You decided right out of college that you wanted to achieve financial independence and retire early. With that plan in mind, you lived within or below your means, you tracked your spending and savings, and you invested a huge percentage of your income and let the magical powers of compounding interest do its thing. Now…
Details
In planning for retirement, most people rightly concentrate on whether or not there will be enough money to support themselves in a comfortable fashion throughout their remaining lives. But financial considerations are just one of the concerns that people face when looking at their retirement planning. Where to retire is often given a lower priority,…
Details
During the first quarter of 2019, markets staged an unexpectedly scorching bounce-back from a tough end of the year in 2018, and in the process, washed away investor fears that had built during the back half of 2018. Domestic and international stocks led the charge with double digit returns; commodities and corporate bonds had a…
Details
Despite a steady drumbeat of media coverage that Baby Boomers aren’t saving enough for retirement, a recent PwC survey of Boomers found that their biggest fear about retirement isn’t actually running out of money before the end of retirement, but how they’re going to handle their health care costs in retirement. That fear isn’t necessarily…
Details
So you’ve made it to retirement, and realize you have done it with room to spare. A surplus of assets, more than enough to cover your desired lifestyle for many years to come, puts you in a position to have a meaningful impact on the lives of those you love, and on the causes you…
Details
In the unlikely event of a loss of cabin pressure, panels above your seat will open revealing oxygen masks. Reach up and pull a mask towards you… Secure your own mask first before helping others. If you have ever flown on an airline, you have no doubt heard this speech. When I fly with my children,…
Details
Mistakes made when planning for your retirement can have disastrous consequences. Here are eight critical (but common) errors you should avoid… 1. Don’t retire away from a job; instead, retire to a well-designed retirement plan. Spend time thinking about what you want to do in retirement. What will you do every day? Will you…
Details
Eight out of every ten American adults have some form of debt. Properly managed, debt can enhance a person’s lifestyle. For something so common, though, people often have conflicting emotions about it. In fact, debt is the top cause of financial stress in the United States. The situation is not helped by the hysteria and…
Details
The fourth quarter of 2018 did not usher in the typical year-end rally that investors have come to expect in recent years. Global equity markets got off to a weak start, failed to recover, and ultimately plummeted, as weak business indicators collided with perceived governmental policy risks with respect to the Federal Reserve. Commodity markets…
Details
If you’re a Pinnacle client, I have some very good news for you. I’ll get to that in a moment, but first, I want to share a few observations about recent market activity… Based on the current status of the markets as related by the media, are investors entitled to be anxious? Nervous? Frightened? Of…
Details
