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What Homeowners Should Know About Estate Planning

If you have always thought estate planning was just for those nearing retirement or already retired, think again. If you own a home, it is important to have a plan in place. Without a will or other arrangements that allow your home to...

Keeping It Simple: The Benefits of Simplifying Your Investment Strategies

When it comes to investing, having fewer investments might help streamline your portfolio to manage stress better. Here are some benefits of a simple portfolio and some ways to help you create one.The Benefits of SimplicityUnless you...

6 Tennis Tips To Help Make Your Retirement a Grand Slam

Whether you make tennis one of your leisure activities during retirement or just enjoy watching the sport, you may not realize that the same strategies used in a tennis match may also translate into retirement. Prepare yourself for...

The Road Home: A Homebuyer's Guide to Financial Planning

If you're getting ready to buy a home, there are a few key steps you can take to prepare your finances for this major lifestyle shift. Here we discuss three things you can do to make the transition to homeownership as smooth as...

Gone Fishin': 6 Fishing Lessons for Investors

While it may seem that fishing and investing are completely unrelated, believe it or not, there are some characteristics that make a person good at fishing that can also transfer to investing. Here are six fishing lessons you can apply...

Charting Your Future: Small Business Lessons from Good to Great

The best-selling book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap. . .and Others Don’t, offers surprising insights into the success of “great” companies that consistently and significantly beat average market...

4 Costly 529 Plan Mistakes To Avoid

With the average cost of tuition and fees at private colleges exceeding $43,750 in 2021-22—while out-of-state public college students are paying nearly $30,000 per year—saving for college might feel like a monumental task...

4 Key Investments You Should Consider as a Small-Business Owner

As a small-business owner, you may be looking for the next big thing—an investment that might double your profits within the next year or allow you to maintain your income while working just a few hours a week. However, business...

Everything You Need to Know About Adjusting to Retirement

Economists and pundits predicted that the baby boomer generation's retirement would be dramatic, and the COVID pandemic sped things along. According to the St. Louis Fed, the number of retirees in the U.S. increased by 7% between...

Your Estate and Life Insurance

It can be fairly easy to underestimate your net worth. After all, predicting the future value of your home and savings is merely hypothetical. On the other hand, you can rely on the fixed amount of the death benefit provided by your...

What Is the Right Setting for Your Retirement Story?

There was a time that retirement meant, for many people, sitting in the sun in a southern retirement community along with a host of fellow retirees. However, today retirement means many different things to different people. Why settle...

4 Tips for Managing Financial Stress During the Pandemic

7 Retirement Considerations

5 Ways a Financial Professional Can Be Your Financial Planning Superhero

The Facts about Social Security Retirement Benefits

Financial Snapshots: Taking Fiscal Inventory

The Sandwich Generation and Caregiving: Financial Impacts to Retirement Savings

3 Estate Planning Tips for Small-Business Owners

Navigating Geopolitical Tensions

The green shoots are hard to see right now as spring approaches, clouded by war in Ukraine. Democracy is under attack and innocent lives are tragically being lost. But while we keep one eye on overseas developments, the other remains...

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How to Spring Clean Your Finances with a Financial Review

A Guide to Retirement Planning for Doctors

Five Helpful Tools for Tax Prep

Building a Strong Financial Foundation

Think You Know Retirement? Take Our Five-Question Quiz

Achieving Life’s Goals with Cash Flow Alternatives

Tax Prep Checklist: Everything You Need to Be Ready for Tax Season

Regardless of whether you prepare your taxes yourself or use a professional's services, it's a good idea to gather the information and documentation you need well in advance of your actual tax filing date. Below, we've listed some key...

Five Things to Consider When Choosing a Tax Preparer

When choosing someone to help you prepare and file your taxes, you may be wondering exactly what criteria you should consider. How do you find someone to forge a professional relationship with for your needs? What questions should you...

Focusing on Your Finances

While most people find the notion of creating a budget about as appealing as cleaning out closets, most would agree that the result—a well-crafted and useful budget—is worth the work Two financial “snapshots”...

Five New Year's Resolutions for Those Nearing Retirement

Five New Year's Resolutions for Those Nearing Retirement Getting ready for retirement is both exciting and daunting. While you are likely looking forward to the enjoyment and relaxation that retirement may bring, you are also cautious...

Developing a Dynamic Business Plan

A well-crafted business plan can be a blueprint for entrepreneurial confidence. This multifaceted tool is as important to established business owners looking to grow their companies as it is to budding entrepreneurs. A business plan...

Giving Back to Your Community While Improving Your Bottom Line

Regardless of size, companies can benefit when the community in which they do business thrives. For entrepreneurs, giving back to the community may be more than just a charitable act; it can also make good business sense. If you have...

Christmas Shopping Lessons for Investors

Is that investment an innovation or an improvement on an existing product? As Christmas sales loom, we face an endless array of sparkly, shiny and occasionally innovative items. As an investor, you run into a similar phenomenon that...

Retirement Mistakes to Fix Before the Holidays

You probably spend more time planning your holiday gathering than preparing for your golden years. As a result, you make basic mistakes in trying to fund your retirement. Here are a few of the top mistakes people make to screw up this...

Thanks and Giving: How You Make a Difference on Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday is a day to extend the goodwill that the holiday season may bring to help others. With so many in need, the holiday season is a reminder to help those less fortunate. Whether you want to donate your time or contribute...

Being Thankful for Financial Wellness

‘Tis the season to give thanks for the many blessings that you have received throughout the year and blessings that help you as you move into the future. One thing to be truly thankful for is financial wellness. When you are...

Are You Cybersecurity Safe?

COVID-19 and remote work is continuing to increase the need for internet security. Social distancing has increased device use and strained security protocols. Although cyber-security attacks are often direct at companies, other attacks...

Writing a Business Plan for a Small Business

Running a business without a written business plan is like heading out on a cross-country trip without a map or GPS. Although you may be able to make it to your destination, you may spend far more time and money navigating through...

2021 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....

Cybersecurity Awareness: What You Need to Know

October 2021 marks the 18th Cybersecurity Awareness Month—and cybercrime continues to evolve.1 Though you may not get as many emails promising bodily enhancements or asking you to keep some overseas funds in your checking account...

Estate Planning for Everyone

Have you every wondered how estate planning might fit into your overall, future plans? Even if you are just starting to build your estate and do not need complex estate planning, here’s a quick look at some steps you should...

Q3 Earnings Preview: Less Upside

We have used most of the superlatives we know to describe corporate America’s stunning performances over the past two earnings seasons. Despite lofty expections, results exceeded estimates by the biggest margins we’ve ever...

A “Recipe” for Retirement Savings

Do you ever dream of the day when you can retire and pursue your interests, travel, or simply relax from the pressure of the daily grind? In the past, retirement planning was a simpler process. Many retirees could count on...

Avoid The Market Timing Trap in Retirement

After decades of adding to your retirement accounts, making the mental switch to withdrawal mode can be a challenge. It may be tempting to try to time the market to mitigate the risk of any sudden drops or ongoing turbulence. However,...

Avoid Playing Politics with Your Portfolio

When the markets are shaky, it can be tempting to rely on political headlines or pending legislation to time your entry or exit points. However, letting politics drive your investment decisions can be a costly mistake. Learn more about...

Long-Term Care

Exploring Your Options Have you ever thought about what would happen if you or a family member were no longer able to live independently? What if your elderly parents were no longer able to drive or perform basic activities of daily...

Early Thoughts on 2022

With the fourth quarter underway—historically the best quarter for stocks, by the way—2022 is fast approaching. While a lot can still happen between now and the end of 2021, we don’t think it’s too early to...

Financial Planning at Every Age

In 2013, a Gallup poll found that only about one in every three U.S. households maintained a budget.1 A 2021 survey of 1,000 Americans found that 80% now say they have a budget.2 Americans are budgeting more due to the pandemic....

Fall Into a Healthy Routine

Fall is in full swing, and for most families, so is a return to the school year routine. But for some kids, adjusting back to this schedule can be stressful—and can take a little longer than you’d like to find balance. But...

Top Supports for Caregivers

When caring for a spouse, relative, or parent, you may face a number of challenges and decisions to make in order to provide quality care. However, you are not alone. The following resources are available to support you to meet the...

Four Financial Planning Essentials to Ease Your Retirement Fears

When it comes to planning for retirement, it's easy to get overwhelmed. Putting together a financial strategy can be complicated at any time of life, what with changing regulations, ups and downs in the market, and disagreements...

Choosing the Right 401(k) for Your Employees & Your Business

Implementing a 401(k) plan for your employees is good business. It means you're thinking strategically, that you care for your employees, and are focused on the long-term health of your company. Implementing a retirement plan: Can help...

Life 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...

Do You Have FOMO When it Comes to Investing?

Every day we’re bombarded with reports of what’s hot and what’s not – fueling a fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) on some great investment opportunity. Heck, there is even a new exchange traded fund with FOMO in its...

Why Stagflation Isn’t In the Cards

The term stagflation has been circulating increasingly in the financial media as inflation readings have risen sharply in recent months. The term is often associated with the 1970s, which saw runaway inflation—largely driven by...

Five Financial Mistakes You Should Avoid

We all make mistakes, and through them, we learn. But when it comes to finances, trial-and-error may not be the most suitable approach for you. Maybe you’re making some simple mistakes that can be fixed with a little bit of...

Corporate America Does It Again

Corporate America did it again. Companies blew by estimates and made strategists and analysts look silly (though we humbly suggest that we may have looked less silly than most in our earnings preview on July 12). S&P 500 earnings...

Inflation Varies According to Your Age & Spending

What will inflation be in the coming years? The real answer is that it varies according to your age and spending patterns. Inflation could wallop someone with kids in college, and might be hardly noticeable to stay-at-home types. And...

COVID Update: Delta Variant Market Impact

The highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 now makes up an overwhelming majority of the new cases in the U.S., bringing with it a rise in cases and hospitalizations. Widespread vaccine distribution and distancing measures have...

Appetite for Risk

Many prospective investors eventually shy away from a commitment when they hear the dreaded “R” word: risk. By itself, risk is innocuous, carrying no special meaning or predictive result. But the idea that investing...

Five Things To Know Heading Into August

Last week was a huge news week, from the Fed, to gross domestic product (GDP), to a giant week of earnings reports. Below we review the big events from last week, while also looking ahead to what could be an eventful August for...

Is It Time For A 5% Pullback?

Monday’s big down day was a harsh reminder of how markets actually can produce volatility. It was the worst day of the year for the Dow and only the second drop of 1% or more for the S&P 500 Index in just over two months. As we...

Midyear Outlook 2021: Picking Up Speed

LPL Research Midyear Outlook 2021: Picking Up Speed is designed to help you navigate the risks and opportunities over the rest of 2021 and beyond. While the speed can be exhilarating as economic growth accelerates, it can also be...

Three Things That Worry Us

Markets are off to a strong start this year, with the S&P 500 Index up about 14% so far. However, most of those gains came early in the year, and many stocks have stagnated over recent months. While we remain overweight on stocks...

Life Insurance at Various Life Stages

Your need for life insurance changes as your life changes. When you're young, you typically have less need for life insurance, but that changes as you take on more responsibility and your family grows. Then, as your responsibilities...

Inflation And What the Fed Is Saying

Inflation has been on the rise. Investors are not as interested in what’s happening now as they are in what’s happening next. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve (Fed) shared its views at the conclusion of its last policy...

Your Retirement Portfolio: Five Things to Consider Before Market Turbulence

It is human nature to seek advice when things aren't going well or when an unforeseen event occurs. Often, people seek financial advice from a professional only when the stock market and their investments are experiencing turbulent...

The 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...

The Sandwich Generation: A growing U.S. Concern

As the U.S. population continues to age, the “sandwich generation” is caught in the middle, supporting both their parents and their children, whether financially, physically, or emotionally. This generation is the...

Rethinking Social Wellness for Your Employees

Corporate wellness programs have been key tools in improving productivity, employee retention, and creating a more desirable corporate culture. While many companies have put a strong focus on physical wellness plans, many are just...

A Small Business Quiz

Small businesses are part of the backbone of the U.S. economy, providing jobs, services, products, and stability for millions of families. But how much do you really know about small businesses? Test your knowledge with our...

Test Your Investment IQ With Our Five-Question Quiz

Whether you've been investing for years or just made your first stock purchase, you may find that the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know. From capital gains taxes to dividends, how well do you know investing? Test your...

Making Sense Of Your Roth 401(K)

The Roth 401(k) has become an attractive investment account, with investors attracted to their qualified tax-free withdrawals and contributions which receive after-tax treatment. But like other 401(k) plans, the Roth 401(k) carries...

Sustainable Investing Becoming Mainstream in Fixed Income

On May 27, 2021, a couple of events in the energy sector occurred that demonstrated the continued mainstreaming of sustainable investing and underscored the risks and opportunities available to investors. While primarily thought of as...

Policy Shifts May Challenge Markets

Fiscal stimulus, which was central to the market rebound in the last year, may start moving to the sidelines over the rest of 2021 and into 2022 as the recovery continues. Economic growth can compensate for the loss of government...

Five Factors that Impact Your Retirement

Retirement can be a risky business if you don’t consider all the factors that can impact your retirement during your planning process. Although it’s hard to know what will happen in the future to you or your investments,...

Proceed With Caution in the Bond Market

After one of the worst starts to a year for fixed income, returns may not get much better from here. Long-term interest rates have traded sideways recently but we expect rates to potentially rise further, which would put downward...

How to Stay Committed to Your Financial Goals

Setting healthy financial goals is critical. Even more important is staying committed to those financial goals. Keeping yourself committed to your goals may be difficult, especially when times may be financially tough. But by staying...

Stock Market Gains Likely To Slow

After one of the best starts to a bull market in history, the rally has started to show signs of fatigue. A strong economic recovery lies ahead as the roepening continues, bolstering a very strong earnings outlook that is helping...

Economy Picking Up Speed

The economic recovery continues, as the recipe of vaccines, the reopening, and record stimulus all have combined to produce what should be one of the best years for growth ever. Although some economic indicators could be peaking or...

Three Basic Retirement Questions to Ask Yourself

One of these questions is significantly more important to your success We’ve all been there: scratching our heads wondering what to do with all the retirement savings accounts. Too many choices can be overwhelming, until you step...

Amazing Earnings Season

It’s embarrasing to admit this but in our earnings season preview on April 12, when the consensus estimate reflected a nearly 24% increase, we wrote that S&P 500 Index earnings growth for the first quarter could potentially...

Time To Sell In May?

“Sell in May and go away”1 is probably the most widely cited stock market cliché in history. Every year a barrage of Wall Street commentaries, media stories, and investor questions flood in about the popular stock...

5 Investment Considerations for Small Business Owners

If you're a small business owner, many of the best practices employed by individual investors are also available to you (of course!), but you also have some additional options and factors to weigh while creating your investment plans....

Is All The Good News Priced In?

Last week we discussed whether stock prices might be reflecting peak optimism. In that commentary we noted that while sentiment may be overly optimistic and a pickup in volatility would be totally normal, strong breadth measures...

The 3 Components of Social Security

Many have heard Social Security retirement benefits referred to as part of the "three-legged stool" of retirement: Social Security, a pension or defined benefit plan, and personal savings.1 The idea is that with these three sources of...

Teaching Money Mindfulness to Your Children

At some point in a child's development, all parents wonder: how can I best teach my child the value of money? Parents who grew up in more modest circumstances than their own children can struggle to balance the desire to provide their...

Raising Forecasts…Again

The U.S. economy’s recovery from the pandemic continues to surpass our expectations, aided by the accelerating vaccine distribution, massive stimulus, and America’s desire to resume some semblance of normal daily life....

How to Increase Your Financial Literacy

Unlike verbal literacy, financial literacy isn't often taught in schools—which means that many people may enter adulthood without having all the tools they need to make informed and effective financial decisions.[1] Fortunately,...

Tax Day for Individuals is Extended to May 17th

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is delaying the April 15th deadline to file and pay taxes until May 17th, giving individuals and businesses another month to file and then pay the government what they owe. The IRS will be providing...

Re-thinking Your Bucket List

When approaching the latter part of life, it is easy to get caught up in achieving every goal on your bucket list. Individual lists vary widely, but often are filled with wild adventures like skydiving and scuba diving in the Great...

Tips for Growing (and Preserving) Your Family Business

When you're first starting out with your own business, you're likely to be focused more on staying afloat than on contingency planning. But as your family business expands and grows, it's important to ensure that this is done in a...

The New IRS Tax Rates and Deductions for 2021

Amidst all the pandemic news and 2020 election drama, many might have missed that the IRS also quietly published new 2021 tax rates in late October and a there are plenty of changes that will impact taxpayers in 2021. While it’s...

U.S. Economic Recovery Gets the OECD’s Attention

The economic recovery is gaining steam. In fact, so much so that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had to raise their U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for 2021 by more than 3 percentage points...

529 Plans vs. Other College Savings Options

529 plans can be a great way to save for college, but they're not the only way. When you're investing for a major goal like education, it makes sense to be familiar with all of your options. Mutual funds Mutual funds are an option to...

Global Vaccinations: More Shots = Less COVID-19

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on March 1 added another important tool in the fight against COVID-19. President Biden reported Wednesday that thanks to a deal with Merck & Co. to...

How Financial Asset Management May Help Investors Stay the Course

Most people who decide to purchase stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other investment vehicles do so understanding that there are risks associated with investing, but believing that the potential growth they may realize over time...

Eight Key Facts to Know About Social Security

A whopping 70 percent of adults in their 20s through 50s fear that the Social Security program might be reduced or eliminated by the time they retire, and don’t know what to expect.1 It's important for all adults to be informed...

Common Retirement Investment Mistake

Only one-in-four Americans (27%) feel very confident that they will have enough money to live comfortably when they retire, according to the 2020 Retirement Confidence Survey Summary Report.⁠11 While the number is up slightly from the...

Inflation or Reflation? That is the Question

The recession appears to be behind us in the United States, and the early stages of an economic expansion have been taking shape. There is a growing debate over whether an expanding economy, in conjunction with historic fiscal and...

What Physicians Should Know About Choosing a Financial Professional

As a group, physicians are among the highest-earning professionals out there—and this specialized and life-saving career comes with some specific financial needs. Because of this, physicians should seek out a financial...

Have We Seen the Top in Negative Yielding Debt?

Negative yielding debt has been one of the most extraordinary and peculiar consequences of global monetary policy initiatives, turning the basic premise of fixed income investing upside down. Instead of one party lending another party...

Tax Planning for the Self-Employed

Self-employment is the opportunity to be your own boss, to come and go as you please, and oh yes, to establish a lifelong bond with your accountant. If you’re self-employed, you’ll need to pay your own FICA taxes and take...

Stocks Open Higher

US economy grew slower than expected US gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4% quarter over quarter on an annualized basis in the fourth quarter according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, below Bloomberg consensus forecasts of 4.2%....

Your Retirement Planning: “Too Big to Fail”

Many of us remember the phrase “too big to fail” from the 2008 financial crisis and cringe now that its use has been resurrected during the coronavirus pandemic. Others remember that the term was also used in 1984 by U.S....

3 Tax Strategies Every Doctor Should Consider

Being a doctor comes with a lot of stressors, but planning for taxes should not be one of them. As a doctor, you have been through years of hard work and may be looking for ways to help limit your tax liability and preserve as much of...

Investing for the Future

For years, you’ve diligently invested in your retirement portfolio, accumulating wealth that you hope will sustain you throughout your Golden Years. To help see that your assets are sufficient to help you support your lifestyle...

Equity Winners and Losers in 2020

2020 was a good year for stock investors despite unprecedented challenges. After being down more than 30% at the March 2020 lows, the S&P 500 Index ended the year with a solid 18.4% total return. Last year marked the first time the...

New 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...

The Fed Reaches Into Its Policy Toolbox Again

The Federal Reserve (Fed) demonstrated Wednesday in its final policy meeting of the year—again—that it has not exhausted the tools it has for supporting the economy and still holds plenty in reserve. The Fed kept its target...

Outlook 2021: Powering Forward

More than most years, 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...

5 Critical Financial Strategies for Physicians

As a physician, you understand your medical specialty inside and out, but at the same time, you also need to be able to handle the financial challenges associated with your industry. That may include juggling a lot of student and...

Beige Book Shows Rising COVID-19 Cases Affecting Regional Growth

COVID-19 cases have been on the rise in the US, particularly in the Midwest. This latest wave of the virus and related restrictions have begun to hamstring economic growth at a time when momentum was already fading as we entered the...

Charitable 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...

End 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,...

Daily Insights

Virus concerns mount. Stocks opened slightly lower this morning as COVID-19 spread has increased concerns that the economic recovery may be knocked off track by additional restrictions and changing consumer behavior. The S&P 500 Index...

Surviving the Holiday Season Debt-Free

With the holiday season just around the corner, you may be ready to get a jump on your holiday shopping. Unfortunately, for many, holiday shopping easily gets out of control. When you are in the giving spirit, you may find yourself...

Wondering Whether You Missed the Recovery?

It is only natural that investors would want to find some way to sit out bear markets and get back just in time for the next bull run. The belief that you can foresee the direction of the stock market is a seductive one. Some investors...

Earnings Rebound Picking up Speed

Third quarter earnings season has been outstanding relative to expectations by many measures. Some of the highlights: S&P 500 Index earnings are tracking to a 7.5% year-over-year decline, as shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, more than...

Physicians: Why You Need a Financial Professional Who Understands Your Industry

As a physician, you've devoted a lot of time to educating yourself, building a career, and providing top notch care that enriches your patients lives, and in the midst of all that, it can be easy to overlook your finances. To ensure...