Do I Belong Here? – All-Time Market Highs and The Good Place
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Do I Belong Here? – All-Time Market Highs and The Good Place

“On December 31st, the S&P 500 Closed at 3227.57, Within 0.35% of its All-Time High…” I would bet that reading the above headline tells you something. Maybe “Finally, I made it” or “How long can we keep this up?” or maybe even “There’s nowhere to go but down.” When my wife suggested that we start…

Quarter In Charts – Q4 2019
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Quarter In Charts – Q4 2019

It’s interesting to think about what an impact Julius Caesar had on the calendar and from that, our lives. I remember when I started at Smith Partners Wealth Management (then Jonathan Smith & Co.) in 2005. The great Legg Mason Value Trust mutual fund manager Bill Miller was in the middle of his 15th consecutive…

The SECURE Act
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The SECURE Act

President Trump signed The SECURE Act of 2019 (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement of 2019), into law on December 20, 2019. While it has a far-reaching scope (see the chart below from Michael Kitces’ in-depth summary,) in this post, I’ll focus on a few provisions likely to affect most workers, retirees, and 401k…

Budgeting (Part 2): How Much Should I Be Saving?
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Budgeting (Part 2): How Much Should I Be Saving?

(This is part two in a series, if you didn’t read my last blog post, then I would recommend starting there.)  The most common financial goal I know of is financial independence. People want the freedom to travel, spend time with family and friends, work part-time, or start a business. However, America as a whole…