Tuesday, September 8, 2020
What are appropriate checklists for year-end tax planning? Tax planners often develop checklists to guide taxpayers toward year-end strategies that might help reduce taxes. Typically, suggestions are grouped into several different...
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Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Like anyone else, you want a life insurance policy that meets your needs and budget. But how do you find the right policy when there are so many to choose from and many of them seem so similar? The key is knowing how to compare...
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Tuesday, September 8, 2020
The fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has made the need for a healthy savings account clearer than ever. Even before the pandemic, the U.S. Federal Reserve estimated that nearly 40 percent of Americans didn't have enough set aside to...
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Tuesday, August 11, 2020
If your income hits a certain level, you may face an additional wrinkle in calculating your taxes: the net investment income tax (also referred to as the unearned income Medicare contribution tax). This 3.8% Medicare tax applies to...
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Tuesday, August 11, 2020
In general, life insurance proceeds paid to you because of the death of the insured are not subject to federal income tax. To qualify for such favorable tax treatment, the life insurance contract must meet certain IRS requirements....
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Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Market Blog Based on the latest polling data, there’s growing consensus that former Vice President Joe Biden potentially may win the election and Democrats possibly may sweep Congress. Some might think this could be a negative...
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Friday, July 3, 2020
Heading into your retirement years brings a slew of new topics to grapple with, and one of the most maddening may be Medicare. Figuring out when to enroll, what to enroll in and what coverage will be best for you can be daunting. To...
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Friday, July 3, 2020
Most Americans will eventually receive Social Security and Medicare benefits. Each year, the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds release lengthy reports to Congress that assess the health of these important...
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Friday, July 3, 2020
In the wake of turbulence in the financial markets, it's worth reviewing the legal protections available for assets held by banks, credit unions, and securities dealers. Bank/savings and loan deposit accounts Generally, deposit...
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Friday, July 3, 2020
At some point in a child's development, all parents wonder: how can I best teach my child the value of money? Parents who grew up in more modest circumstances than their own children can struggle to balance the desire to provide their...
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Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Investing with an eye toward promoting social, political, or environmental concerns (or at least not supporting activities you feel are harmful) doesn't mean you have to forgo pursuing a return on your money. Socially responsible...
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Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Your retirement lifestyle will depend not only on your assets and investment choices, but also on how quickly you draw down your retirement portfolio. The annual percentage that you take out of your portfolio, whether from returns or...
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Thursday, May 21, 2020
In these trying times, even those with veins of steel can find themselves nervous about the market's direction and what it could mean for one's financial future. And the unprecedented nature of the novel coronavirus—and its...
Read MoreThis week's market update explores recent retail sales, US-China trade, small businesses, and what it will take for our economy to bounce back.
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More bad economic data A record 20.5 million people lost their jobs in April, well above the previous record of 2 million during World War II. This is further confirmation of how quickly our economy stopped, and the LPL strategists...
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Stocks hit a rough patch the last week of April, as the historic rally could be tiring. The news was heavy and the economic data continued to be very weak, but central banks are doing all they can to help weather the storm. Central...
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Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Looking for a tax-advantaged college savings vehicle that has no age restrictions and no income phaseout limits — and one you can use to pay for more than just tuition? Consider 529 savings plans, a popular way to save for...
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Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Ever week is the perfect week for military families to take stock of their finances, make the most of special saving opportunities, and prepare for the future. Here are seven moves that military families should make right now. 1. Make...
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Friday, May 1, 2020
As the United States desperately tries to flatten the contagion curve for the coronavirus, many state governors have mandated the closure of an unprecedented number of businesses and issued stay-at-home orders to their citizens. The...
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Friday, May 1, 2020
Your need for life insurance changes as your life changes. When you're young, you typically have less need for life insurance, butthat changes as you take on more responsibility and your family grows. Then, as your responsibilities...
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Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Over the past couple of weeks, we have thankfully witnessed new cases of COVID-19 in the US trending lower. Increasingly, we are also seeing governors implementing plans to re-open their state economies in phases. If the US economy...
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Wednesday, April 22, 2020
With 22 million jobs lost in the past four weeks, a record drop in retail sales, and huge drops in industrial production and housing starts, it is safe to say we are likely in a recession. Even the Federal Reserve (Fed) in the recent...
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Friday, April 17, 2020
The economic data keeps getting worse, yet stocks have been in the midst of one of the greatest multi-week rallies ever. As the LPL Chart of the Day shows, the S&P 500 Index gained 27.2% in the 15 days after the March 23 lows, the...
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Sunday, April 12, 2020
Conventional wisdom says that what goes up must come down. But even if you view market volatility as a normal occurrence, it can be tough to handle when your money is at stake. Though there's no foolproof way to handle the ups and...
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Thursday, April 9, 2020
Stocks have rallied nicely off the March 23 lows on the back of a bold policy response from the Federal Reserve (Fed) and lawmakers in Washington, DC, which was followed by signs that a peak in growth of COVID-19 cases may come soon....
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Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Most of us go to see professionals when we’re in trouble or during times of crisis. Think about it. We go to the doctor when we’re sick. We go see a lawyer when we have a pending legal matter. We go see a counselor when...
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Monday, April 6, 2020
There's no doubt about it--health insurance can seem complicated. A typical policy is filled with the kind of technical jargon that sends many of us into cold sweats. Fortunately, understanding the basics of your policy isn't as...
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Thursday, April 2, 2020
“Could there be another depression” is one of the top questions we’ve received over the past week. “Yes, we are in a recession and many are worried if things may get much worse before they get better,”...
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Wednesday, March 25, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented volatility in recent weeks that has investors and traders scrambling to assess the economic and market impact of the aggressive containment measures. This past week the CBOE Volatility...
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Wednesday, March 18, 2020
The market volatility continues, as the S&P 500 Index has closed either up or down 4% or more for a record 7 consecutive days. With the S&P 500 Index down 30% from the highs, it has officially moved into a bear market. Yesterday, we...
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Wednesday, March 11, 2020
The dizzying volatility over the past few weeks has left all of our heads spinning as we wait for containment efforts in the United States and elsewhere to help slow new cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus). Public health is of course our...
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Saturday, March 7, 2020
Is your growing business still a one-person operation? As your company continues to grow and the workload increases, it is easy to find yourself wearing too many hats and not having enough hours in the day to accomplish everything...
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Saturday, March 7, 2020
When you're a small business owner, you need to pay extra careful attention to both your business and personal finances. Your financial planning strategies should simultaneously encourage the success of your business while also...
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Wednesday, March 4, 2020
The hits keep coming, as the Federal Reserve (Fed) did an intra-meeting cut yesterday, causing stocks to sell off hard on concerns the economy is on more fragile footing than most think. Read First Emergency Rate Cut By the Fed Since...
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Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Americans, it seems, are spenders. Personal savings rates are low and many people spend beyond their means. If you're among those Americans who can't seem to save, it might be time to create a budget. A budget allows you to understand...
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
The global equity weakness continued yesterday, with consecutive 3% drops for the S&P 500 Index for the first time since August 2015. It might be hard to believe, but exactly one week ago today the S&P 500 was making a new all-time...
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Wednesday, February 19, 2020
The recent news that technology giant Apple would miss its fourth quarter 2020 revenue targets has understandably increased investor anxiety surrounding the potential economic impact of the coronavirus (now called COVID-19). Lost in...
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Wednesday, February 12, 2020
A late month selloff in January saw the S&P 500 Index close marginally lower for the month. But stocks have taken off in February, with the S&P 500 up nearly 4% this month, as US economic data remains strong and fears over the...
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Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Monday’s strong manufacturing report caught our attention, even as the coronavirus outbreak dominated the financial media. At 50.9, the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing purchasing managers’ index...
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Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Small business owners are different from the average hourly employee in a lot of ways. One often-overlooked difference is how they plan for retirement. Although small business owners may offer a classic 401(k) for their workers along...
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Tuesday, February 4, 2020
When you're a small business owner, you need to pay extra careful attention to both your business and personal finances. Your financial planning strategies should simultaneously encourage the success of your business while also working...
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Tuesday, February 4, 2020
The managers of well-run businesses usually name "backups" to keep things going smoothly -- just in case. That's also a smart plan for your personal finances, where you risk experiencing financial losses or other difficulties if you...
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Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Fears that the deadly coronavirus would spread further around the globe intensified Monday and led to the biggest one-day drop in the S&P 500 Index since October 8, 2019. In fact, it was the first time the index moved 1% in either...
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Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Last week in our LPL Research blog, we took a closer look at how stocks have performed during an election year. We found that since 1940, the S&P 500 Index hasn’t been lower during an election year when an incumbent president has...
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Monday, January 13, 2020
Investing with an eye toward promoting social, political, or environmental concerns (or at least not supporting activities you feel are harmful) doesn't mean you have to forgo pursuing a return on your money. Socially responsible...
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Monday, January 13, 2020
In times of crisis, you don't want to be shaking pennies out of a piggy bank. Having a financial safety net in place can ensure that you're protected when a financial emergency arises. One way to accomplish this is by setting up a cash...
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Thursday, January 9, 2020
The first five days of 2020 are in the books. Although the headlines have been quite scary, equities have picked up right where they left off last year. In fact, after the first five trading days of the new year, the S&SP 500 Index is...
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Monday, January 6, 2020
Selecting a filing status is one of the first decisions you'll make when you fill out your federal income tax return, so it's important to know the rules. And because you may have more than one option, you need to know the advantages...
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Wednesday, December 18, 2019
The fourth quarter is winding down, and investors are getting nervous that volatility in the short-term lending market could flare up once again. Rates on repurchase agreements (repos) jumped in September 2019 amid a shortage of cash...
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Tuesday, December 17, 2019
A well-crafted business plan can be a blueprint for success. This multifaceted tool is as important to established business owners looking to grow their companies as it is to budding entrepreneurs. A business plan defines your business...
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Wednesday, December 11, 2019
The core Consumer Price Index (CPI), which excludes food and energy prices, rose 2.3% year over year in November, just below a cycle high of 2.4% growth last reached in September 2019. Inflationary pressures have recovered noticeably...
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Tuesday, December 10, 2019
It may be better to give than to receive, but it may be even better to give and see your generosity rewarded. Charitable giving can play a valuable role in your financial and tax strategies. A well-planned gift to charity could provide...
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Wednesday, December 4, 2019
It has been a rough start to the most wonderful month of them all, with the S&P 500 Index down each of the first two days of December. Don’t stop believing just yet, though. Everyone knows December has usually been a good month...
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Wednesday, November 27, 2019
This Thanksgiving, we’re thankful for solid consumer confidence, even though it has wavered in recent months. Consumer confidence fell for a fourth straight month in November, according to preliminary Conference Board data. Even...
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Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Do you picture yourself owning a new home, starting a business, or retiring comfortably? These are a few of the financial goals that may be important to you, and each comes with a price tag attached. That's where financial planning...
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Wednesday, November 20, 2019
“Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.” – Warren Buffett The S&P 500 Index has trended higher in an unusually persistent fashion recently. The benchmark has notched 10 record-high...
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Tuesday, November 19, 2019
At a time when your career is reaching a peak and you are looking ahead to your own retirement, you may find yourself in the position of having to help your children with college expenses while at the same time looking after the needs...
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Wednesday, November 13, 2019
The S&P 500 Index has closed higher five consecutive weeks, making six new all-time highs along the way. There now have been 19 new highs in 2019, tying the number we saw last year. There’s no doubt that this bull market has been...
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Monday, November 11, 2019
Making decisions about your retirement account can seem overwhelming, especially if you feel unsure about your knowledge of investments. However, the following basic rules can help you make smarter choices regardless of whether you...
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Wednesday, November 6, 2019
The U.S. services sector has steadily expanded this year, even as trade fears drag down manufacturing. The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) non-manufacturing (services) Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) climbed to 54...
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Monday, November 4, 2019
Retirement Plans for Small Businesses As a business owner, you should carefully consider the advantages of establishing an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Generally, you're allowed a deduction for contributions you make to an...
Read MoreTip: How Much? Check your Social Security earnings and see an estimate of your benefits on the Web site, www.ssa.gov. Social Security’s been a fact of retirement life ever since it was established in 1935. We all think we know...
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