Insights
Sustainable Investing: Carbon Credits or Carbon Offsets?
Investment Management
In the current environment of sustainable investing, we encounter two nearly interchangeable terms: carbon offsets and carbon credits.
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Rebalancing Your Portfolio Is Key to Successful Financial Planning
Investment Management
Rebalancing is necessary because portfolios will naturally deviate from their intended allocations over time. You can become unintentionally more aggressive or more conservative as capital markets and economic climates shift.
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Taking a Bucket Approach to Asset Allocation in Retirement
Financial Planning
Managing investments in retirement is challenging enough, but steering them through volatile and uncertain times, in particular in a post-COVID world, can be harrowing.
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Addressing the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse
Market Commentary
On March 8th Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16th-largest bank in America, announced that it was seeking to raise $2.5 billion to provide capital after its clients had been withdrawing their...
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Be Like Water.
Market Commentary
An ode to Bruce Lee and investors in a post-Covid, hawkish Fed, rising geopolitical tension era
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Have You Conducted Your Annual Financial Health Check-Up?
Financial Planning
Your annual physical is an important appointment, a preventive care visit focused on detecting conditions that could compromise your health before they take hold.
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Roth IRAs: The Five-Year Rule
Retirement Planning
An individual retirement account (IRA) is one of the most popular ways to save for retirement, and about as easy to understand and set up. But there are also a host...
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Is Your Social Security Payment Accurate?
Retirement Planning
Even Social Security can make a mistake. While errors are rare, it is important to check the mathematics and confirm the amounts on your social security checks are accurate.
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Providing for Children with Special Needs
Financial Planning
There are state and federal benefits available to help parents and their child with special needs while the child is young.
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The Secure Act 2.0: Improving Retirement Savings Options
Retirement Planning
As 2022 drew to a close, while elections and inflation were getting most of the attention, President Biden signed a consolidation of two pieces of legislation.
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Common Factors Affecting Retirement Income
Retirement Planning
When it comes to planning for your retirement income, it's easy to overlook some of the common factors that can affect how much you'll have available to spend. If you don't...
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Use A Personal Financial Notebook To Keep Family Records Organized and Accessible.
Financial Planning
Imagine having to leave your home quickly because of a fire or a natural disaster. Besides the kids, what would you grab?
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The Economy and Markets in 2023: The Consensus is Usually Wrong, Could it Be Right This Year?
Market Commentary
In trying to discern what will happen in the economy and stock market in 2023, it is easy to simply fall in line with consensus thinking.
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Interest Rates and Inflation: It’s All About the Fed in 2023
Market Commentary
At the beginning of 2022 a bullish outlook on corporate profits created expectations for a higher market, though not likely a better performance than the previous two years.
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Investing and Golf: The Two Have Much In Common
Financial Planning
If you’re a golfer, you know there are certain techniques you need to master to “go low,” from driving the ball, to hitting fairway woods and irons, to putting.
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Gen Z’s Experiences Will Shape Their Financial Lives
Financial Planning
Gen Z is the first generation to come of age in the 21st century, and they've already experienced more than their fair share of challenges.
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Accurate Budgets and Projections Are Key to Successfully Selling Your Business
Business Owners
There’s no shortage of privately owned businesses for sale, which means potential buyers have lots of options.
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10 Years and Counting: Points to Consider as You Approach Retirement
Retirement Planning
If you're a decade or so away from retirement, you've probably spent at least some time thinking about this major life change
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CCRCs and Roth Conversions Go Hand-in-Hand
Financial Planning
Transitioning to retirement is exciting, but it also comes with its own challenges. After a lifetime of saving in retirement accounts, decades of deferred taxes start coming due as you pull...
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Tax Loss Harvesting: Sell at a Loss to Offset Your Gains
Financial Planning
Throughout the year, the markets ebb and flow, rise and fall. Recent years, especially 2022, have been particularly volatile.
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China Is Losing Its Place As World’s Leading Manufacturer
Investment Management
Dong Xiaoping, the de facto leader of the People’s Republic of China from 1978 to the early 1990s, introduced a “free market” concept to China with his December 1978 Open Door...
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Social Security for 2023: A Real Increase
Insurance
If you do not have access to employer-sponsored healthcare coverage, and do not yet qualify for Medicare, your most affordable healthcare option is likely to be through the federal or state...
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Asset Protection in Estate Planning
Estate Planning
You're beginning to accumulate substantial wealth, but you worry about protecting it from future potential creditors.
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Data’s Out! Inflation Remains High. What Can You Do?
Financial Planning
Yes, the latest monthly report shows that inflation remains high. But as with anything, the devil is in the details.
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Inflation Is Good for Retirees. Come Again?
Financial Planning
Not a day goes by that we don’t hear something about inflation. From a five-dollar gallon of gas to a five-dollar gallon of milk, inflation is impacting virtually everything we buy....
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Barron’s Annual Survey Ranks HBKS Wealth Advisors Among Elite U.S. RIAs
News & Awards
Again this year, HBKS Wealth Advisors (HBKS) has been recognized as among the nation’s most prominent registered investment advisories (RIAs) by multiple industry surveys. Most recently, Barron’s, one of the most...
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Understanding Recessions and Regaining Financial Balance
Financial Planning
As HBKS Chief Investment Officer Brian Sommers wrote in his recent commentary, the combination of trending economic data and the Federal Reserve’s determination to continue raising key interest rates is edging...
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Inflation, Interest Rate Hikes Creating New Market Considerations
Financial Planning
After years of markets rising on historically low interest rates, low inflation, and an extremely accommodative Federal Reserve (Fed), we are now seeing how assets prices can be negatively impacted by...
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It’s That Time of the Year Again: RMD Decision Time
Financial Planning
The IRS wants the tax dollars they so graciously allowed you to defer over the years by investing in IRAs, 401ks and other “qualified” retirement plans. To collect those taxes, they...
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Student Debt Relief: Rhyme and Reason
Financial Planning
Americans have long been obsessed with getting a college education. Only in recent years has data emerged indicating that for some it might not be the best pathway, at least to...
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The Fed Will Likely Cause a Recession As It Fights Inflation
Market Commentary
On September 21, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced a Fed Funds rate hike of another 75 basis points to a 3.00 to 3.25 percent range and signaled the Fed would...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Promotes Four Professionals to Senior Financial Advisor Status
News & Awards
HBK Managing Partner and CEO Christopher M. Allegretii has announced 2022 HBKS promotions of Will Chase, Donna Kline, Anthony Scrocco, and Zachary Allegretti to Senior Financial Advisor.
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No-Load, No-Commission Annuities Attract Savers With Flexibility, Low Fees
Investment Management
In decades past, it was common for an American worker to be employed by the same company throughout his or her entire work life.
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HBKS Again Among Top Advisory Firms in National Rankings
News & Awards
Again this year, HBKS Wealth Advisors (HBKS) is being recognized as a one of the nation’s most prominent registered investment advisories (RIAs). Recently released rankings by Financial Advisor Magazine and Accounting...
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Why Haven’t Bonds Lived Up to Their Traditional Role?
Investment Management
Investors have been accustomed to their core fixed income allocation serving as a counterweight to a weak stock market.
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The Individual 401(k)
Retirement Planning
If you are self-employed or own a small business, you have probably considered establishing a retirement plan. If you have done your homework, you likely know about simplified employee pensions...
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Markets and Recessions: The Facts Might Surprise You
Perspectives
Recessions are a natural part of the business cycle started by imbalances in the economy during market corrections. As well, periods of declining GDP often signal an impending recession. Both scenarios...
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Ladies: Don’t Be Uninsured or Underinsured
Insurance
According to the 2021 Insurance Barometer Study by Life Happens, a nonprofit that encourages life insurance ownership, and LIMRA, a financial services trade association, just 47 percent of women own life...
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Does Your Estate Warrant An Alternative to Probate?
Estate Planning
Probate has gotten a bad reputation, especially in recent years. But much of that is undeserved. If you bypass probate, your estate will go to your beneficiaries without a court proceeding,...
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Protect Your Business With Keyman Life and Disability Insurance
Financial Planning
Keyman, or keyperson, life and disability insurance policies are bought by companies to protect their income and survivability by covering individuals who are responsible for a substantial portion of their revenue.
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Financial Planning Takes the Guesswork Out of Portfolio Performance
Financial Planning
Investors are finding themselves challenged to exercise the most rare of investment strategies these days, patience. It’s understandable that when markets decline people are concerned. Should they get out and wait...
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3rd Quarter 2022 Economic Commentary
Market Commentary
The U.S. economy probably posted little to no growth in the second quarter, with most estimates landing between a slight contraction to very small growth. This follows a first quarter in...
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Business Owners Looking to Sell Have Options
Business Owners
Are you looking to move on from your business? Whether you want to exit gradually or immediately, you have options if your way out is to sell, including selling a minority...
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Pre-Retirement Perspectives on Social Security: What You Need to Know and Do Before You Apply
Financial Planning
An HBKS June 23 webinar hosted by Steven M. Rinn, CFP, Principal, Senior Financial Advisor, HBKS, with guest speaker Social Security Consultant John Johnston.
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The Shape of Economic Recovery
Investment Management
On June 8, 2020, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which has official responsibility for determining U.S. business cycles, announced that February 2020 marked the end of an expansion that...
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Key Considerations For Taking Withdrawals From Your Investments
Financial Planning
After a cold, rainy, and sometimes even snowy April, spring has finally arrived here in Pittsburgh. And, as I’ve noticed in recent client meetings, people of all ages are excited to...
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Is Your Tax Bill Larger Than You Expected?
Financial Planning
I have yet to meet anyone who enjoys writing a check to the IRS, or for that matter, any tax authority. But many people filing their 2021 tax returns found themselves...
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Sell or Stay? That Is One of the Questions.
Investment Management
The real estate market has been booming. Homes in my neighborhood are being sold for substantially more than I would have ever imagined. So should you take advantage of the boom...
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Financial Planning at Divorce: Finding the Way to Sustained, Equitable Lifestyles
Financial Planning
Families work together and with their financial advisor to build savings for the retirement years they plan to spend together. But when there is a divorce, particularly if it is later...
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The Lasting Impact of Investing Principles from the 1940s
Investment Management
British-born American Economist Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor was published in 1949 and remains among the most respected books ever written on investing. Warren Buffet, who first read the book at...
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Develop Healthy Financial Habits: Here’s How.
Financial Planning
Too many of us find ourselves with too little savings. And it can be difficult to build a financial stockpile, to set aside money regularly, especially when inflation makes just keeping...
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Working For Yourself? Take Advantage of a Retirement Savings Plan for the Self-Employed.
Retirement Planning
Our country’s workforce is evolving. Many of us are not only working from home, but working for ourselves. Others, while still holding down a job, have developed a second income stream...
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Buy Bonds? I Bonds, That Is
Financial Planning
With inflation soaring and interest rates rising, many investors are wondering if it’s time to buy U.S. savings bonds, and more specifically, I bonds. As with most things, the short answer...
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Bond Yields Are Up. Should You Buy Bonds Now?
Estate Planning
As inflation rages and the Federal Reserve steps up interest rates, many of our investment clients are inquiring about increasing their bond positions.
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Four Estate Planning Documents Everyone Should Have
Financial Planning
Estate planning is the process of managing and preserving your assets while you’re alive and conserving and controlling their distribution after your death. There are four key estate-planning documents that almost...
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“This Time Is Different”: Strategies for Dealing with Market Volatility
Financial Planning
“No matter how calm you are, no matter how long-term an investor you are, no matter what your horizons, when the market is jumping around, you feel uncertainty in your gut...
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Finding Balance: Planning Retirement Spending
Financial Planning
You hear and read a lot about planning for retirement. Saving enough money to maintain your lifestyle in retirement, or to adopt another more preferred lifestyle, is essential. But just like...
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HBKS 2022 Economic and Investment Outlook
Market Commentary
Highlights of the May 5, 2022 webinar, a Q&A featuring HBK Principal and Chief Investment Officer Brian Sommers.
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Give Smart by Employing Available Tax-Saving Strategies
Financial Planning
Our motivations for giving are generally derived from caring and a desire to give back in light of our own good fortunes. The more complex your financial picture, the more you...
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Income-Based Student Loan Repayment: What Are Your Options?
Investment Management
Student loans and the ways we go about repaying them remain in the news because, in one way or another, they affect so many of us. Whether in debt to their...
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The Federal Reserve May Not Need to Raise Rates as Aggressively as Feared to Bring Down Inflation
Market Commentary
During the first quarter of 2022 the world was forced to endure multiple shocks which caused the outlook for global economic growth this year to deteriorate.
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Rising Rates! Sell Everything! … Or Take a Deep Breath
Financial Planning
Many of us haven’t seen rising interest rates and inflation for a long time; some of us, never. The combination injects fear into the market—and a lot of volatility. It also...
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Employee Stock Awards, Restricted Shares, and Divorce
Financial Planning
In such a competitive environment for employees as currently exists, some employers are offering stock ownership as a way to attract or retrain key employees. As a sign-on bonus, or a...
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Elite Life Management to Merge with HBKS Wealth Advisors
News & Awards
HBKS Wealth Advisors (HBKS) announced it is expanding its presence in Southwest Florida through a merger with Sarasota-based Elite Life Management (Elite).
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Oil Production, Consumption, and Reserves: A March 31, 2022 Perspective
Perspectives
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused significant stress on a variety of fronts and our hearts go out to the Ukrainian people. The crisis conditions extend to global oil prices with...
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Invest or Pay Down Debt? What’s Right for You?
Financial Planning
One of the questions we get most frequently in our financial planning sessions is about investing versus paying down debt, specifically, “Should we do general non-retirement investing, or should we aggressively...
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Buy-Sell Agreements to Protect Businesses with Multiple Owners
Financial Planning
When a business owner unexpectedly passes away, selling the business or their interest in the business can become complex. Selling a business interest is not like selling most types of property;...
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Credit Card Interest: Know How It Works
Financial Planning
Before you applied for a credit card you probably checked the interest rate. But do you know how the credit card company figures that rate—and others—into your monthly statements? Of course,...
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Intra-family Loans: Gift Money Now, Save on Estate Taxes Later
Estate Planning
Another busy home-buying year is upon us. Much like last year, supply is low. But so are interest rates, and many of us are more than willing to sell our houses,...
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Considering a New Employment Opportunity
Perspectives
In the past, workers stayed with the same company for years and years, working their way up in the company. However, times have changed. Businesses facing hard economic times restructure, forcing...
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The Investment Implications from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Should Be Short-Lived
Market Commentary
After a lot of speculation that accompanied Russia’s build-up of military forces outside Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine despite diplomatic efforts and threats of sanctions from...
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Investing for a Minor: Consider Your Options
Investment Management
Financial planning for clients who have amassed wealth often includes addressing their desire to make a financial impact on their minor children’s or grandchildren’s futures.
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A Look at How Markets Move During Midterm Election Years
Investment Management
With 2022 being a midterm election year, it is interesting to look back over the years at how the equity markets have fared as both parties vie for additional seats in...
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Why Markets Move: The Impact of Emotion on your Investment Decisions
Investment Management
With all the media attention given to the markets on a daily basis, we can lose sight of what we are actually experiencing when investing in various assets.
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Philanthropy: Changing Tax Laws Call for New Strategies
Financial Planning
People look at philanthropy in different ways. Some people have very little interest in giving. Others are deeply devoted and have built foundations and structured their philanthropy such that their giving...
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Child Tax Credit: Know the Current Rules and What You Qualify For
Financial Planning
Among all the social programs being debated in Washington these days, the Child Tax Credit has been getting more than its share of attention.
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The Stock Market Could Resume Climbing Higher as The Economic Recovery Continues
Market Commentary
After relative calm in the stock market last year, volatility has returned in 2022. At the close of business on January 27th, the S&P 500 Index was down 9.7 percent from...
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Discussing End-of-Life Issues: A Family Imperative
Retirement Planning
Getting a family together to discuss issues related to aging parents can be challenging. Sometimes geography is a hurdle. Grown children are scattered around the country, even around the world.
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A Few Tips for Women Returning to the Workforce After a Divorce
Financial Planning
Planning a family’s financial future during a divorce should consider a variety of factors, including ages, incomes, assets, and expenses. As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, I help people resolve the...
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529 Plans: Save for College and K-12 Schooling
Financial Planning
Among the ways to save for a college or graduate school education, 529 plans get top ratings. While the contributions to the plans are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes—many...
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Economic Growth Expected to Moderate This Year
Market Commentary
Last year, many looked forward to a return to some semblance of normalcy after more than a year of challenging modifications in their daily lives due to the pandemic. Unfortunately, just...
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The Fed Pivots to Fight Inflation
Investment Management
On December 15, 2021, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve System made a significant shift in monetary policy in response to rising inflation.
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529 Plans vs. Other College Savings Options
Financial Planning
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...
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Robo or Financial Advisor: Where Will You Get Your Advice?
Financial Planning
Technology continues to play an increasingly larger role in our lives, making things faster, more convenient, easier. It takes but a mere click of a button to order any number of...
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Using Life Insurance for Charitable Giving
Financial Planning
Life insurance can be an excellent tool for charitable giving. Not only does life insurance allow you to make a substantial gift to charity at relatively little cost to you, but...
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Exchange an Idle Non-Qualified Annuity for Tax-Free Long Term Care Coverage
Investment Management
The rising costs associated long-term care (LTC) insurance tend to be a stumbling block for those considering purchasing coverage. But if you own a non-qualified annuity, there could be a way...
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Investing in 2022: Inflationary Pressures and a Mix of Headwinds and Tailwinds
Investment Management
We have learned from experience how our stock market-related investments act as long-term hedges against inflation. As the economic recovery from the COVID shutdowns continues to move forward, we’re seeing how...
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Increases to Medicare Premiums, Deductibles and Monthly Adjustment Amounts
Insurance
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2022 premiums, deductibles and coinsurance amounts for the Medicare Part A and Part B programs.
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Looking to Sell Your Business? Start with the Fundamentals
Business Owners
No matter the business, no matter the industry, all business owners have one consideration in common: an exit plan. Other than turning the business over to a next generation family member,...
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Tax Havens & Trust Laws: The Times May Be A-Changin’
Investment Management
Tax-haven states have been around since the dawning of America, and for decades, Delaware has been reputed as the tax haven for the ultra-wealthy and corporate entities. But there is new...
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End-of-Year Tax Planning? Involve Your Advisors
Financial Planning
There are benefits to be gained by meeting before the end of the year with your financial advisor and the CPA who will oversee the completion and filing of your tax...
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“After-Tax Fund” Conversions: Act Fast Before the Opportunity Vanishes
Retirement Planning
So-called “qualified” retirement plans, like 401(k)s, allow you to defer money into a pretax account, a traditional IRA, or a tax-free Roth IRA account.
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IRS Announces Increased 401(k) Contribution Limits for 2022
Retirement Planning
Good news for anyone looking to save more for retirement – the IRS announced recently that investors can put an extra $1,000 in their 401(k)s in 2022.
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Look to Dividend-Paying Stocks for Income in Retirement
Retirement Planning
Retiring boomers are looking for ways to generate income without eroding their assets. One approach is to invest in dividend-paying and rising dividend-paying stocks and funds.
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Retiring Student Debt: Employers Helping Employees
Financial Planning
As most experienced financial planners will advise, it is usually in your best interest to reduce or eliminate debt in order to create personal wealth. The principle rings particularly true if...
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The Child Tax Credit: Be Aware of How Program Changes Will Affect You
Financial Planning
The American Rescue Plan included meaningful changes to the Child Tax Credit. Specifically, the credit was increased from $2,000 to $3,000 per child over the age of six and $2,000 to...
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Using Life Insurance Riders to Pay for Long-Term Care
Financial Planning
If you're thinking about buying a stand-alone long-term care insurance (LTCI) policy, you might have another option. An increasing number of states are permitting the sale of long-term care hybrid products...
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Options, Short Selling, GameStop, and the Squeeze
Investment Management
The COVID lockdown era will be remembered for many things, not least for the explosion of interest in the stock market across all reaches of society.
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It Remains Unclear if Economic Growth Will Remain Above Trend or Trail Off
Market Commentary
The global economy has already made enormous progress as more countries reopen but regaining the growth lost during the Pandemic still has a long way to go.
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HBKS Named to CNBC FA 100 List
News & Awards
HBKS Wealth Advisors has again been named as a top firm in the CNBC FA 100 list. HBKS ranked 73rd in the CNBC FA 100, which was unveiled on October 6....
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Accurate Budgets and Projections Are Key to Successfully Selling Your Business
Business Owners
There’s no shortage of privately owned businesses for sale, which means potential buyers have lots of options.
Keep Reading
Business Owners Looking to Sell Have Options
Business Owners
Are you looking to move on from your business? Whether you want to exit gradually or immediately, you have options if your way out is to sell, including selling a minority...
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Looking to Sell Your Business? Start with the Fundamentals
Business Owners
No matter the business, no matter the industry, all business owners have one consideration in common: an exit plan. Other than turning the business over to a next generation family member,...
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Employee Stock Ownership Plan: What Business Owners Need to Understand – Part 2
Business Owners
On February 24, HBKS Wealth Advisors presented a webinar offering insights on the advantages to employers and employees of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The panel of experts discussed the...
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Employee Stock Ownership Plan: Understanding the Business Succession and Financial Planning Benefits
Business Owners
On February 24, HBKS Wealth Advisors presented a webinar offering insights on the advantages to employers and employees of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The panel of experts discussed the...
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2020 Year-End Tax Planning Update
Perspectives
Our colleagues at HBK CPAs & Consultants, want to ensure that our clients and colleagues are aware of the many changes that have occurred over the past year, and how these...
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Self-Employment
Business Owners
You've grown tired of commuting to a job where you sit in a cubicle and do someone else's bidding. You've got a better idea, you can build a better mousetrap, you...
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SBA Loans for Businesses Suffering Due to COVID-19
Business Owners
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced availability of low-interest disaster recovery loans for small businesses affected by the coronavirus.
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Selling Your Business? Consider a Two-Step Sale
Business Owners
Selling your business might be the most significant and impactful financial transaction of your life. You owe it to yourself to understand and consider all your options.
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2019 Year-End Tax Planning Update
Perspectives
With 2019 coming to a close, individuals and businesses may still benefit from several tax savings strategies. Our colleagues at HBK CPAs & Consultants share the many opportunities still available and...
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On Being Successful
Business Owners
An interview with Christopher N. Sorce, CFP&, Principal and Senior Financial Advisor, as we near the 20th anniversary of HBKS& Wealth Advisors.
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Leaving Your Business on Your Terms
Business Owners
There are many ways you as an owner can exit your business. It is important to understand your options and how to prepare yourself and your business for this inevitable event....
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Business Succession Planning – Buy-Sell Agreements
Business Owners
A buy-sell agreement is a legally binding contract in which the owners of a business set forth the terms and conditions of a future sale or buy back of a departing...
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Don’t Bank Your Retirement on Your Business
Business Owners
Investing in your own business makes sense; many businesses achieve significant growth each year. However, when you consider that many small businesses fold every year, it becomes clear that banking your...
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Benefit Plans for Small Businesses
Business Owners
If you own a small business, you may be finding it increasingly necessary to implement a benefit program to attract and retain employees. For small businesses, benefit plans generally consist of...
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Was a Fraudulent Unemployment Claim Filed in Your Name? Report it.
Cybersecurity
As COVID-19 raged in 2020 and unemployment soared to record highs, the federal government increased unemployment benefits through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. While the additional benefits...
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Scammers Pretending to be IRS, Banks, Charities
Cybersecurity
We are in the midst of a national emergency. The government is offering benefits to victims; your new way of business is requiring new, unfamiliar technology; and uncertainty is driving you...
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Spoofers, Phishers Prey on Florida Senior Citizens
Cybersecurity
Scammers can be awfully clever — and especially convincing when they claim to be from the federal government. The latest "spoofing" scam has the caller posing as an official with the...
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Phishing Scams are Everywhere: Be Prepared
Cybersecurity
Cyber security threats are everywhere in today’s high tech world, and simply having an email account puts you at risk from the largest and fastest growing threat known as phishing.
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A Proactive Approach to Cyber Security
Cybersecurity
Implementing strong cyber security polices, protecting yourself from unauthorized access to your personal and business data, is one of the most important precautions you can take in today’s digital world. Internet...
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A Sophisticated Con Almost Nails My Dad
Cybersecurity
My father is a retired military officer with three post-graduate degrees. After 35 years of service, he continued to serve his community by testifying as an expert in toxic contamination lawsuits....
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Identity Protection Solutions
Cybersecurity
The Equifax data breaches have focused our nation’s attention on identity theft protection. Not that it hasn’t been in the news for more than a decade now, but such a large-scale...
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Asset Protection in Estate Planning
Estate Planning
You're beginning to accumulate substantial wealth, but you worry about protecting it from future potential creditors.
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Does Your Estate Warrant An Alternative to Probate?
Estate Planning
Probate has gotten a bad reputation, especially in recent years. But much of that is undeserved. If you bypass probate, your estate will go to your beneficiaries without a court proceeding,...
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Bond Yields Are Up. Should You Buy Bonds Now?
Estate Planning
As inflation rages and the Federal Reserve steps up interest rates, many of our investment clients are inquiring about increasing their bond positions.
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Intra-family Loans: Gift Money Now, Save on Estate Taxes Later
Estate Planning
Another busy home-buying year is upon us. Much like last year, supply is low. But so are interest rates, and many of us are more than willing to sell our houses,...
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Consider Investing Your Excess Retirement Funds Like Your Heirs Would
Retirement Planning
A financial plan has a beginning, but no end. As a retiree your plan is designed to accommodate your needs and goals through your retirement. But it should also consider the...
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Inheriting Wealth
Estate Planning
You should carefully evaluate your new financial position after receiving a large inheritance. Consider the tax and investment consequences of your inheritance, among other issues. HBKS Wealth Advisor Anthony Scrocco reviews...
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A Will: Everyone Should Have One
Estate Planning
Not having a will can leave your family in dire straits. Do you have one? Is it up to date? Can you provide a copy we can put on file to...
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Managing Your Real Estate Portfolio with Tax Efficiency
Estate Planning
Tom Taranto and Ben DiGirolamo discuss the advantages of managing your real estate portfolio with tax-efficiency.
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Estate Planning and 529 Plans
Estate Planning
When you contribute to a 529 plan, you'll not only help your child, grandchild, or other loved one pay for school, but you'll also remove money from your taxable estate. This...
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Gift and Estate Tax Planning: Stay Current and Avoid the Consequences
Estate Planning
Over the past 12 to 18 months, our gift and estate planning has been based on the current federal gift and estate tax exemption of $11.7 million per individual or $23.4...
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The Biden Tax Plan: Estate Planning Considerations
Estate Planning
Over the past month the Biden administration has begun outlining its tax plan, which will undoubtedly prove one of the most noteworthy policy initiatives of the president’s first term. The plan...
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Selling Your Business? It Can Get Complicated.
Estate Planning
Grantor retained annuity trusts, or GRATs, are financial tools that wealthy people use in estate planning to pass assets to their children while avoiding estate and gift taxes. A GRAT is...
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How We Are Protecting Our Aging Clients
Estate Planning
One of the challenges of living longer is combating the financial risks resulting from diminished mental capacity and elder financial abuse. Protecting our clients from these risks is one of the...
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Essential Documents to Review During Volatile Times
Estate Planning
“Risk happens fast” is an oft-quoted phrase in the world of investing and financial markets. It never happened faster than this past February and March when the U.S. stock market lost...
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When Life Changes, Change Your Beneficiary Designations
Estate Planning
We are not immortal, and eventually we will pass on, as will our assets. Who will be on the receiving end? Failing to update your beneficiaries after divorce, a death, a...
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GRATS: Passing Along Assets Free of Estate and Gift Taxes
Estate Planning
Grantor retained annuity trusts, or GRATs, are financial tools that wealthy people use in estate planning to pass assets to their children while avoiding estate and gift taxes. A GRAT is...
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Remarrying? Better Do Some Estate Planning
Estate Planning
More than half of people over 55 who lose a spouse to death or divorce are remarrying. But a word of warning — actually two words: estate planning. Whether you have...
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SECURE Act: Plan Now to Protect Your Beneficiaries
Estate Planning
Congress has passed and the president signed into law a bill that will change not only how you save for retirement, but how you'll retrieve your savings. Among its provisions, the...
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Family Matters
Estate Planning
No one wants to think about, much less talk about, parents being unable to care for themselves or dying. But avoiding the conversation can leave a family in chaos in a...
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Designating Your Life Insurance Beneficiaries
Estate Planning
Beneficiary planning is an integral part of estate planning, as life insurance, IRAs and annuities do not pass through a will but directly to the named beneficiaries. This type of planning,...
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Business Succession Planning – Buy-Sell Agreements
Business Owners
A buy-sell agreement is a legally binding contract in which the owners of a business set forth the terms and conditions of a future sale or buy back of a departing...
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Revocable Living Trust
Estate Planning
A revocable living trust can be a useful and practical estate planning tool for certain individuals but not for everyone. This type of trust is as a way to maintain management of...
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Estate and Protection Planning: Don’t Fall Victim to These Common Pitfalls
Estate Planning
It's ironic that one of the most impactful — and costly — components of a well-executed financial plan pertains to benefits the owner will likely not live to enjoy. However, anyone...
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Express Your Charitable Intent with Your IRA
Estate Planning
Many of our firm's clients opt to leave a portion of their estate to charitable organizations such as social service agencies, churches and educational institutions. In many cases, charitably inclined individuals...
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Inheriting Retirement Accounts: The Other IRAs
Retirement Planning
Dealing with the passing of a family member or close friend is never easy. The emotions we feel and the ways we cope with loss can vary dramatically depending on our...
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You’ve Been Named an Executor
Estate Planning
What does it mean to be assigned as executor or executrix of a will? Holding such a title means you are charged with settling the estate of the deceased. When a...
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Estate Planning: Covering Your Bases, Part 3
Estate Planning
As critical as estate planning is, assuring your estate will be distributed as you wish is far from difficult or complicated. For most of us, estate planning boils down to executing...
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Estate Planning: Covering Your Bases, Part 2
Estate Planning
As critical as estate planning is, assuring your estate will be distributed as you wish is far from difficult or complicated. For most of us, estate planning boils down to executing...
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Estate Planning: Covering Your Bases, Part 1
Estate Planning
As critical as estate planning is, assuring your estate will be distributed as you wish is far from difficult or complicated. For most of us, estate planning boils down to executing...
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Gifting and the Family Dynamic
Estate Planning
It is a good problem. You've done well enough in your business to amass a significant amount of wealth. Now you must decide how it will be distributed when you are...
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Taking a Bucket Approach to Asset Allocation in Retirement
Financial Planning
Managing investments in retirement is challenging enough, but steering them through volatile and uncertain times, in particular in a post-COVID world, can be harrowing.
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Have You Conducted Your Annual Financial Health Check-Up?
Financial Planning
Your annual physical is an important appointment, a preventive care visit focused on detecting conditions that could compromise your health before they take hold.
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Providing for Children with Special Needs
Financial Planning
There are state and federal benefits available to help parents and their child with special needs while the child is young.
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Use A Personal Financial Notebook To Keep Family Records Organized and Accessible.
Financial Planning
Imagine having to leave your home quickly because of a fire or a natural disaster. Besides the kids, what would you grab?
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Investing and Golf: The Two Have Much In Common
Financial Planning
If you’re a golfer, you know there are certain techniques you need to master to “go low,” from driving the ball, to hitting fairway woods and irons, to putting.
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Gen Z’s Experiences Will Shape Their Financial Lives
Financial Planning
Gen Z is the first generation to come of age in the 21st century, and they've already experienced more than their fair share of challenges.
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CCRCs and Roth Conversions Go Hand-in-Hand
Financial Planning
Transitioning to retirement is exciting, but it also comes with its own challenges. After a lifetime of saving in retirement accounts, decades of deferred taxes start coming due as you pull...
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Tax Loss Harvesting: Sell at a Loss to Offset Your Gains
Financial Planning
Throughout the year, the markets ebb and flow, rise and fall. Recent years, especially 2022, have been particularly volatile.
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Data’s Out! Inflation Remains High. What Can You Do?
Financial Planning
Yes, the latest monthly report shows that inflation remains high. But as with anything, the devil is in the details.
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Inflation Is Good for Retirees. Come Again?
Financial Planning
Not a day goes by that we don’t hear something about inflation. From a five-dollar gallon of gas to a five-dollar gallon of milk, inflation is impacting virtually everything we buy....
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Understanding Recessions and Regaining Financial Balance
Financial Planning
As HBKS Chief Investment Officer Brian Sommers wrote in his recent commentary, the combination of trending economic data and the Federal Reserve’s determination to continue raising key interest rates is edging...
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Inflation, Interest Rate Hikes Creating New Market Considerations
Financial Planning
After years of markets rising on historically low interest rates, low inflation, and an extremely accommodative Federal Reserve (Fed), we are now seeing how assets prices can be negatively impacted by...
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It’s That Time of the Year Again: RMD Decision Time
Financial Planning
The IRS wants the tax dollars they so graciously allowed you to defer over the years by investing in IRAs, 401ks and other “qualified” retirement plans. To collect those taxes, they...
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Student Debt Relief: Rhyme and Reason
Financial Planning
Americans have long been obsessed with getting a college education. Only in recent years has data emerged indicating that for some it might not be the best pathway, at least to...
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Protect Your Business With Keyman Life and Disability Insurance
Financial Planning
Keyman, or keyperson, life and disability insurance policies are bought by companies to protect their income and survivability by covering individuals who are responsible for a substantial portion of their revenue.
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Financial Planning Takes the Guesswork Out of Portfolio Performance
Financial Planning
Investors are finding themselves challenged to exercise the most rare of investment strategies these days, patience. It’s understandable that when markets decline people are concerned. Should they get out and wait...
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Pre-Retirement Perspectives on Social Security: What You Need to Know and Do Before You Apply
Financial Planning
An HBKS June 23 webinar hosted by Steven M. Rinn, CFP, Principal, Senior Financial Advisor, HBKS, with guest speaker Social Security Consultant John Johnston.
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Key Considerations For Taking Withdrawals From Your Investments
Financial Planning
After a cold, rainy, and sometimes even snowy April, spring has finally arrived here in Pittsburgh. And, as I’ve noticed in recent client meetings, people of all ages are excited to...
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Is Your Tax Bill Larger Than You Expected?
Financial Planning
I have yet to meet anyone who enjoys writing a check to the IRS, or for that matter, any tax authority. But many people filing their 2021 tax returns found themselves...
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Financial Planning at Divorce: Finding the Way to Sustained, Equitable Lifestyles
Financial Planning
Families work together and with their financial advisor to build savings for the retirement years they plan to spend together. But when there is a divorce, particularly if it is later...
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Develop Healthy Financial Habits: Here’s How.
Financial Planning
Too many of us find ourselves with too little savings. And it can be difficult to build a financial stockpile, to set aside money regularly, especially when inflation makes just keeping...
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Buy Bonds? I Bonds, That Is
Financial Planning
With inflation soaring and interest rates rising, many investors are wondering if it’s time to buy U.S. savings bonds, and more specifically, I bonds. As with most things, the short answer...
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Bond Yields Are Up. Should You Buy Bonds Now?
Estate Planning
As inflation rages and the Federal Reserve steps up interest rates, many of our investment clients are inquiring about increasing their bond positions.
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Four Estate Planning Documents Everyone Should Have
Financial Planning
Estate planning is the process of managing and preserving your assets while you’re alive and conserving and controlling their distribution after your death. There are four key estate-planning documents that almost...
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“This Time Is Different”: Strategies for Dealing with Market Volatility
Financial Planning
“No matter how calm you are, no matter how long-term an investor you are, no matter what your horizons, when the market is jumping around, you feel uncertainty in your gut...
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Finding Balance: Planning Retirement Spending
Financial Planning
You hear and read a lot about planning for retirement. Saving enough money to maintain your lifestyle in retirement, or to adopt another more preferred lifestyle, is essential. But just like...
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Give Smart by Employing Available Tax-Saving Strategies
Financial Planning
Our motivations for giving are generally derived from caring and a desire to give back in light of our own good fortunes. The more complex your financial picture, the more you...
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Rising Rates! Sell Everything! … Or Take a Deep Breath
Financial Planning
Many of us haven’t seen rising interest rates and inflation for a long time; some of us, never. The combination injects fear into the market—and a lot of volatility. It also...
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Employee Stock Awards, Restricted Shares, and Divorce
Financial Planning
In such a competitive environment for employees as currently exists, some employers are offering stock ownership as a way to attract or retrain key employees. As a sign-on bonus, or a...
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Invest or Pay Down Debt? What’s Right for You?
Financial Planning
One of the questions we get most frequently in our financial planning sessions is about investing versus paying down debt, specifically, “Should we do general non-retirement investing, or should we aggressively...
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Buy-Sell Agreements to Protect Businesses with Multiple Owners
Financial Planning
When a business owner unexpectedly passes away, selling the business or their interest in the business can become complex. Selling a business interest is not like selling most types of property;...
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Credit Card Interest: Know How It Works
Financial Planning
Before you applied for a credit card you probably checked the interest rate. But do you know how the credit card company figures that rate—and others—into your monthly statements? Of course,...
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Philanthropy: Changing Tax Laws Call for New Strategies
Financial Planning
People look at philanthropy in different ways. Some people have very little interest in giving. Others are deeply devoted and have built foundations and structured their philanthropy such that their giving...
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Child Tax Credit: Know the Current Rules and What You Qualify For
Financial Planning
Among all the social programs being debated in Washington these days, the Child Tax Credit has been getting more than its share of attention.
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A Few Tips for Women Returning to the Workforce After a Divorce
Financial Planning
Planning a family’s financial future during a divorce should consider a variety of factors, including ages, incomes, assets, and expenses. As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, I help people resolve the...
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529 Plans: Save for College and K-12 Schooling
Financial Planning
Among the ways to save for a college or graduate school education, 529 plans get top ratings. While the contributions to the plans are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes—many...
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529 Plans vs. Other College Savings Options
Financial Planning
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...
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Robo or Financial Advisor: Where Will You Get Your Advice?
Financial Planning
Technology continues to play an increasingly larger role in our lives, making things faster, more convenient, easier. It takes but a mere click of a button to order any number of...
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Using Life Insurance for Charitable Giving
Financial Planning
Life insurance can be an excellent tool for charitable giving. Not only does life insurance allow you to make a substantial gift to charity at relatively little cost to you, but...
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End-of-Year Tax Planning? Involve Your Advisors
Financial Planning
There are benefits to be gained by meeting before the end of the year with your financial advisor and the CPA who will oversee the completion and filing of your tax...
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Retiring Student Debt: Employers Helping Employees
Financial Planning
As most experienced financial planners will advise, it is usually in your best interest to reduce or eliminate debt in order to create personal wealth. The principle rings particularly true if...
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The Child Tax Credit: Be Aware of How Program Changes Will Affect You
Financial Planning
The American Rescue Plan included meaningful changes to the Child Tax Credit. Specifically, the credit was increased from $2,000 to $3,000 per child over the age of six and $2,000 to...
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Using Life Insurance Riders to Pay for Long-Term Care
Financial Planning
If you're thinking about buying a stand-alone long-term care insurance (LTCI) policy, you might have another option. An increasing number of states are permitting the sale of long-term care hybrid products...
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Consider Investing Your Excess Retirement Funds Like Your Heirs Would
Retirement Planning
A financial plan has a beginning, but no end. As a retiree your plan is designed to accommodate your needs and goals through your retirement. But it should also consider the...
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Target Date Funds: Antidote to Our Instincts?
Financial Planning
As the financial industry has evolved, it has yet to find a way to help the individual investor be more successful without the support of professional guidance. One could argue that,...
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Empower Your Company Through Employee Financial Wellness
Financial Planning
Just what you need, right? One more time-consuming task to be taken care of between now and the end of the year. But taking a little time out from the holiday...
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Your Financial Plan: Getting Started
Financial Planning
Different people invest for different reasons. So it makes sense that your reasons for investing should be understood by whoever is going to manage your investments—and well before they start investing...
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Traders Beware
Financial Planning
Markets have been bullish, but as I am reminded often by my wife, I am more “seasoned” now, and with seasoning comes perspective. I am also reminded of one of Mark...
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Washington State Long-Term Care Payroll Tax Debuts January 2022
Financial Planning
The State of Washington’s Long-Term Care Trust Act, which was passed in 2019 and goes into effect January 1, 2022, makes Washington the first state to enact publicly funded long-term care...
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Get the House You Want: Putting Together a Strong Offer
Financial Planning
Leasing a vehicle might seem simple—and cut and dried. You pay a set amount at signing and set monthly payments over the term of the lease. No haggling like when you...
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Inheriting Wealth
Estate Planning
You should carefully evaluate your new financial position after receiving a large inheritance. Consider the tax and investment consequences of your inheritance, among other issues. HBKS Wealth Advisor Anthony Scrocco reviews...
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The SLAT: Protect Your Assets Against Estate Tax Law Changes
Financial Planning
With the majority of the U.S. population seemingly in agreement with the idea of increasing taxes on the wealthy, Congress could pass legislation this year or in 2022 that includes a...
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A Will: Everyone Should Have One
Estate Planning
Not having a will can leave your family in dire straits. Do you have one? Is it up to date? Can you provide a copy we can put on file to...
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Women, Philanthropy, and ROR
Financial Planning
If you could turn $1,000 into $100,000 in one year, wouldn’t you? You might think that kind of ROR impossible, but there is a place in the charitable world where it...
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Financial Planning: Helping You See the Big Picture
Financial Planning
Do you picture yourself owning a new home, starting a business, or retiring comfortably? These are a few of the financial goals that may be important to you, and each comes...
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Leasing a Car? Know What You Can and Can’t Negotiate.
Financial Planning
Leasing a vehicle might seem simple—and cut and dried. You pay a set amount at signing and set monthly payments over the term of the lease. No haggling like when you...
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Note to Parents: Advance Child Tax Credit Payments Begin July 15
Financial Planning
The IRS offers certain tax breaks to families with children, even if those tax savings pale in the face of the usual expenses related to having children. But there is some...
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Equities and Inflation: Looking Ahead
Financial Planning
Because it is designed to provide a guaranteed stream of income to the employee in retirement, a Defined Benefit Pension Plan has been viewed as the most coveted retirement plan an...
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Getting a Divorce? Avoid Making These Five Most Common and Costly Mistakes
Financial Planning
Planning a family’s financial future during a divorce should consider a variety of factors, including ages, incomes, assets, and expenses. As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, I help people resolve the...
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Special Considerations for Second/Vacation Homes
Financial Planning
Before you decide to purchase a vacation home you should consider a number of issues. These include the costs associated with owning a second/vacation home, the attributes of the home, its...
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529 Plans: The Ins and Outs of Contributions and Withdrawals
Financial Planning
529 plans can be powerful college savings tools, but you need to understand how your plan works before you can take full advantage of it. Among other things, this means becoming...
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Form CRS: Helping You Understand the Financial Professional Relationship
Financial Planning
Have you received what's known as "Form CRS" from your broker-dealer and/or registered investment advisor? If not, then sometime in July 2020, you likely will. A new requirement by the Securities...
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Estate Planning and 529 Plans
Estate Planning
When you contribute to a 529 plan, you'll not only help your child, grandchild, or other loved one pay for school, but you'll also remove money from your taxable estate. This...
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Gift and Estate Tax Planning: Stay Current and Avoid the Consequences
Estate Planning
Over the past 12 to 18 months, our gift and estate planning has been based on the current federal gift and estate tax exemption of $11.7 million per individual or $23.4...
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Markets Are Unpredictable. Financial Plans Aren’t.
Financial Planning
Your financial plan is your roadmap to your financial goals. But it’s more than that. In times of extreme volatility, or a major correction, your financial plan is your piece of...
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Behavioral Finance: Investors React Emotionally, Irrationally
Financial Planning
In his 2011 best-seller Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, winner of a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, crystallized those theories, countering traditional economic theory by demonstrating that humans are...
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Transfer (More Than Just) Wealth to Your Children
Financial Planning
There are many important lessons to teach children including how to manage money, which we believe is one of parents’ most important responsibilities. However, a survey by TrueCredit.com found that only...
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Financial Solutions for a Restructured Family
Financial Planning
In March 2021 HBKS posted a webinar addressing the financial aspects of divorce and combining the expertise of Donna Kline, a financial advisor, and Liberty Weyandt, an attorney.
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DIY Investing: It’s On the Rise, But Is It Wise?
Investment Management
HBKS advisor Genevieve George shares her personal experience of being a first time home buyer, including the challenges everyone may face and what she wishes she had done differently.
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Having a Baby? A Few Tips on Being Financially Prepared
Financial Planning
There are many costs associated with bringing a new life into the world, some that you might not expect. Taking a few sensible measures to handle the expenses efficiently will not...
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Special Needs Children and Divorce: What You Need to Know
Financial Planning
When there are special needs children involved in a divorce, planning is even more critical. Unlike “typical” children, challenged kids might be unable to support themselves as adults.
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What to Look for When Hiring a Financial Advisor
Financial Planning
Most people turn to a financial advisor who allocates your investments according to your risk profile and charges a fee based on a percentage of the overall value of your portfolio....
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Watch: Medicare Basics: What You Need to Know
Financial Planning
This presentation is a great intro to mortgages for first-time home buyers or a helpful refresher for anyone looking to refinance their current home.
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Transitioning Baby Boomer Wealth to the Next Generation
Financial Planning
Do collectibles belong in your investment portfolio? Investing in something you are passionate about can be as emotionally satisfying as portfolio diversifying. Who would argue the gratification associated with running through...
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How We Are Protecting Our Aging Clients
Estate Planning
One of the challenges of living longer is combating the financial risks resulting from diminished mental capacity and elder financial abuse. Protecting our clients from these risks is one of the...
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What’s In Joe Biden’s Tax Return?
Financial Planning
While there is no law requiring a president or a candidate for the presidency to release their returns, President Biden has released 22 years of his returns dating back to 1998,...
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Good Advice: Start with a financial plan.
Financial Planning
Are you saving enough to pay for long-term objectives? Will you have enough money to retire as you wish and still leave something for your heirs?
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Invest for Your Future: What Is an IRA?
Financial Planning
IRA (short for Individual Retirement Account) is an account that allows you to put money aside in a way that saves you dollars at tax time. Contributions to and withdrawals from...
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Expect More than Investments from Your Financial Advisor
Financial Planning
Providing good financial advice is a qualitative as well as quantitative initiative. A capable financial advisor must have the education and skills required to build portfolios and allocate investments that accommodate...
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Can I convert my traditional IRA to a Roth IRA?
Retirement Planning
Anyone can convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2020. There are no income limits or restrictions based on your tax filing status. You generally have to include the...
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Lifetime Planning Is More Than Stocks and Bonds
Financial Planning
A 529 plan is one of the more popular college savings tools. Here are some ways grandparents can help.
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Top Year-End Investment Tips
Financial Planning
Just what you need, right? One more time-consuming task to be taken care of between now and the end of the year. But taking a little time out from the holiday...
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What is a Rollover IRA, and Do I Need One?
Financial Planning
When you roll funds over from an employer plan to an IRA, your financial institution may suggest that you use a rollover IRA. There are two reasons to consider keeping your...
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Choosing a Beneficiary for Your IRA or 401(k)
Financial Planning
Selecting beneficiaries for retirement benefits is different from choosing beneficiaries for other assets such as life insurance. With retirement benefits, you need to know the impact of income tax and estate...
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Planning for Incapacity
Financial Planning
Unless you're prepared, incapacity could devastate your family, exhaust your savings, and undermine your financial, tax, and estate planning strategies. Planning ahead can ensure that your health-care wishes will be carried...
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Do I Need a Financial Advisor if I’m Not Rich?
Financial Planning
People who have decided to start saving for retirement often don't think they earn enough to justify a financial advisor. In fact, the opposite is true. The best time—maybe the most...
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Monte Carlo Analysis: A More Thorough Approach to Planning for Your Retirement
Financial Planning
Are you using a simple analysis to plan out your complex financial goals? Perhaps you should reconsider.
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Would You Rather Be Rich or Wealthy?
Financial Planning
Are rich and wealthy the same thing? HBKS principal Chris Sorce doesn't believe so and tells us why.
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Who Needs a Financial Plan? Everyone.
Financial Planning
Despite the financial demands of raising a family and running a household, you need to find a way to set aside dollars for your retirement on a regular basis. The kind...
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Watch: Mortgages What You Need to Know When Buying or Refinancing a Home
Financial Planning
This presentation is a great intro to mortgages for first-time home buyers or a helpful refresher for anyone looking to refinance their current home.
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Sticker Shock: Creative Ways to Lower the Cost of College
Financial Planning
Even with all of your savvy college shopping and research about financial aid, college costs may still be prohibitive. At these prices, you expect you'll need to make substantial financial sacrifices...
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Financial Planning Amidst Market Uncertainty
Financial Planning
A properly executed financial plan accounts for the possibility of market volatility and prolonged bull or bear markets over a lifetime. Investment portfolios should be designed to withstand sector gyrations without...
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Buying A First House? Learn From My Mistakes
Financial Planning
HBKS advisor Genevieve George shares her personal experience of being a first time home buyer, including the challenges everyone may face and what she wishes she had done differently.
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Preparing for the Unknown: Tax Changes On the Horizon
Financial Planning
The pandemic and a looming recession have created an atmosphere of economic uncertainty, now complicated by the unknowns associated with the coming national election. Of our financial concerns, one of the...
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Presidential Elections and Stock Market Performance
Financial Planning
In about three months, we’ll be casting our votes in the 2020 national election. Between now and election day, there will be plenty of arguing about how the outcome of the...
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Essential Documents to Review During Volatile Times
Estate Planning
“Risk happens fast” is an oft-quoted phrase in the world of investing and financial markets. It never happened faster than this past February and March when the U.S. stock market lost...
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Doing Well by Doing Right: Investing in ESG Funds
Financial Planning
A Q&A on environmental, social and governance investing with Brian Sommers, CFA, HBKS Principal and Chief Investment Officer conducted by Genevieve George, CPA, CFP, CFE, HBKS Financial Advisor.
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Fixed-Rate Home Equity Loans: Avoiding Unnecessary Costs When Refinancing
Financial Planning
Many mortgage companies will encourage you to lump closing costs into the new mortgage—as if you’re not still paying those costs. I’m not a fan of increasing a loan balance with...
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But Why?
Financial Planning
When people ask “why” it signifies that they are truly engaged and genuinely interested in gaining a better understanding of the concepts being discussed. This type of conversation is critical to...
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Fundamentals of Financial Planning
Financial Planning
On Wednesday, July 8, HBKS Wealth Advisors hosted a webinar addressing three fundamentals of financial planning: personal financial management, retirement planning, and insurance planning.
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Social Security for 2023: A Real Increase
Insurance
If you do not have access to employer-sponsored healthcare coverage, and do not yet qualify for Medicare, your most affordable healthcare option is likely to be through the federal or state...
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Ladies: Don’t Be Uninsured or Underinsured
Insurance
According to the 2021 Insurance Barometer Study by Life Happens, a nonprofit that encourages life insurance ownership, and LIMRA, a financial services trade association, just 47 percent of women own life...
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Increases to Medicare Premiums, Deductibles and Monthly Adjustment Amounts
Insurance
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2022 premiums, deductibles and coinsurance amounts for the Medicare Part A and Part B programs.
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Buying Health Insurance on the Marketplace? Talk to Your Financial Advisor
Insurance
If you do not have access to employer-sponsored healthcare coverage, and do not yet qualify for Medicare, your most affordable healthcare option is likely to be through the federal or state...
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Disability Income Insurance for Business Owners
Insurance
A disability can create substantial economic hardship for individuals and their families. As a business owner, both your personal finances and your business could be at risk. If you were to...
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Is Long-Term Care Insurance a Necessity or Luxury?
Insurance
While long-term care insurance can lighten your cash outlay should you need extended care, not everyone can afford the expense. As financial planners, we help clients understand what insurances make sense,...
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Disability Insurance: Things to Consider Before You Buy
Insurance
No one wants to think about needing disability insurance. But consider that, according to the Social Security Administration, the probability a person born in 2000 will become disabled before age 60...
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Life Insurance 101: The Basics
Insurance
Many financial experts consider life insurance to be the cornerstone of sound financial planning. We at HBKS consider it a part of risk management, one of the pillars of financial planning.
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Who Needs Disability Insurance? You Do.
Insurance
Do you have a plan for supporting yourself and your family, paying your bills, or saving for the future if you can’t go to work and earn your income? Most people...
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Long Term Care Insurance: Should I Pay the Increased Premium or Reduce My Benefits?
Insurance
Early misjudgments on actuarial tables means increased premiums for long-term care insurance holders. Should you pay these premiums or reduce benefits?
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Health Insurance for College Students
Insurance
As your child prepares to head off to college, probably the last thing on his or her mind (and yours) is health insurance. But now, more than ever before, getting sick...
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Health Insurance and COBRA: Sometimes You Can Take It with You
Insurance
If you're like most Americans, you count on your employer for health insurance coverage. But what would happen to your health insurance if you suddenly stopped working or no longer qualified...
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Umbrella Insurance Can Protect You Beyond the Limits of Your Auto and Homeowners Policies
Insurance
Imagine that you are driving in a rainstorm in Florida. You hit a patch of water and hydroplane into another car. The incident results in a collision involving several cars. The...
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Seeking Financial Advice? Avoid Conflicts of Interest
Financial Planning
Several well-known insurance companies have begun tapping into the financial advisor space through their respective Insurer and Broker-Dealers (IBDs). At the same time, the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Board’s new code...
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Health Insurance and Divorce: How Will One Affect the Other?
Insurance
During marriage, it's common for one spouse to maintain health coverage for the entire family through his or her group health insurance plan at work. After a divorce, coverage for the...
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Life Insurance and Life: How Your Needs Change
Insurance
Your need for life insurance change as your life changes. When you're young, you typically have less need for life insurance, but that changes as you work and marry, your family...
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Modern Retirement: Potential Areas of Trouble
Insurance
Given the unique characteristics of every family, conducting a detailed retirement feasibility study is imperative as anyone nears retirement. While a detailed examination of personal financial circumstances is crucial, the...
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Designating Your Life Insurance Beneficiaries
Estate Planning
Beneficiary planning is an integral part of estate planning, as life insurance, IRAs and annuities do not pass through a will but directly to the named beneficiaries. This type of planning,...
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Let’s Talk About the Future
Insurance
Thanks to medical science, what we’ve learned about taking care of ourselves, and perhaps old-fashioned evolution, people are living longer. It has spawned an entirely new concern for us humans: how...
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Everything You Wanted to Know About Medicare… But Maybe Didn’t Know to Ask
Insurance
If you are about to turn 65, your healthcare coverage — at least your primary coverage — will be provided by the U.S. government through a plan called Medicare. The following...
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Do You Need Travel Insurance?
Insurance
Soon you'll be on your way, taking that trip you've looked forward to for ages--but suppose something happens. If you get sick, lose your suitcase, or have to cut your trip...
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Should You Keep Paying Your Life Insurance Premiums?
Insurance
Buying a life insurance policy is often a one-and-done transaction. That is, unlike the counsel of your financial advisor who works with you on an ongoing basis, buying life insurance from...
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Cash Value Life Insurance
Insurance
Cash value, or permanent, life insurance is life insurance that is designed to be kept until your death — whenever that may be. What are the benefits of this type of...
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Estate and Protection Planning: Don’t Fall Victim to These Common Pitfalls
Estate Planning
It's ironic that one of the most impactful — and costly — components of a well-executed financial plan pertains to benefits the owner will likely not live to enjoy. However, anyone...
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Guard What You Have and Those You Love: Disability Insurance
Insurance
Business owners and their employees meticulously plan for retirement because they consider it an achievement, but some fail to plan for death or disability. Although it can be uncomfortable to think...
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Benefit Plans for Small Businesses
Business Owners
If you own a small business, you may be finding it increasingly necessary to implement a benefit program to attract and retain employees. For small businesses, benefit plans generally consist of...
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Long Term Care Insurance
Insurance
Long-term care is a pressing concern for many families. And perplexing. It’s hard to know what to do about it or even find out what your options are. Even when you...
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Long-Term Care Insurance: When and What is Right?
Insurance
As a product, long-term care insurance has suffered growing pains. When it was first developed — with no experience on which to base premium rates — insurers’ actuaries had little to...
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Insurance Company Insolvency: Are You Protected?
Insurance
In March 2016, a large national insurance company, Genworth Financial, announced it would stop accepting applications for traditional life insurance and some annuity products. While Genworth's management assures holders of their...
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Insurance Series: Insurance as a Part of Your Financial Plan
Insurance
When it comes to achieving your financial objectives, both growing your wealth and protecting it, you benefit from counsel that understands your entire financial condition - your needs, the needs of...
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Sustainable Investing: Carbon Credits or Carbon Offsets?
Investment Management
In the current environment of sustainable investing, we encounter two nearly interchangeable terms: carbon offsets and carbon credits.
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Rebalancing Your Portfolio Is Key to Successful Financial Planning
Investment Management
Rebalancing is necessary because portfolios will naturally deviate from their intended allocations over time. You can become unintentionally more aggressive or more conservative as capital markets and economic climates shift.
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China Is Losing Its Place As World’s Leading Manufacturer
Investment Management
Dong Xiaoping, the de facto leader of the People’s Republic of China from 1978 to the early 1990s, introduced a “free market” concept to China with his December 1978 Open Door...
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No-Load, No-Commission Annuities Attract Savers With Flexibility, Low Fees
Investment Management
In decades past, it was common for an American worker to be employed by the same company throughout his or her entire work life.
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Why Haven’t Bonds Lived Up to Their Traditional Role?
Investment Management
Investors have been accustomed to their core fixed income allocation serving as a counterweight to a weak stock market.
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The Shape of Economic Recovery
Investment Management
On June 8, 2020, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which has official responsibility for determining U.S. business cycles, announced that February 2020 marked the end of an expansion that...
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Sell or Stay? That Is One of the Questions.
Investment Management
The real estate market has been booming. Homes in my neighborhood are being sold for substantially more than I would have ever imagined. So should you take advantage of the boom...
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The Lasting Impact of Investing Principles from the 1940s
Investment Management
British-born American Economist Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor was published in 1949 and remains among the most respected books ever written on investing. Warren Buffet, who first read the book at...
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Give Smart by Employing Available Tax-Saving Strategies
Financial Planning
Our motivations for giving are generally derived from caring and a desire to give back in light of our own good fortunes. The more complex your financial picture, the more you...
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Income-Based Student Loan Repayment: What Are Your Options?
Investment Management
Student loans and the ways we go about repaying them remain in the news because, in one way or another, they affect so many of us. Whether in debt to their...
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Investing for a Minor: Consider Your Options
Investment Management
Financial planning for clients who have amassed wealth often includes addressing their desire to make a financial impact on their minor children’s or grandchildren’s futures.
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A Look at How Markets Move During Midterm Election Years
Investment Management
With 2022 being a midterm election year, it is interesting to look back over the years at how the equity markets have fared as both parties vie for additional seats in...
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Why Markets Move: The Impact of Emotion on your Investment Decisions
Investment Management
With all the media attention given to the markets on a daily basis, we can lose sight of what we are actually experiencing when investing in various assets.
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The Fed Pivots to Fight Inflation
Investment Management
On December 15, 2021, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve System made a significant shift in monetary policy in response to rising inflation.
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Exchange an Idle Non-Qualified Annuity for Tax-Free Long Term Care Coverage
Investment Management
The rising costs associated long-term care (LTC) insurance tend to be a stumbling block for those considering purchasing coverage. But if you own a non-qualified annuity, there could be a way...
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Investing in 2022: Inflationary Pressures and a Mix of Headwinds and Tailwinds
Investment Management
We have learned from experience how our stock market-related investments act as long-term hedges against inflation. As the economic recovery from the COVID shutdowns continues to move forward, we’re seeing how...
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Tax Havens & Trust Laws: The Times May Be A-Changin’
Investment Management
Tax-haven states have been around since the dawning of America, and for decades, Delaware has been reputed as the tax haven for the ultra-wealthy and corporate entities. But there is new...
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Options, Short Selling, GameStop, and the Squeeze
Investment Management
The COVID lockdown era will be remembered for many things, not least for the explosion of interest in the stock market across all reaches of society.
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Inherit an IRA? Beware of New IRS Rules
Investment Management
For many years, individuals inheriting IRAs could benefit from IRS rules allowing for long-term tax deferral. The owner of the inherited IRA could withdraw whatever amount they wanted whenever they wanted...
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Target Date Funds: Antidote to Our Instincts?
Financial Planning
As the financial industry has evolved, it has yet to find a way to help the individual investor be more successful without the support of professional guidance. One could argue that,...
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Rising Interest Rates and the Bond Markets
Investment Management
As capital markets continue their strong recovery from their pandemic-influenced lows in March 2020, all eyes are on the Fed with regard to increasing the federal funds rate. HBKS Wealth Advisor,...
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Going Solo: A Non-Traditional Retirement Savings Plan
Investment Management
Many small business owners are unfamiliar with what their retirement plan options may be. And even those who are contributing may not realize that there is another choice available: the ‘Solo...
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Women, Philanthropy, and ROR
Financial Planning
If you could turn $1,000 into $100,000 in one year, wouldn’t you? You might think that kind of ROR impossible, but there is a place in the charitable world where it...
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The VIX: Wall Street’s Fear Index and Valuable Investment Tool
Investment Management
Everyone knows that financial markets are unpredictable. Still, there are tools investors use to make general observations about how stock values will move. One of the most useful is the VIX,...
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DIY Investing: It’s On the Rise, But Is It Wise?
Investment Management
HBKS advisor Genevieve George shares her personal experience of being a first time home buyer, including the challenges everyone may face and what she wishes she had done differently.
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Bitcoin: A Wildly Speculative Play
Investment Management
If you watch business television channel CNBC, you’ve undoubtedly seen the insert tracking the rises and falls of the wildly speculative bitcoin currency play. Cryptocurrency technology is interesting, but until bitcoin...
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My Favorite Stock Market Chart (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace Market Volatility)
Investment Management
HBKS Wealth Advisor Chris Zehner relies on this S&P chart to help remind him that volatility in stocks is common and should be expected to a degree every year.
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What the Markets Are Saying About the 2020 Elections
Investment Management
Prior to the 2020 national elections, many people were concerned about how the victory by one presidential candidate or the other might affect the markets. That’s not unusual. Concerns always seem...
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Elections and the Markets: Comparing 2020 with 2000
Investment Management
The year 2020 has been quite a bumpy ride, and after a very contentious election season, it doesn’t look like the ride will smooth out anytime soon. The ongoing pandemic, protests...
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Diversify Your Portfolio with an Emerging Market Fund
Investment Management
While there are reasons to be cautious, emerging markets can generate greater than average returns, enough that I usually recommend that an investment portfolio should include some exposure to that asset...
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Traditional 401(k) Versus a Roth 401(k): What’s Right for You?
Investment Management
You may have options in your 401(k) plan to save in a Traditional tax-deferred account or in a Roth account. What's the difference, and which should you choose? HBKS Advisor Joe...
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Federal Reserve’s Unprecedented Move Stabilized the Markets
Investment Management
The Fed has three main tools it uses to achieve its goals: adjusting the discount rates it charges on loans to banks and increasing or lowering bank reserve requirements are two....
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What Drove April’s Unprecedented Negative Oil Price?
Investment Management
On April 20, the market price of West Texas Intermediate Crude (WTI) dropped to negative 40 dollars a barrel. More than remarkable, the fact that "sellers" of oil had to pay...
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Balance Portfolio Risk with a Fixed Index Annuity
Investment Management
An erratic stock market has caused many investors to question their risk tolerance as they look for ways to protect their portfolios. The challenge many of us face is balancing risk...
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Investing: It’s About More than Returns
Investment Management
While the private client industry has evolved significantly over the last two decades, traditional commission selling still exists, buying and selling investments for clients and charging a commission for each transaction....
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Should You Invest in Cryptocurrencies?
Investment Management
Because of volatility, extreme movements in terms of value, cryptocurrencies represent more risk than most investors want in their portfolios. But like many investment options, there are nuances that deserve examination.
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Risk Tolerance: How Much Investment Risk Can You Take?
Investment Management
Investing is not supposed to give you ulcers. It should be your way of building wealth in order to help achieve your financial objectives. Still, it’s natural to get nervous about...
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The Benefits of a Globally Diversified Portfolio Approach
Investment Management
HBKS believes that a globally diversified portfolio that utilizes alternatives provides for the highest probability of success in meeting our clients' investment goals.
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Behavioral Insights
Investment Management
Research — and there’s plenty of it — suggests a gap between what investors want from a financial advisor and what a financial advisor should provide. Both sides want the same...
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Hedge Funds
Investment Management
In terms of most investments, hedge funds are a relatively new idea. Still they've been around for almost 70 years and have proven a viable option for investors looking to diversify...
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Three Ways to Build Wealth in a Down Market
Investment Management
Over the past few months, every time I turn on the TV it seems the stock market is in the red for the day. A lot has been written about how...
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The Beat Goes On
Investment Management
Global stock markets continued their upward trend in the third quarter of 2017 thanks to a near-perfect environment for risk assets. Stocks in foreign developed and emerging markets also outperformed domestic...
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The Power of Independence
Investment Management
In September 2016 Wells Fargo, one of the nation's largest banks, was fined $185 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for covertly opening millions of unauthorized deposit and credit card...
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Active Funds or Passive Funds?
Investment Management
When investing, investors can choose either passively managed funds or actively managed funds. Passively managed funds invest in a portfolio that simply mirrors a market index. In contrast, actively managed funds...
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Slow and Steady Wins the Race
Investment Management
At the time of this writing the DOW has officially surpassed the 20,000 mark. Should we sit back and enjoy this historical landmark or is it a cause for anxiety? Should...
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Financial Planning vs. Investment Management
Financial Planning
As election night 2016 came to its surprising end, investors were understandably confused. Some panicked using the earliest foreign exchanges to open to dump stocks. Prognosticators had predicted a precipitous fall...
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Addressing the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse
Market Commentary
On March 8th Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16th-largest bank in America, announced that it was seeking to raise $2.5 billion to provide capital after its clients had been withdrawing their...
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Be Like Water.
Market Commentary
An ode to Bruce Lee and investors in a post-Covid, hawkish Fed, rising geopolitical tension era
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The Economy and Markets in 2023: The Consensus is Usually Wrong, Could it Be Right This Year?
Market Commentary
In trying to discern what will happen in the economy and stock market in 2023, it is easy to simply fall in line with consensus thinking.
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Interest Rates and Inflation: It’s All About the Fed in 2023
Market Commentary
At the beginning of 2022 a bullish outlook on corporate profits created expectations for a higher market, though not likely a better performance than the previous two years.
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The Fed Will Likely Cause a Recession As It Fights Inflation
Market Commentary
On September 21, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced a Fed Funds rate hike of another 75 basis points to a 3.00 to 3.25 percent range and signaled the Fed would...
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3rd Quarter 2022 Economic Commentary
Market Commentary
The U.S. economy probably posted little to no growth in the second quarter, with most estimates landing between a slight contraction to very small growth. This follows a first quarter in...
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HBKS 2022 Economic and Investment Outlook
Market Commentary
Highlights of the May 5, 2022 webinar, a Q&A featuring HBK Principal and Chief Investment Officer Brian Sommers.
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The Federal Reserve May Not Need to Raise Rates as Aggressively as Feared to Bring Down Inflation
Market Commentary
During the first quarter of 2022 the world was forced to endure multiple shocks which caused the outlook for global economic growth this year to deteriorate.
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The Investment Implications from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Should Be Short-Lived
Market Commentary
After a lot of speculation that accompanied Russia’s build-up of military forces outside Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine despite diplomatic efforts and threats of sanctions from...
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The Stock Market Could Resume Climbing Higher as The Economic Recovery Continues
Market Commentary
After relative calm in the stock market last year, volatility has returned in 2022. At the close of business on January 27th, the S&P 500 Index was down 9.7 percent from...
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Economic Growth Expected to Moderate This Year
Market Commentary
Last year, many looked forward to a return to some semblance of normalcy after more than a year of challenging modifications in their daily lives due to the pandemic. Unfortunately, just...
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It Remains Unclear if Economic Growth Will Remain Above Trend or Trail Off
Market Commentary
The global economy has already made enormous progress as more countries reopen but regaining the growth lost during the Pandemic still has a long way to go.
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Commentary on the U.S. Economy, Q3: The Global Economy Has Already Made Enormous Progress as More Countries Reopen
Market Commentary
The global economy has already made enormous progress as more countries reopen but regaining the growth lost during the Pandemic still has a long way to go.
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Active Fund or Passive Funds?
Market Commentary
When investing, investors can choose either passively managed funds or actively managed funds. Passively managed funds invest in a portfolio that simply mirrors a market index. In contrast, actively managed funds...
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HBKS 2021 Economic and Investment Outlook
Market Commentary
HBKS Chief Investment Officer Brian Sommers, CFA, was interviewed by HBKS Principal and Senior Financial Advisor Matthew Costigan, CFP, CPA/PFS on the economic outlook for 2021.
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Economic Recovery and Growth in the Second Quarter
Market Commentary
Most recent economic data shows that economic growth is recovering from the pandemic-induced lockdowns faster than many economists expected. The ISM manufacturing index in March rose to its highest level in...
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Will 2021 Bring A Return to “Normal”?
Market Commentary
Last year will be remembered as one of the most traumatic years in history. It was a year of many changes, and while some things may return to the way they...
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Stocks’ Rally from the Depths of the Sell-Off Has Been Led by a Small Handful of Stocks
Market Commentary
During the third quarter the S&P 500 Index rallied sharply, reaching new highs before giving back some of the gains in September. This year stocks have rebounded from the depths of...
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Elections and the Stock Market: Should You Get Out Now?
Market Commentary
With a presidential election quickly approaching, one of the most discussed concerns of investors is how the election will affect their portfolios. Historically, predicting how market returns will be impacted by...
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Economic Activity Rebounding, But Questions Linger
Market Commentary
In early April, it seemed likely that the shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic would lead to a severe but short U.S. recession. More than three months later we are in...
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It’s Been a Wild Ride
Market Commentary
Entering 2020, the economy was on solid footing. We were adding to a record 10-year economic growth cycle. Corporate profits and the markets continued to rise. But by March conditions had...
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Finding Fair Value
Market Commentary
In the current bear market, as in all bear markets, finding fair value is extremely difficult. The uncertainty over profits and a lack of corporate guidance lowers demand for stocks and...
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Watch: The Impact of COVID-19 on Global Economics and Markets
Market Commentary
A special webinar hosted by Brian Sommers, Chief Investment Officer at HBKS about the effects of COVID-19 on the markets.
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Continued Volatility, Market Bottoms and Climbing The Wall of Worry
Market Commentary
As an investor, understanding the psychology of the markets will be important as we continue through the volatility, look for a market bottom and ultimately climb out of the crisis.
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Maintaining Our Disciplined Investment Process
Market Commentary
The HBKS investment philosophy prepares our clients' portfolios so they don’t have to be reactive to the current market conditions. Our clients’ portfolios are diversified across asset classes, maintain a global...
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What’s Going on in the Bond Market?
Market Commentary
As business activity has slowed dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have found it difficult to get the funding they need for their daily operations because banks stopped extending the...
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What Would Our Greatest Generation Do?
Market Commentary
While we can’t predict when or where the capital markets will find their bottom, history tells us that we will look back on this time as a great buying opportunity for...
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The Market’s Epidemic
Market Commentary
No one expected an epidemic to trigger the next bear market—or cause an economic slowdown. But it is important to recognize that we have been here before. While the cause is...
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Market Volatility Continues
Market Commentary
Over the last couple of weeks, volatility in global stock markets has spiked higher, with extreme up or down movements occurring on almost a daily basis. These swings in market prices...
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Our Perspective on the Coronavirus Epidemic
Market Commentary
Global equities fell more than 4 percent over a three day period in late February 2020 before stabilizing. The selling was driven by concerns about the spread of the Coronavirus outside...
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Outlook for 2020: Global Economic Growth Expected to Strengthen
Market Commentary
2020 started with uncertainty in the markets and many may be tempted to make reactive changes to their portfolios. In this quarter's market commentary Chief Investment Officer, Brian Sommers, CFA,...
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Recessions are a Normal Part of the Business Cycle
Market Commentary
After 10 years of substantial expansion, the global economy began to stall in the middle of 2018. Now more than a year later, global growth continues at a slower pace.
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Fears of an Impending Recession Are Overblown
Market Commentary
Global stock markets surged higher in June, pushing the All-Country World Index (ACWI) up 16.2 percent for the first half of 2019. This performance occurred as global economic growth continued to...
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Outlook for Economic Growth Brightens
Market Commentary
For most of the first quarter of 2019, many economists were pessimistic about the prospects for global economic growth the rest of the year. Concern was mounting that global growth would...
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Thoughts on the Vanguard Market Call
Market Commentary
Global investment powerhouse Vanguard sharply cut the expected returns for U.S. stocks in the next decade. If the forecast proves to be accurate, the implications could be significant for retirement-plan sponsors,...
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Welcome to the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Market Commentary
To say we are living through a period of unprecedented change in innovation and technology is an understatement. The rapid convergence and development of technological advancement is being driven by three...
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Don’t Try to Time the Market
Financial Planning
I noticed a recent headline in Financial Advisor Magazine that reminded me of a basic investing truth that I have observed throughout my 30-year career: It's virtually impossible to time the...
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Time In vs. Timing
Market Commentary
When the market goes up, we want in; when it goes down, we want out. It's called behavioral bias, or in the case of the markets, behavioral finance. More specifically, it...
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HBKS 2019 Market and Economic Outlook
Market Commentary
Stock Market Volatility Likely to Continue in 2019, but a Recession is Unlikely
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Investors Should Remain Focused on Their Long-Term Investment Plan During Stock Market Turmoil
Market Commentary
The correction in global stock markets that began this past September accelerated this week, putting most major stock indices into negative territory for the year. In the United States, the S&P...
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Market Capitulation and Chasing Returns: Where Investors Go Wrong
Market Commentary
As financial advisors, we are frequently asked to justify one investment over another that is earning a higher return at that particular time. There are a lot of answers to such...
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Economic Fundamentals Drive Markets More Than Mid-Term Elections
Market Commentary
Equity markets faltered substantially in October as investors wrestled with many concerns. In addition to an ongoing trade war with China and the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate hikes, investors wondered how...
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The Recent Volatility in Stock Markets Could Indicate That Stock Market Leadership is Shifting
Market Commentary
After reaching new highs in September of this year, stock markets in the United States and abroad have been falling. Stock prices deteriorated more rapidly on Wednesday and Thursday before stabilizing...
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Keeping Up with the Indices
Market Commentary
How do you judge the performance of your investments? Many investors like to compare the movement in their portfolios with the S&P 500 or the Dow. Some people feel like they...
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Commentary on the U.S. Economy, Q2: Resist the Urge to React to Hypothetical Rhetoric
Market Commentary
Global stock markets remained volatile in the second quarter despite solid corporate profits, as investors began to focus on slower growth in many parts of the world.
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Trade Tensions Spook Investors
Market Commentary
Stock markets tumbled late last week, with most market observers attributing it to President Trump’s announcements of a number of tariffs on goods imported into the United States. News headlines quoted...
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Investor Anxiety Returns to Roil Stock Markets
Market Commentary
On Monday the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI), a measure of global stock markets, was down 3 percent, after dropping 3.4 percent last week. Last night and early Tuesday morning...
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Market Risks are Growing
Market Commentary
Global stock markets turned in another solid performance in 2017, driven by continued improvement in economic growth. In the United States, the S&P 500 Index was up 21.8 percent, including dividends....
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Global Stock Markets Continue to Climb in Second Quarter 2017
Market Commentary
During the past nine years many central banks around the world have been supplying monetary stimulus in order to lift global economic growth. These expansionary policies have enabled...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Named a Top RIA by Financial Advisor Magazine
Market Commentary
HBKS® Wealth Advisors’ ranked 100 in the $1 billion and over asset category.
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Uncertain Political Environment Weighing on Global Stocks
Market Commentary
Stocks continued to surge for most of the first quarter of 2017 before treading water in March. While there is no shortage of political uncertainty around the world, during the first...
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Barron’s Annual Survey Ranks HBKS Wealth Advisors Among Elite U.S. RIAs
News & Awards
Again this year, HBKS Wealth Advisors (HBKS) has been recognized as among the nation’s most prominent registered investment advisories (RIAs) by multiple industry surveys. Most recently, Barron’s, one of the most...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Promotes Four Professionals to Senior Financial Advisor Status
News & Awards
HBK Managing Partner and CEO Christopher M. Allegretii has announced 2022 HBKS promotions of Will Chase, Donna Kline, Anthony Scrocco, and Zachary Allegretti to Senior Financial Advisor.
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HBKS Again Among Top Advisory Firms in National Rankings
News & Awards
Again this year, HBKS Wealth Advisors (HBKS) is being recognized as a one of the nation’s most prominent registered investment advisories (RIAs). Recently released rankings by Financial Advisor Magazine and Accounting...
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Elite Life Management to Merge with HBKS Wealth Advisors
News & Awards
HBKS Wealth Advisors (HBKS) announced it is expanding its presence in Southwest Florida through a merger with Sarasota-based Elite Life Management (Elite).
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HBKS Named to CNBC FA 100 List
News & Awards
HBKS Wealth Advisors has again been named as a top firm in the CNBC FA 100 list. HBKS ranked 73rd in the CNBC FA 100, which was unveiled on October 6....
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Financial Advisor Magazine, Accounting Today, Barron’s Surveys Rank HBKS Among Top U.S. Wealth Advisories
News & Awards
Three of the world’s most important financial publications have released their annual wealth advisory rankings and HBKS Wealth Advisors (HBKS) is among the highly ranked and moving higher.
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Barron’s Recognizes HBKS Wealth Advisors as Top 100 RIA Firm
News & Awards
HBKS Wealth Advisors ranks 67th in Barron’s September 14 edition which released its 2020 study of the Top 100 U.S. registered investment advisories. The weekly magazine, which covers financial news and...
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HBKS Names Kerri Goldsmith and Genevieve George Senior Financial Advisors
News & Awards
Kerri Goldsmith, CFP®, CRPS®, AIF®, and Genevieve George, CPA, CFP®, CFE, have been promoted to HBKS Senior Financial Advisors.
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Chris Hines Named Principal at HBKS Wealth Advisors in Philadelphia
News & Awards
HBKS Wealth CEO and Managing Principal Christopher M. Allegretti, CPA, today announced the promotion of Chris Hines of the Philadelphia office of HBKS Wealth Advisors to Principal.
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HBKS® Wealth Advisors Ranked Among Largest by Accounting Today
News & Awards
August 10, 2020 — In its recently released 2020 Top Firms by AUM survey, Accounting Today magazine ranks HBKS ninth in assets under management (AUM) among CPA...
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HBKS Among the Elite in Financial Advisor Magazine’s Annual RIA Rankings
News & Awards
August 7 – HBKS has placed among the top 20 percent of registered investment advisories with over $1 Billion in assets in the U.S. by Financial Advisor Magazine in the August...
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HBKS Among Elite FT300 Firms for 7th Consecutive Year
News & Awards
August 3 – For the seventh consecutive year, HBKS® Wealth Advisors (HBKS) has been named to the Financial Times’ FT 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers. The survey, also in its seventh...
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HBKS Principal Dean Piccirillo Earns Master of Science in Financial Services from The American College of Financial Services
News & Awards
HBKS Wealth Advisors congratulates R. Dean Piccirillo, CFP, CRPS, AIFA, on earning his Master of Science in Financial Services (MSFS) from the Richard D. Irwin Graduate School at The American College...
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The Families First Coronavirus Response Act: What You Need To Know
News & Awards
On March 18, 2020, the President signed into law the Emergency Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Bill”), which provides relief related to the coronavirus to employers with fewer than 500. Here...
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Breaking News: April 15 Tax Deadline Has Been Extended
News & Awards
Federal tax filing deadline has been extended to July 15th. Most states are expected to follow.
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HBKS Again Among Elite FT300 Firms
News & Awards
July 2, 2019 – For the sixth consecutive year, HBKS® Wealth Advisors (HBKS) has been named to the Financial Times’ “FT 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers.” The competition, which is also...
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HBKS® Wealth Advisors Ranked Among Largest by Accounting Today
News & Awards
June 6, 2019 — Erie, Pennsylvania. In its recently released 2019 survey, the May 2019 edition of Accounting Today magazine ranks HBKS® 9th in amount of assets under management (AUM) among...
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2018 Year-End Tax Update
News & Awards
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 substantially and significantly changes how you will plan for and pay your taxes this year. To help you get ready to file your...
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Happy Holidays from HBKS Wealth Advisors
News & Awards
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Taylor, Mallette and Taranto Earn Principal Status
News & Awards
HBKS® Wealth Advisors (HBKS®) announced today that Brittany Taylor, Brian Mallette and Tom Taranto have been named Principals in their respective offices. The announcement was made by CEO and Managing Principal...
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HBKS® Wealth Advisors Among Top 100 in Assets Under Management
News & Awards
July 18, 2018 – HBKS® Wealth Advisors (HBKS®) is one of the nation’s top 100 registered investment advisors (RIAs) as measured by assets under management. With more than $3.5 billion under...
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HBKS is a Financial Times Top Registered Investment Adviser
News & Awards
June 28, 2018 – HBKS® Wealth Advisors (HBKS) is pleased to announce it has been named to the 2018 edition of the Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers. The list...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Ranked Among Largest by Accounting Today
News & Awards
June 10, 2018 — In its recently released 2018 survey, the June 10,2018 edition of Accounting Today magazine ranks HBKS® 11th in amount of assets under management (AUM) among CPA firm's...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors acquires stake in K·Coe Wealth Management LLC.
News & Awards
April 26, 2018 — HBKS® Wealth Advisors(HBKS) acquires a minority stake in K·Coe Isom LLP’s subsidiary K·Coe Wealth Management LLC. “Our firms have a great deal in common, from our regard for...
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Locust Capital Management Merges with HBKS Wealth Advisors
News & Awards
Philadelphia - October 9, 2017 — HBKS® Wealth Advisors(HBKS) announced today it has completed a merger agreement with Locust Capital Management. Under the agreement, the Philadelphia-based wealth management firm will operate...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Named a Top 300 RIA by Financial Times
News & Awards
Financial Times included HBKS® Wealth Advisors in its fourth annual listing of an “elite group” of advisors.
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Financial Times Ranks HBKS Among Top U.S. RIAs
News & Awards
June 22, 2017 — For the fourth consecutive year, HBKS® Wealth Advisors(HBKS) has been named to the Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisors (RIA).
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Ranked Among Largest by Accounting Today
News & Awards
August 18, 2017 — Erie, Penn.... In its recently released 2017 survey, the June 1,2017 edition of Accounting Today magazine ranks HBKS 15th in amount of assets under management (AUM) among...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors’ Managing Principal/Chief Executive Officer Christopher M. Allegretti & Chief Operations Officer Scott Cross were recently interviewed by Charles Schwab
News & Awards
HBKS® Wealth Advisors’ Managing Principal/Chief Executive Officer Christopher M. Allegretti and Chief Operations Officer Scott Cross were recently interviewed by Charles Schwab as contributors to their white paper entitled Forward Momentum:...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Named a 100 Fastest Growing RIA Firm Over Ten Years by Forbes Magazine
News & Awards
Forbes magazine showcases the wealth management firms by growth in assets over the past ten years with a majority of the firms accruing more than $1 billion in assets.
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Announces Promotion of Firm Leaders
News & Awards
Erie, PA - HBKS® Wealth Advisors announced today the promotions of two of its key leaders. Senior Financial Advisors Steven Rinn, CFP, of the firm’s Erie, Penn., office, and David Darwish,...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors voted Southwest Florida’s “best” financial advisory firm in a readers’ choice poll conducted by Gulfshore Business magazine
News & Awards
Fort Myers, Fla. - HBKS® Wealth Advisors was voted Southwest Florida’s “best” financial advisory firm in a readers’ choice poll conducted by Gulfshore Business magazine. The firm was honored for its...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Ranked Among Largest by Accounting Today
News & Awards
July 12, 2016 - In its recently released 2016 survey, the June 2016 edition of Accounting Today magazine ranks HBKS® Wealth Advisors 14th in amount of assets under management (AUM) among...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Named a Top RIA by Financial Advisor Magazine
News & Awards
HBKS® Wealth Advisors ranked 102 in the $1 billion and over asset category.
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Financial Times Ranks HBKS Among Top U.S. RIAs.
News & Awards
HBKS® Wealth Advisors was pleased to be included in Financial Times 2016 Top 300 Registered Investment Advisers for the third consecutive year.
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Named a Top 300 RIA by Financial Times
News & Awards
Financial Times included HBKS® Wealth Advisors in its third annual listing of an “elite group” of advisors.
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Completes Merger Agreement with Comprehensive Wealth Solutions
News & Awards
Fredonia, New York - HBKS® Wealth Advisors announced today it has completed a merger agreement with Comprehensive Wealth Solutions (CWS). Under the agreement, the Fredonia, New York-based wealth management firm began...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Announces the Signing of a Definitive Merger Agreement with Global Wealth Consultants
News & Awards
Naples, Florida - HBKS® Wealth Advisors announced today the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which Global Wealth Consultants (GWC) of Naples, Fla., will join its multidisciplinary financial services firm.
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Principal and Senior Financial Advisor Stephen Schramm featured in Treasure Coast Newspaper
News & Awards
HBKS® Wealth Advisors takes a holistic view of working with each individual client. This distinguishes the firm, which has offices in Stuart and other Florida locations as well as in Ohio...
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Principal and Senior Financial Advisor Dean Piccirillo featured on GoErie.com
News & Awards
Erie native Piccirillo finds success in Florida.
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HBKS’s Director of Asset Management, Brian Sommers, CFA, quoted in The Wall Street Journal
News & Awards
Brian Sommers, CFA - Director of Asset Management for HBKS® Wealth Advisors was quoted in The Wall Street Journal about the rise and fall of liquid-alternative funds.
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HBKS Wealth Advisors Announces “People of the Year” Finalist
News & Awards
HBKS® Wealth Advisors is proud to announce that Dean Piccirillo, CFP®, CRPS®, AIFA® has been named one of three finalists for Southwest Florida’s News-Press “People of the Year” award. The program...
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Markets and Recessions: The Facts Might Surprise You
Perspectives
Recessions are a natural part of the business cycle started by imbalances in the economy during market corrections. As well, periods of declining GDP often signal an impending recession. Both scenarios...
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Oil Production, Consumption, and Reserves: A March 31, 2022 Perspective
Perspectives
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused significant stress on a variety of fronts and our hearts go out to the Ukrainian people. The crisis conditions extend to global oil prices with...
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Considering a New Employment Opportunity
Perspectives
In the past, workers stayed with the same company for years and years, working their way up in the company. However, times have changed. Businesses facing hard economic times restructure, forcing...
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Brittany Taylor Reflects on 20 Years in Financial Services
Perspectives
It is hard to believe that almost 20 years ago I started at, what was then HBK Sorce Financial, as an intern working in the basement of an 1800’s-era home. As...
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2020 Year-End Tax Planning Update
Perspectives
Our colleagues at HBK CPAs & Consultants, want to ensure that our clients and colleagues are aware of the many changes that have occurred over the past year, and how these...
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A Conversation on the Economy
Perspectives
Principal and Chief Investment Officer Brian Sommers, CFA and Chief Economist from First Trust Advisors, Brian Wesbury have a conversation on the economy.
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Recent Market Slides Create Opportunities for Long-Term Investors
Perspectives
The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented shock to most economies in the world. Social distancing and business shutdowns, while necessary to curb the growth of new...
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A COVID-19 Roundtable Discussion: Advisors Address Client Concerns
Perspectives
An interview with HBKS Advisors Christopher N. Sorce, CFP, Principal and Senior Financial Advisor; Ryan Furtwangler, CFP, Principal and Senior Financial Advisor; and Gus Repetto, MST, CFP, Principal and Senior Financial...
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A COVID-19 Roundtable Discussion: CPAs & Financial Advisors Working Together to Address Client Concerns
Perspectives
An interview with HBKS Advisor Matthew Costigan, CFP, CPA/PFS, Principal and Senior Financial Advisor, Pittsburgh; and HBK CPAs & Consultant’s Jeremy Hartzell, JD, MBA, Principal-in-Charge, Pittsburgh.
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Watch: Paycheck Protection Program, Loan Forgiveness, and SBA EIDL Changes: What You Need to Know
Perspectives
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Bear Market Recoveries: Stay Invested
Perspectives
The effects of the COVID-19 crisis have been abrupt and wide ranging. As of March 23, the S&P 500 had declined nearly 30 percent from its highs just a few weeks...
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By The Numbers: A Statistical Look at Market Timing
Perspectives
Statistics tell us a lot about whether or not we should try to time the markets, in particular in periods of high volatility, like those we're seeing in conjunction with the...
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The Next Right Thing
Perspectives
We have seen market downturns several times in history and what we have learned is the "next right thing" has been to stay calm. Now is not the time to make...
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Small Community Supports Small Business Disrupted by COVID-19
Perspectives
The Fredonia, New York community has come together to support their neighbors and local small business owners.
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Redefining Success in Turbulent Times
Perspectives
The current circumstances, variously labeled as a health pandemic, financial pandemic, health crisis, etc., have become a call for us to reevaluate how we support ourselves, get in service, and to...
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COVID-19 Is Not Our Only Sinister Foe
Perspectives
In trying to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we are waging a war with an invisible and unrelenting enemy: a microscopic pathogen. But that is not the only invisible...
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Planning for What’s to Come
Perspectives
In just a couple of months since the first reported case of COVID-19 in the U.S. life has changed dramatically for most of us. No one planned or prepared for a...
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Important Updates About Firm Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Perspectives
Our CEO, Chris Allegretti, shares the latest information about how HBKS is responding to the Coronavirus.
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HBKS Wealth Advisors COVID-19 Preparedness Update
Perspectives
Our CEO, Chris Allegretti, shares important information about how HBKS is responding to the Coronavirus.
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2019 Year-End Tax Planning Update
Perspectives
With 2019 coming to a close, individuals and businesses may still benefit from several tax savings strategies. Our colleagues at HBK CPAs & Consultants share the many opportunities still available and...
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Millennials, Smart Phones and Artificial Intelligence
Perspectives
I often hear complaints about how millennials are too tied to their smart devices. How will they be able to cope in the so-called "real" world when all they do with...
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Roth IRAs: The Five-Year Rule
Retirement Planning
An individual retirement account (IRA) is one of the most popular ways to save for retirement, and about as easy to understand and set up. But there are also a host...
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Is Your Social Security Payment Accurate?
Retirement Planning
Even Social Security can make a mistake. While errors are rare, it is important to check the mathematics and confirm the amounts on your social security checks are accurate.
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The Secure Act 2.0: Improving Retirement Savings Options
Retirement Planning
As 2022 drew to a close, while elections and inflation were getting most of the attention, President Biden signed a consolidation of two pieces of legislation.
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Common Factors Affecting Retirement Income
Retirement Planning
When it comes to planning for your retirement income, it's easy to overlook some of the common factors that can affect how much you'll have available to spend. If you don't...
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10 Years and Counting: Points to Consider as You Approach Retirement
Retirement Planning
If you're a decade or so away from retirement, you've probably spent at least some time thinking about this major life change
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CCRCs and Roth Conversions Go Hand-in-Hand
Financial Planning
Transitioning to retirement is exciting, but it also comes with its own challenges. After a lifetime of saving in retirement accounts, decades of deferred taxes start coming due as you pull...
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The Individual 401(k)
Retirement Planning
If you are self-employed or own a small business, you have probably considered establishing a retirement plan. If you have done your homework, you likely know about simplified employee pensions...
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Working For Yourself? Take Advantage of a Retirement Savings Plan for the Self-Employed.
Retirement Planning
Our country’s workforce is evolving. Many of us are not only working from home, but working for ourselves. Others, while still holding down a job, have developed a second income stream...
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Discussing End-of-Life Issues: A Family Imperative
Retirement Planning
Getting a family together to discuss issues related to aging parents can be challenging. Sometimes geography is a hurdle. Grown children are scattered around the country, even around the world.
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“After-Tax Fund” Conversions: Act Fast Before the Opportunity Vanishes
Retirement Planning
So-called “qualified” retirement plans, like 401(k)s, allow you to defer money into a pretax account, a traditional IRA, or a tax-free Roth IRA account.
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IRS Announces Increased 401(k) Contribution Limits for 2022
Retirement Planning
Good news for anyone looking to save more for retirement – the IRS announced recently that investors can put an extra $1,000 in their 401(k)s in 2022.
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Look to Dividend-Paying Stocks for Income in Retirement
Retirement Planning
Retiring boomers are looking for ways to generate income without eroding their assets. One approach is to invest in dividend-paying and rising dividend-paying stocks and funds.
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Inherit an IRA? Beware of New IRS Rules
Investment Management
For many years, individuals inheriting IRAs could benefit from IRS rules allowing for long-term tax deferral. The owner of the inherited IRA could withdraw whatever amount they wanted whenever they wanted...
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Consider Investing Your Excess Retirement Funds Like Your Heirs Would
Retirement Planning
A financial plan has a beginning, but no end. As a retiree your plan is designed to accommodate your needs and goals through your retirement. But it should also consider the...
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Retirement: Proceed with Caution Before Relying on General Rules
Retirement Planning
When investing for retirement, you are likely to hear a lot of well-meaning guidance from family, friends, and others offering advice — even the media. As you weigh the potential...
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Use Your Stimulus Check to Open a Roth IRA
Retirement Planning
Beyond opening the accounts, the stimulus checks introduced these young adults to systematic investing. They will add to their Roth IRAs via regular automatic after-tax draws from their checking or savings...
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Pension Maximization: A Pension Payout Option Strategy
Retirement Planning
Because it is designed to provide a guaranteed stream of income to the employee in retirement, a Defined Benefit Pension Plan has been viewed as the most coveted retirement plan an...
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IRA Contribution Deadline Extended
Retirement Planning
The IRS is giving us all more time to gather the funds to make our 2020 IRA contributions. The usual deadline of April 15 has been extended, just as the deadline...
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Is Long-Term Care Insurance a Necessity or Luxury?
Insurance
While long-term care insurance can lighten your cash outlay should you need extended care, not everyone can afford the expense. As financial planners, we help clients understand what insurances make sense,...
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Top 10 Opportunities for Retirement Plan Sponsors in 2021
Retirement Planning
Dean Piccirillo, director of the HBKS Wealth Advisors Retirement Plan Unit, offerd strategies employers can use to improve employee participation in their sponsored retirement plans, enhance plan investment performance, reduce plan...
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Converting a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA at a Young Age: What Should Jack Do?
Retirement Planning
I have many clients in their twenties and thirties who had prior jobs where they accumulated sizeable amounts of money in their Traditional IRAs. These clients now have high paying jobs...
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Don’t Roll Over on Your Rollover
Retirement Planning
If you have a retirement account or two that you never transferred or “rolled over” into a current employer’s plan or personal IRA, you are not alone.
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Tax-Free Retirement Strategies for High Earners
Retirement Planning
There are only so many pre-tax avenues to retirement income. High earners who want to put more dollars aside must find alternatives beyond such traditional means as 401ks and IRAs.
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Making Sense of Roth IRAs: The Yes, No, Maybe Retirement Account
Retirement Planning
Roth IRAs can be a beneficial retirement planning option, but not understanding them could lead to mistakes and potentially costly penalties.
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Multiple Ways to Fund a Roth IRA
Retirement Planning
Higher-income earners are eventually phased out of qualifying to contribute to a Roth IRA. But there is a workaround for those folks—namely, a Roth conversion.
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Invest for Your Future: What Is an IRA?
Financial Planning
IRA (short for Individual Retirement Account) is an account that allows you to put money aside in a way that saves you dollars at tax time. Contributions to and withdrawals from...
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Can I convert my traditional IRA to a Roth IRA?
Retirement Planning
Anyone can convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2020. There are no income limits or restrictions based on your tax filing status. You generally have to include the...
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Choosing a Beneficiary for Your IRA or 401(k)
Financial Planning
Selecting beneficiaries for retirement benefits is different from choosing beneficiaries for other assets such as life insurance. With retirement benefits, you need to know the impact of income tax and estate...
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Retirement Planning: It’s Not SIMPLE
Retirement Planning
The late '90s was a stressful time in the retirement plan world. How could this huge boomer population prepare for retirement a decade away when less than half were covered by...
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Traditional 401(k) Versus a Roth 401(k): What’s Right for You?
Investment Management
You may have options in your 401(k) plan to save in a Traditional tax-deferred account or in a Roth account. What's the difference, and which should you choose? HBKS Advisor Joe...
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Want to Retire Comfortably? Get Rid of Your Debt.
Retirement Planning
There are many concerns that need to be addressed when someone is considering retirement, and debt is at the top of the list.
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To Skip or Not to Skip Your 2020 RMDs
Retirement Planning
The last few months have inundated us with programs and legislation designed to help us regain our financial stability. One of the attempts to help, the CARES Act, similar to what...
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Is Your Mind Ready to Retire?
Retirement Planning
There are many ways to plan retirement and most tend to focus on the financial aspects: how much money will I have, what will I be able to afford, is there...
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Evaluating an Early Retirement Offer
Retirement Planning
In today's corporate environment, cost cutting, restructuring, and downsizing are the norm, and many employers are offering their employees early retirement packages. But how do you know if the seemingly attractive...
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Watch: CARES Act Retirement Plan Provisions and Relief
Retirement Planning
What does the federal government's COVID-19 Response legislation mean to retirement plans? The recently passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or the CARES Act, contains relief and assistance for qualified...
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Retirement Income Strategies for Turbulent Times
Retirement Planning
One of the rewards of a successful long-term retirement plan is withdrawing annually at a "safe withdrawal" rate. In these unprecedented times, how should you adjust your retirement plan withdrawals?
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FAQs for Plan Sponsors Suffering from Coronavirus Related Business Disruptions
Retirement Planning
The Retirement Plan Services group answers your most pressing questions in this FAQ.
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Retirement Plan Provisions of the CARES Act
Retirement Planning
The CARES Act signed into law by the president March 27, 2020 provides several enhancements that give taxpayers and retirement plan participants the ability to access their plan assets for coronavirus-related...
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Reducing or Eliminating Safe Harbor 401(k) Contributions
Retirement Planning
Can employers reduce or eliminate their safe harbor contribution?
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COVID-19 Is Not Our Only Sinister Foe
Perspectives
In trying to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we are waging a war with an invisible and unrelenting enemy: a microscopic pathogen. But that is not the only invisible...
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Beware: Is IRMAA After Your Social Security Dollars?
Retirement Planning
In an attempt to keep Social Security funded, the IRS is implementing a provision called IRMAA or Income Related Monthly Adjustment. Essentially the intent is to generate funds from wealthier taxpayers,...
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Backdoor Roth IRA: A Savings Strategy for Higher Earners
Retirement Planning
A Roth IRA is attractive to many people because you contribute after-tax dollars and the earnings grow tax-free—when you withdraw funds in retirement you pay no income tax on your withdrawals....
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Breaking News: SECURE Act
Retirement Planning
The President signed into law on December 20 two spending packages that will fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year. Included in the spending packages were the Setting...
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Listen Up Generation Xers and Millennials: You’ll Need to Work Longer, Save More and Spend Less to Retire Well
Retirement Planning
The good news is that life expectancies continue to increase. Healthier lifestyles and medical advances are keeping older people alive and active longer. But there's a challenge that comes with a...
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Pension Myths: Common Misconceptions About Pension Plans
Retirement Planning
To a great extent defined benefit plans, most of which are more commonly known as pension plans, have fallen out of favor. As of 2017, only 16 percent of Fortune 500...
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Modern Retirement: Potential Areas of Trouble
Insurance
Given the unique characteristics of every family, conducting a detailed retirement feasibility study is imperative as anyone nears retirement. While a detailed examination of personal financial circumstances is crucial, the...
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Annuities and Retirement Planning
Retirement Planning
You may have heard that IRAs and employer-sponsored plans (e.g., 401(k)s) are the best ways to invest for retirement. That’s true for many people, but what if you’ve maxed out your...
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When You’re 65: Things to Consider When You’re Heading into Your Retirement
Retirement Planning
Most people who make it to 65 wonder how they got there so quickly. John Lennon said, "life is what happens when your busy making other plans." If you did most...
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Your Retirement, Your Children’s Education: Let’s Do the Math
Financial Planning
If you're a young couple with children, you’re tasked with at least two major savings initiatives: your retirement and your kids’ educations. Both require early and smart planning.
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Widowed? Divorced? Social Security Benefits Await You
Financial Planning
The Social Security Act was voted into law in 1935. Over the years, it has been amended frequently and today's law includes many provisions with which many Americans are unfamiliar. One...
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Everything You Wanted to Know About Medicare… But Maybe Didn’t Know to Ask
Insurance
If you are about to turn 65, your healthcare coverage — at least your primary coverage — will be provided by the U.S. government through a plan called Medicare. The following...
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Saving for Retirement and a Child’s Education at the Same Time
Financial Planning
You want to retire comfortably when the time comes. You also want to help your child go to college. So how do you juggle the two? The truth is, saving for...
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Retiring Early? A Healthcare Subsidy Could Help
Retirement Planning
If you're thinking about retiring early, that is, before age 65, but losing your healthcare coverage plan is giving you pause, there might be a solution for you. Under the current...
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Planning for Retirement: What Income Replacement Rate Will I Need?
Retirement Planning
The transition from retirement saver to retirement spender can be overwhelming. A life spent earning income, deferring taxes and accumulating invested assets quickly changes to life on a fixed income —...
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Let’s Talk About Your Employer-Sponsored 401(k): Roth or Traditional?
Retirement Planning
When the time comes to retire, you want to be comfortable with your financial situation. Choosing to save for retirement is easy; however, choosing how to save can be difficult. You...
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Congress Intends to Modernize Retirement Plan Rules
Retirement Planning
Congress is considering sweeping legislation to modify – or modernize – the rules for IRS qualified retirement plans, as recently both the House Ways & Means and Senate Finance Committees advanced...
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Retirement Help for Age-Gap Couples You Might Not Know About
Financial Planning
Making decisions about your retirement can be involved – and even more complex when there is a substantial age gap between you and your spouse. Substantially different retirement dates complicate such...
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The Roths: 401(k) vs. Roth IRA. Which is better?
Retirement Planning
Roth 401(k) plans and Roth IRAs are similar retirement plans in that both are funded by after-tax dollars, that is, income you’ve already paid taxes on. They also both offer qualified...
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Thoughts on the Vanguard Market Call
Market Commentary
Global investment powerhouse Vanguard sharply cut the expected returns for U.S. stocks in the next decade. If the forecast proves to be accurate, the implications could be significant for retirement-plan sponsors,...
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New Year’s Resolutions for Retirement Plan Fiduciaries
Retirement Planning
Americans love making New Year's resolutions at the beginning of the calendar year. Generally, these self-improvement goals concern health and wellness, weight loss or improving relationships. If you are a retirement...
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The Rules for Hardship 401(k) Withdrawals Have Changed
Retirement Planning
Generally, participants in 401(k) plans can't withdraw their retirement funds until age 59½ as long as they remain with their employer. However, employees can take money out, including earnings on their...
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Required Minimum Distributions: When Your Retirement Savings Start Paying Off
Retirement Planning
Whether you're about to begin enjoying the benefits of your years of saving for retirement or just starting to contribute to a retirement plan, you'll want to know a few things...
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Getting Started: A Little Saving Now Will Pay Off Big Later
Retirement Planning
As a financial advisor to young professionals, I emphasize how important it is to start saving early for retirement. You might not want to restrict yourself to a budget, but what...
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IRS increases IRA limits for 2019
Financial Planning
For the first time since 2013, the IRS is increasing the annual limit for IRA contributions.
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Inheriting Retirement Accounts: The Other IRAs
Retirement Planning
Dealing with the passing of a family member or close friend is never easy. The emotions we feel and the ways we cope with loss can vary dramatically depending on our...
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The Goal of a Worry-Free Financial Retirement
Retirement Planning
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Tax Deferred Retirement Savings
Retirement Planning
It’s a win-win-win. If you are self-employed, a sole proprietor or run a small business, you can build retirement savings while reducing your tax burden and building onto your investment portfolio....
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Pay Down or Save Up?
Financial Planning
You have extra cash. Should you use it to pay down debt or build up your retirement savings?
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Saving for Retirement or College: Pick One
Financial Planning
Good for you if you’re able to put enough money aside to cover your retirement and your kids’ college educations. But if not, remember the flight attendant’s advice before take-off: put...
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Retirement Planning: Your Sunny Future in the Sunshine State
Retirement Planning
A recent study pointed to Stuart, Fla., here on the Atlantic coast, and two other Florida cities, Naples and Sarasota, on the Gulf of Mexico, as top places for retirement in...
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Approaching Your “Retirement Cliff”?
Retirement Planning
If you are in your late 50s or early 60s, then you are fast approaching what is known as the “retirement cliff,” the end of the earned income period of your...
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