Does a Presidential Election Really Affect the Markets?
It’s time to discuss the elephant in the room, the upcoming election. I’m regularly hearing concerns during meetings about the upcoming election and its possible effects on the stock market. While I wish I could just tune out politics entirely, I suppose we can spend an article on elections and then get back to our regular programming soon enough. Here …
Cash is Undefeated
Have you ever gazed upon an heirloom-quality piece of furniture, a new gourmet kitchen, or a stunning sports car and thought to yourself, “The glue-work is simply exquisite.” Probably not. I know I haven’t. But what would that object look like if it wasn’t fastened together correctly, or at all? It’d be little more than a pile of individual parts …
Fall Festival Thank You and Save the Dates
Thank you for attending and/or participating in the Fall Festival! We thought the Luau, Hawaiian dancer and Comedian, Michael Saccone, were a hit. All the raffle/auction items were generously donated by companies in our neighborhood. Some of our wonderful clients donated items as well. We can’t thank them enough. We raised $18,489.35 for CASAJWC. These funds directly benefit children who …
Team Corner
Welcome to the Team Joe Wild, Paraplanner Joe graduated from Kansas State University in 2019 with a degree in History. He previously worked in the life insurance industry as well as in the banking industry. Joe prides himself on his ability to build strong personal relationships with clients to help them feel confident in their financial decisions. In his free …
2024 Winter Newsletter: Kansas City
I don’t have to tell you how quickly 2023 passed us by. It seems like we just ushered in the New Year and now we’re about to get to know 2024, just like that. Over the past year, we’ve seen incredible rises in interest rates, a stock market that’s finding its footing once again, and a news year that continues …
Can You Make Retirement Planning…Easier?
We often talk about building a retirement plan that allows you to sleep well at night, free from the worry of the markets, economy, and scary headlines. And while this will continue to be our goal as retirement planning professionals, what about actual sleep habits? If you’ve ever been to leadership training, you know that’s where you’ll find some of …
Back to the Basics: Ways To Maintain Or Improve Your Lifestyle In Retirement
Approaching retirement age is an exciting time for most. The opportunity to spend more time doing the things you enjoy, and may have put off, leads many aspiring retirees to dream about the future like they haven’t in years. While this new phase of life can be deeply satisfying, it can also result in new and unique fears. Retiring at …
Briefcase Study: Plan like you will live forever, live like you will die tomorrow
Plan like you will live forever, live like you will die tomorrow. Retirement planning is one of the great balancing acts: you suspect you’re not going to live forever, but what if you do? And maybe forever isn’t really forever, but what if it’s to 112 years old? Are you ready for that, at least financially? It turns out that …
62 Is So Passé. It’s 70 Now.
As I scan the retirement advice landscape, I’m noticing more and more ‘gurus’ pushing a work-‘til-you’re-70 narrative. The reason? The vast majority of American workers will need to work longer than they may have anticipated because of lack of savings and retirement assets, while also living longer lives (making for a longer retirement). And while delaying retirement may be a …
Estate Planning for the Rest of Us
I’ve had the pleasure of teaching many retirement and tax classes at colleges and universities. 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 …
