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The Blog

Weekly insights on the markets, economy, and financial planning

The “R” Word

The "R" Word

There has been a fair amount of talk about a possible recession coming to us in the near future. I want to discuss what that means and also give a bit of historical context so that we understand the recession when a recession actually shows up.

The $35 Trillion Wealth Transfer

The mother of all wealth transfers is coming. Baby Boomer heirs listen up: it’s not quite as soon as they are saying and not quite as much…

The Impact of a Biden or Trump Presidency

The Impact of a Biden or Trump Presidency

I’m not allocating much space to this column to discuss the past six months. I think we might all agree that it will be regarded as one of the most tumultuous periods in history, if not in our lifetimes. Like you, I hope and pray that the next 6 months will be dramatically better than the last, in both financial markets and society in general.

The R Word

The R Word

I want to get this out right off the bat – recessions are a part of the business cycle, thus part of every investor’s investing life. They occur every 4-10 years, so we must expect them. Some clients and financial pundits feel that we are on the precipice of a new recession.

Money Janitor

money janitor

We have all heard that money can’t buy happiness. But, what is it that money can do?

Taxing Tax Time

tax time 844×480

Even though April 15th was not that long ago, some of us are still feeling the sting.

Calm in Turbulent Times

MLK

It’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, and I thought it would be a good time for you to hear from me. Dr. King always preached calm in turbulent times, and I would like to echo that sentiment during these …

The Survey Says…

survey

Investors may not have learned from the market downturns of 2000–2002 and 2008 as much as we thought. According to a TIAA-CREF survey, more than half of investors (53%) think taking more risk in their investments guarantees a higher return. …

Wealth and Hard-Working Americans

Americans

Kevin Williamson, a correspondent for National Review recently wrote an article titled, “Rich America is a Working America”. In it he quotes some interesting statistics that call into question the negative portrayal of the “rich” that has become an effective …

Income vs. Total Return

fruit tree

Many investors and retirees rely on their investment portfolio to fund all, or part of their cash needs. In wealth management, there are two practices employed to create this cash flow; the income approach and the total return approach. The …

Stretch IRAs Under Attack…Again

Stretch

The Administration’s 2016 budget calls for the death of the Stretch IRA, once again. The Stretch IRA is an estate planning tactic that provides a lifetime payout for the beneficiary of an IRA, potentially “stretching” the proceeds across multiple beneficiaries …

President Obama Seeks New Rules for Brokers

New Rules 640×427

The White House has called upon the Department of Labor to hold financial brokers and professionals to a higher Fiduciary Standard. The Fiduciary Standard is a simple yet important concept. Simply put, when advisors act as fiduciaries, they are placing …

Taken Your Temperature Lately?

temperature

When our 28-year-old daughter, Caitlin, was just four months old, my wife and I noticed she was running a fever. We had been parents for exactly four months and began to get nervous about it. We had no parents handy …

Worst Case Scenarios

iceberg

Negativity has permeated our society of late. Predictions of disastrous consequences from the federal debt ceiling impasse abound. Some pundits worry that inflation arising from dramatic increases in the monetary supply will surely diminish our future lifestyles. European sovereign debt crises will eventually contaminate the American banking system, and global warming will cause our coastal […]

Why Staying the Course is The Best Route

Ship

Remember 2008? Some of us kept our eye on the ball and maintained our long-term investment plans. Others panicked and went to cash, thinking that it would protect them from downside risk, and waited until the market “normalized” before they dove back …

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