this week’s LPL Market Signals Podcast, LPL Research’s Ryan Detrick and Jeff Buchbinder dive into the hotter than expected recent inflation data...
Read MoreHot Inflation Data Jolts Investors
For nearly a year, investors have had the late spring/early summer months circled on their calendars for a potential jump in inflation. Base effects from rolling off weak data a year ago held the promise of eye-popping year-over-year...
Read MoreFive Things to Know About Preferred Securities
Fixed income investments have generally played two key roles within a diversified asset allocation—generating a stable income and providing protection during equity market selloffs. While we still think high-quality fixed income...
Read MoreTop 5 Tips for Making Sound Financial Decisions
Everyone needs to make smart financial decisions that steer them toward financial independence. When people thrive financially, they may feel less financial stress, leading them to accomplish short and long-term financial goals. Here...
Read MoreTips to Keep Emotions and Investing Separate
Reducing your emotions can give you a better chance for investing success Money is always an emotional subject, but often when our emotions get involved with our investments we will make wrong decisions. And that can be a costly...
Read MoreHow Taking Unemployment Can Affect 2020 Taxes
With the global pandemic leaving millions of people in the U.S. without jobs, unemployment numbers hit an all-time high. To help ease the burden for many jobless Americans, the federal government also included an additional $600 per...
Read MoreShielding Your Insurance from Estate Taxes
The rules are very stringent, but your financial professional can help navigate Life insurance, which can help to provide for your heirs in the event of your death, can be an important estate planning tool. It can provide funds to...
Read MoreA Checklist for Your Retirement Planning
Remember, it is never too early to start planning for your future The time to begin planning for your financial future is now. So, when it comes to preparing for retirement, the earlier you start, the better. Here are some steps to...
Read MoreWomen, Wealth, and Legacy Planning
Women play a central role in establishing and preserving family wealth -- whether nurturing the values of children, fulfilling charitable goals, or making investment decisions that affect the financial security of themselves or their...
Read MoreHow to Request a Federal Income Tax Extension
With so many tax provisions tweaked in 2020—from the CARES Act in March to the Consolidated Appropriation Act in December—some taxpayers may find it challenging to get everything together in time to file their taxes by the...
Read MoreTAX IDENTITY THEFT AWARENESS – PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM TAX IDENTITY THEFT
Tax identity theft is when someone steals your Social Security Number, files a tax return with your number, and directs a refund to their own bank account. In other cases, this type of identity theft may involve a scam artist calling...
Read MoreWhat to Know About Investing After Divorce
Divorce can deal both divorcing spouses one of the biggest financial blows of their lifetimes. In fact, experts estimate each spouse will need to increase their individual income by about 30 percent to maintain the same standard of...
Read MoreThe Super Bowl Indicator
Is Brady or Mahomes better for stocks? Of course, we would not suggest investing based on this game, but with the big game around the corner, let’s talk Super Bowl Indicator. Historically, if a team from the AFC wins the Super...
Read MoreIs the Roth 401(k) an Option for You?
Taking a closer look at whether it might be appropriate for your situation Since it first became available in 2006, many employers have added the Roth 401(k) to their benefit packages as a retirement savings option. A Roth option is...
Read MorePicking Your Financial Advisor in the New Year
Use your best comparison-shopping skills when choosing a financial advisor Many financially successful people are comparison shoppers. If you’re one, you pore over ratings in consumer magazines, read websites for reviews and...
Read MoreKey Tax Deadlines for 2021
While the 2020 tax year saw some significant changes to filing deadlines due to the effects of the global pandemic, the 2021 tax season seems to be set to be on track with normal filing deadlines. With the pandemic still in sight, it...
Read More2020 in 20 Charts
Well, we can officially say goodbye to 2020. Although there still will be many challenges in 2021, we do see much better times ahead. Just how amazing was it? “2020 will go down in history as the first year to ever be down 30% at...
Read MoreNew Year's Resolutions to Get Your Finances in Order
New Year's is traditionally the time to review your life and make resolutions for change. In addition to thinking about working out, eating healthy, and meeting personal and professional goals, you should also think about your finances...
Read MoreCOVID-19 Stimulus, Round Two: What Should You Know?
After months of intense debate, the House and Senate voted to pass a second COVID-19 economic stimulus bill and the President has signed it into law.1 At a total cost of $900 billion, this 5,600-page bill[1] contains everything from...
Read More3 Tips to Manage Year-End Tax Liability
With the end of the tax year fast approaching, you may want to find ways to minimize your tax liability. Implementing one or more of the simple strategies discussed below may allow you to hold on to more of your earnings, potentially...
Read MoreTax Benefits of Charitable Planning
When you donate to a charity, you want to know that your donation is going to its highest and best purpose—which means minimizing the tax exposure of the donated assets. One way to accomplish this, whether you're hoping to donate...
Read MoreEnd of Year Deadlines Checklist
2020 has been one of the most unprecedented years in recent history, but some things—like tax contributions and retirement deadlines—don't change much, if at all. And with the uncertainty surrounding just about everything,...
Read MoreIRS Makes Annual Inflation Adjustments for 2021
Adjustments for deductions, tax rate schedules and 60 other tax provisions. The Internal Revenue Service announced annual inflation adjustments for the 2021 tax year for more than 60 tax provisions, including standard deductions and...
Read MoreOutlook 2021: The Bull Market in Stocks Continues
Tuesday, we released our 2021 market views in Outlook 2021: Powering Forward. We are extremely proud of this report and we can’t wait to hear your feedback! As we explain in Outlook 2021, we anticipate a strong earnings rebound...
Read MoreOutlook 2021: Powering Forward
It’s hard to look ahead to the next year, to 2021, without looking back at 2020. A global pandemic, a massive economic collapse, a bear market, a surprisingly sharp reversal, a hotly contested election where passions ran high,...
Read MoreCharitable Giving: How it affects you financially as well as personally
The holiday season is just around the corner and many charitable organizations are in desperate need of donations to help provide the vital services needed in the community. You are most often inundated with a number of charitable...
Read MoreSmart Shopping During The Holiday
The holiday season is just a short time away, which means the shopping season is about to be in full swing. Shopping for holiday gifts is stressful but also a little fun, especially when you think about the joy you will bring to those...
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