Articles, Market Commentary
& More

Past Commentary & Articles

Market Commentary
August 7, 2019
Market Update - Stock Ticker

Kicking off the third quarter, U.S. stocks continued their rally with a slight tick upward, while international stocks gave back some of the gains made in the first half of the year. Bonds were mostly flat in July with the exception of international bonds. Despite mixed returns across asset classes, managed futures led alternatives as […]

Article
July 12, 2019
Withholding Penalties

With the 2018 tax year closed, most taxpayers saw a decrease in their refunds, and some even owed taxes when they usually receive refunds.  This was due to the adjusted withholding tables that came into effect in February 2018, lowering the amount of taxes taken out of taxpayers’ paychecks.  Since less tax was paid throughout […]

Market Commentary
July 3, 2019
Man Wearing Paper Bag

“I just got my annual bonus – let’s go on vacation!” “It was so obvious that the dotcom and housing bubbles would cause bear markets. Everyone saw that coming!” “Based on that information, let’s adjust our expectations a bit higher – but still consider our original estimate.” “Those sound like good changes to our financial […]

Market Commentary
July 3, 2019
Market Update - Stock Ticker

It was hard to go wrong in June! Every major asset class rose during the month to round out the second quarter. Global stocks rebounded in June, gaining 6.4% – now having risen 16.1% in 2019. Bonds, led by international bonds (+1.7%), were broadly positive as well due to falling interest rates. While mixed on […]

Article
July 2, 2019
Golden Handcuffs

What is Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation or NQDC? Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation, or NQDC, is compensation that has been earned by an employee but has not yet been transferred from the employer to the employee. Because the employer still has ownership of the compensation, it is not included in the employee’s earned income and therefore is not […]

M&A/Partnerships/Industry
June 28, 2019
Savant Wealth Management

Savant CEO Brent Brodeski wrote the opinion piece, “Rethinking top advisor lists: What metrics really matter,” for Financial-Planning.com. He offers insight into how top advisor lists can be misleading and suggests firms instead measure their success through revenue growth and their EBITDA “sweet spot.”

Article
June 25, 2019
Cartoon Man Riding a Snail

The difficulties of market timing have been well documented in financial literature. In addition to the challenge of deciding when to get into and out of the market, market timers must overcome the burden of higher costs due to more frequent trading as well as the tax implications of this trading. Making meaningful and correct […]

Wise Women
June 20, 2019
Woman with coffee mug that says Like A Boss.

As more women work “side hustles” outside of their regular employment (e.g., Uber, Postmates, Task Rabbit, etc.), there is an opportunity for them to establish their own Solo 401(k) plan, defer taxable income, and save for retirement. A Solo 401(k) plan consists of an employer contribution and an employee contribution. This type of retirement savings plan […]

Article
June 17, 2019
Savant Wealth Management

The yield curve inverted. So what? What does it mean, and what should you do? A yield curve is a plot of interest rates on bonds (typically U.S. Treasury bonds) of various maturity lengths. Some bonds mature in thirty days, some in three months, one year, two years, five years, ten years, on up to […]

Market Commentary
June 10, 2019
Market Update - Stock Ticker

Global stocks fell 6.0% during May which resulted in year‐to‐date returns now standing at 9.1%. China (‐13.1%) was among the worst performing markets during the month amid escalating trade tensions. Bonds were broadly positive with short‐term (+0.4%), intermediate‐term (+1.3%), TIPS (+1.7%), and international bonds (+1.5%) all posting gains for the month. Alternatives were down during […]

Contact