The Master’s Minute

You probably don’t need me to tell you that the cost of college can be an enormous burden on a college student and his or her family.  Some fortunate students are in the envious position of having grandparents who have enough money to cover their own retirement years and still have something left to help family members pay for college.  There are tax advantages for grandparents who help their grandchildren… Read More

Back in the day, play time was no fun when my older sister would change the rules in the middle of the game we were playing in order to tilt the game in her favor.  (I hope she’s not reading this!) Well, it seems that Social Security has also changed the rules in the middle of the game. No longer can one spouse employ the file and suspend strategy while… Read More

Deciding where to live can be a challenging process no matter what our age; however, as we reach the latter stages of life, the decision-making process about where to live becomes more complicated.  Much of the complexity is related to the rising concern of possibly needing long-term care at some point in the future.  This is the third article in our four-part blog series looking at issues related to long-term… Read More

How is long-term care different from the traditional medical care that we receive in a doctor’s office or in a hospital setting?  Long-term care could be defined as care provided during the latter stages of life that helps meet both medical and non-medical needs of people who are unable to care for themselves.  Although long-term care could be needed by a person of any age, in this four-part blog series… Read More

Over the past year and a half, we’ve watched the price per gallon of gas steadily decline. If you’re like me, you may have smiled as you filled up your vehicle recently for less than $2 a gallon. However, over this same period of time, you’ve probably noticed your investment portfolio struggling through unusually high volatility and some sharp declines in value. Let’s take a look at some historical data… Read More

Permanent: “lasting or intended to last or remain unchanged indefinitely.” Since 2006, Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) have been a part of the tax code. A QCD allows an IRA owner who is at least 70½ to make a distribution from his or her IRA, directly to a qualified charitable organization. As of December 15, 2015, Congress has voted to make QCDs a part of permanent tax law. This is welcomed news… Read More

It has been quite a start to 2016 in the stock markets. Just 19 days into the New Year the S&P 500 was down 9.25%. Many clients ask us what to do in these volatile times, and our response is a simple one: Focus on what you can control. None of us can control the stock market and no one can know what will happen tomorrow, or this month, or… Read More

When I was a child, I was very impatient. Those of you who have energetic children and grandchildren can probably relate to the immense energy inside a young child. My impatience showed itself in guessing what was inside my Christmas presents. I loved to shake and examine my gifts, trying to figure out what was inside before I tore through the wrapping paper. Sometimes I was able to guess what… Read More

As we enter the final month of the year, I am guessing that you probably have a lot of things you need to get done. I can imagine that a number of lists have your attention. I’m sure there are things on your list related to the Christmas season like the Christmas present list, the prepare the house for Christmas to do list, and the holiday gathering list. Many of… Read More

As we continue in our “Who We Are” blog series, we turn to the core of our business: investing and managing money for our clients. Recently, our Investment Review Committee (IRC) has worked to clarify our investing philosophy. We have been wrestling with the academic research available to us, the strategies we have employed in the past, and how those two things affect the advice we give our clients. We… Read More