Newsletters

Forty-three percent of Americans spent more time planning their most recent vacation than planning for their retirement.1
1 AARP, 2008

Will you outlive your retirement income?  How much liability insurance should you have? Should you add stocks to your portfolio?  Are your financial expectations for the coming year realistic?

Our financial newsletters are designed to provide helpful information on a wide variety of financial topics.  Simply click on one of the newsletter topics below to read the article in its entirety.

  • March

    HOT TOPIC: Sum of All Fears: Are Risk Aversion and Greed All in the Mind?
    Do you change your investment strategy as the markets go up and down, or do you stay the course? As difficult as it may be, staying the course is usually the more advisable approach — but research shows that you may need to defy your brain to do it.

    Pursuing Both Growth and Value
    Maintaining a balance of growth and value investments may help investors add a new dimension of diversification to their portfolios.

    Don't Let a Disability Cripple Your Family's Finances
    One way to help protect against the financial ruin that a disability can bring is through disability income insurance.

    Working for Social Security
    There's nothing wrong with wanting to work in retirement, but if you decide to earn some extra income, make sure you understand how it will affect your Social Security benefits.

    A Simple Way to Help Your Family
    A letter of instructions, while not a legal document, can help your family cope during a difficult period by providing information that has no place in a will.

    Most Recoveries Are Announced Months After They Begin
    Because it can take so long for the National Bureau of Economic Research to determine when a recession began or ended, people who delay financial decisions until they are certain a recession is over are at a disadvantage because they may be operating on old information.

  • February

    Are You Making These Cash Mistakes?
    With interest rates at historic lows, what should you do with the money you save?

    Patching the Alternative Minimum Tax
    The future of the AMT is uncertain, yet it is important to consider the possible effects of the AMT on your tax situation.

    Tips for Healthy Life Insurance
    If you are about to retire or have recently entered retirement, it's a good time to consider whether your current life insurance policy meets your needs.

    What Does a Fed Chairman Do?
    The Federal Reserve plays an important role in our economy, and the chairman is its most visible player. His behavior is a good source of clues about what the future may hold.

    Don't Forget the World
    If your portfolio doesn't include some global equities, it may be missing a key dimension.

  • January

    HOT TOPIC: What's Ahead for 2010?
    Economists expect the economy to grow by a respectable 3% in 2010, but they don't hold out much hope for the employment situation. What else can investors and consumers expect from the coming year?

    Are Target-Date Funds Off Target?
    Target-date funds are not for everyone, so it's important to gather all the facts.

    The Benefits of Social Security
    Take this quiz to assess how much you know about Social Security benefits.

    Love and Marriage and Retirement
    More than 80% of married couples 45 to 72 say they don't agree on when they should retire, what their retirement lifestyle should look like, or whether they will work in retirement.

    Beware the Better-Than-Average Effect
    Economists have found that, on average, people tend to believe that their own lives are improving at a faster rate than most everyone else's.

    When Tea Leaves Won't Do
    Economic indicators can be a good source of clues about trends, but it takes experience and skill to interpret their meaning.

  • September

    HOT TOPIC: The Personal Saving Rate: What It Doesn't Mean to You
    The term "personal saving rate" can be misleading. It doesn't define "saving" in the same way that most people do. What should the personal saving rate mean to you?

    A New Way to Diversify
    Exchange-traded funds are unique investments that resemble mutual funds in some ways and behave like stock in other ways.

    One Final Letter
    A letter of instructions can help someone clearly state his or her preferences for many important issues such as organ donation, funeral arrangements, and other details not enumerated in a trust.

    Insurance for Your Whole Life
    If your situation calls for life insurance coverage that extends beyond your working years, it might be time to consider whether permanent life insurance would be appropriate.

    A Long Look at the National Debt
    To better comprehend the size and scope of the national debt, it helps to measure it against the size of the overall economy.

  • June

    HOT TOPIC: Social Security and Medicare in Crosshairs
    An entitlement crisis has been looming on the horizon for several years. Unfortunately, according to the latest reports from the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, a spike in unemployment has helped to hasten the arrival of these programs’ insolvency.

    Estate of Emergency?
    To help ensure that an estate is distributed according to one's wishes, it’s important to have certain legal documents in place.

    It's Time to Get Real
    During times of market volatility, it can be easy for investors to lose sight of two seemingly immovable obstacles standing in the way of their long-term investment goals: taxes and inflation.

    Inflation Goes to College
    Over the past 10 years, tuition and fees have grown more than 4% faster than the rate of general inflation at public four-year colleges and more than 2% faster than inflation at private four-year colleges.

    Testing Your Liability Limits
    This quiz tests the reader’s understanding of personal liability.

    The Positives of Negative Correlation
    Few asset groups are perfectly negatively correlated, but a portfolio may still be able to benefit from the correlation principle.

  • May

    HOT TOPIC: Don't Risk an IRA Rollover Mistake
    A rising unemployment rate means more people face an important decision about what to do with the money in their former employer’s retirement plan. Fortunately, an IRA rollover can help, but only if it's done correctly.

    Celebrate Life and the Benefits of Insuring It
    In addition to the protection it can bring, life insurance can also offer some tax benefits.

    A Question of Identity
    Not only is identity theft costly, it can also be a major hassle that affects a person’s credit score for years. The key to preventing ID theft is awareness.

    Exchange-Traded Funds Can Be for Conservative Portfolios, Too
    If you avoided ETFs because they were predominantly composed of stocks, the growing availability of bond ETFs might warrant a second look.

    The Land of Income Mobility
    In America, just about anyone who is dissatisfied with his income has the opportunity to roll up his sleeves and move into a different income bracket.

    Recapping Market Capitalization
    The blurring of lines between large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap companies is an indication that it may be time to evaluate whether your portfolio holdings have shifted toward or away from your investment objectives.