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Can You Build a Retirement Income Plan With Both Risk and Reliability?

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Investment Management, Retirement by Scott Dougan

Two strategies for making retirement savings last — probability-based income planning and guaranteed income planning — can help ensure you have what you need in your golden years, but which is right for you? Two very different strategies can help retirees’ retirement savings last their lifetime, and the one that works for you, or even a hybrid plan, may depend …

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Can There Be a Retirement Planning Formula?

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office, Investment Management, Tax Planning by Scott Dougan

For years, I’ve been on a quest to determine the optimum set of inputs to design the ideal retirement plan. And while the topic of formulas may not appeal to you, I hope you’re somewhat comforted that it does hold some appeal for me, a retirement planning guy. I’ve thought much about the ideal blend of guaranteed income sources, risk-based …

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Forecasting the Weather and Pending Economic Collapse

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office, Investment Management by Scott Dougan

Imagine for a moment that you’re tasked with instructing others how to select a wardrobe. Given the regularity of the seasons, you could do pretty well suggesting a mix of warm clothes for winter and cool clothes for summer. However, naming the exact day when a 70-degree day interrupts the 40-degree days of early spring would prove very difficult. If …

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Back to the Basics: The Great Decluttering

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office, Back to the Basics, Investment Management, SLC Spring 2020, Spring 2020 by Scott Dougan

For everything there is a season. For many of you, it’s time to declutter. Nobody is forcing you to declutter, but you’re probably feeling that desire on some level. Sitting in your home due to quarantine, there’s never been a better time! Looking back, we spent an entire childhood wishing for more things like bikes, games, our own room. Then …

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Report: Quarter in Review

In Investment Management, Special Reports, Special Reports: Kansas City Office by Scott Dougan

Quarter in Review A volatile third quarter ended with global equity markets offering mixed returns. The story remained largely the same with geopolitical and trade tensions fueling volatility, while political noise in the U.S. dominated headlines. The U.S. economy remains on solid footing, though many data points are highlighting the reality of an accelerating moderation in growth. Discrepancies in hard …

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Report: Quarter in Review

In Investment Management, Special Reports, Special Reports: Salt Lake City Office by Scott Dougan

Quarter in Review A volatile third quarter ended with global equity markets offering mixed returns. The story remained largely the same with geopolitical and trade tensions fueling volatility, while political noise in the U.S. dominated headlines. The U.S. economy remains on solid footing, though many data points are highlighting the reality of an accelerating moderation in growth. Discrepancies in hard …

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Diversification: Always Something To Celebrate (And Apologize For)

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office, Investment Management by Scott Dougan

This may feel like an old, well-worn topic, but please bear with me; I hope to present a new twist. Diversification is a time-tested way for investors to manage the inherent risks of investing by owning lots of different kinds of assets. Diversification takes many forms, but often looks like this example: owning 60% of a portfolio in stocks and …

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Is Estate Planning Only For Rich People?

In Articles, Articles: Kansas City Office, Articles: Salt Lake City Office, Investment Management, Tax Planning by Scott Dougan

I recently had the pleasure of teaching two classes called ‘Your Retirement And Taxes.’ In the classes, we sought to deepen our understanding of how our tax system works as it pertains to investments and income sources, as well as consider some strategies available to a retiree to pay only their fair share of taxes during retirement. While the subject …

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Report: Quarterly Economic Update

In Investment Management, Special Reports, Special Reports: Kansas City Office, Special Reports: Salt Lake City Office by Scott Dougan

Quarterly Economic Update Fourth Quarter 2018 After a long period of respectable market returns, many investors in equities experienced losses during the fourth quarter of 2018, in spite of the third quarter’s strength. The root cause of these losses was growing uncertainty, which is the equity market’s least favorite sentiment. Specifically, interest rate hikes and trade wars caused major concerns …