Unexpected Early Retirement - A New Path Forward
Unexpected early retirement can be a transformative moment, often thrust upon individuals by circumstances beyond their control. While some dream of retiring early ...
Options for Short-Term Cash Holdings
Since the Federal Reserve cut the short-term interest rate target to near zero in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis, the interest rates banks pay on customer deposits has stayed very low...
Ways to Support Your Grandchildren Financially: A Guide for Grandparents
Being a grandparent brings many joys to your life. As a grandparent, you can provide love, impart wisdom, and potentially help financially. Beyond the five dollars I used...
How Stock-Based Compensation Fits into a Financial Plan
There are many ways a company can compensate its employees for the work they put forward in advancing the company’s goals. While the most common is cash payments...
Financial Date Night: Strengthening Your Relationship and Finances
Communication is the cornerstone of a healthy relationship. Yet, amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life, conversations about finances often take a back seat. Money ....
2024 - That Was Fast!
I think this new year came so fast that I not only got backed up on writing this commentary, but also, thankfully, did not seem to have time to make New Year’s resolutions .....
Lifestyle Creep
In the pursuit of a comfortable and fulfilling life, many individuals find themselves succumbing to a subtle but insidious phenomenon known as lifestyle creep. ...
Overview of Health Insurance Terminology
As we approach the open enrollment season for selecting health coverage for 2024, many people may be overwhelmed by the available options. Whether it be employer...
What I Wish My Younger Self Knew
As my own children move into adulthood, I am stopping to think about what advice they could use early on and what would they listen to starting out on their own.....
The Right Career Move
Whether actively sought or just a passing moment of frustration, almost everyone has thought about whether to look for a new job. Millions of Americans participated in the Great Resignation...
On Life Transitions...And Some Keys to Financial Success
My dad, as he got older, would respond to people who said positive things about him aging well that “…there are three stages in life - ‘childhood’, ‘adulthood’, and ‘you...
Backdoor Roth IRA Contributions for High Earners
In the middle of the tax filing season for 2022, many investors may wonder about making contributions to a non-employer retirement account for the prior tax year...
Do You Need An Estate Plan?
A common question financial planners often hear is “do I need an estate plan?” The short answer is yes but putting together an estate plan is often a lot less involved than most people think.
Goals For The Good Life
The recently published book, The Good Life, written by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz, delves into the concept of happiness. It is based on the findings of the Harvard...
Fastening Our Seatbelts for 2022!
Last October, I wrote about the need to be prepared for typical fourth quarter volatility. Well, it looks like it was postponed until 2022 and all crammed into January.
Tax Loss Harvesting to Save on Current and Future Taxes by Brian Fritzsche, CFP®, CFA, CRPC®
As several areas of the market continue to make all-time highs, there might not be many assets in a portfolio that have lost money since being purchased. However...
What is an RMD and Do I Need One?
As we approach the end of the year, many investors might be needing to take a required minimum distribution (RMD) from a retirement account, either one that they own...
Importance of Keeping Perspective by Jack Moller, CFP®
Before writing this post, I looked up Webster’s online dictionary and, among others, found the above definition for the word “perspective”. And, honestly, as I recently “celebrated”...
How to Talk to Your Adult Children About Your Estate Plan by Nancy Fehrenbach, CFP®, CFA
Estate planning is a topic that is important to discuss but many people avoid talking about it with loved ones. We don’t want to bring up the difficult topics of declining...
Inflation, Recession, War...Oh, My! by Jack Moller, CFP®
“It’s the Economy Stupid!” (credited to Bill Clinton’s campaign manager James Carville in the 1992 presidential race) After several crazy years with the focus on Covid...
Capitalization-Weighted Versus Fundamental Indexing by Brian Fritzsche, CFP®, CFA, CRPC®
A key tenet of Moller Financial Services’ investment philosophy is to utilize index funds to get low-cost exposure to the various asset classes that make up an investment...
Inflation and a Financial Plan by Nancy Fehrenbach, CFP®, CFA
You cannot turn on the TV or read a newspaper without seeing articles talking about inflation lately. While you may hear economic data reported from time to time...
Paradigm Shifts by Jack Moller, CFP®
I’ve been thinking about the concept of paradigm shifts and also trend changes. It seems important to consider these topics in the world today when so much disruption...
Overview of Retirement Plans for Small Businesses by Brian Fritzsche, CFP®, CFA, CRPC®
According to a 2020 J.P. Morgan survey, just under 50% of small businesses offer a retirement savings plan to employees. Another survey shows that less than 30% of businesses...
A Few Thoughts as We Enter the Last Quarter of 2021 by Jack Moller, CFP®
As we have entered this traditionally most volatile time of the year for markets, I wanted to share a few thoughts that I think are important to keep in mind and to help us maintain our peace of mind if market swings get “uncomfortable”.
What Would Bill Think About This Market? by Jack Moller, CFP®
Last quarter I wrote an article based on how I would respond to the oft asked question, “What do you think about this market”? I realize that today I am writing on the one-year anniversary of my dad’s passing...
What Are TIPS and Where Do They Fit in a Portfolio? by Brian Fritzsche, CFP®, CFA, CRPC®
As headlines concerning inflation seem to be swirling in the news, investors may wonder if there is any way to protect against the risk of higher-than-average inflation.
Is Now the Time to Get Greedy? by Nate Eads, CFP®
I started my career in May of 1996, which puts me 25 years into a career that I had no plans for coming out of college. After graduating in December 1995, my “career” aspirations were to head out to the mountains of Colorado and make a living skiing with my good friend Mike.
What Do I Think About This Market?
People often ask me this question. The short answer is that I have great confidence that the market will head higher over the long term. In the short term, I really have...
Positioned for Regime Change - Staying Truly Diversified
The plain and simple fact is that while stocks do go up over time, relative performances of different asset classes tend to go in cycles. These cycles are often impacted...
White Christmas 2020
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know, where businesses are thriving, when customers start arriving, and the economy is back on track...
Using Health Savings Accounts to Plan for Retirement
As we are amid open enrollment season for 2021 workplace benefits, the Health Savings Account (HSA) is an often misunderstood and underutilized savings and investment vehicle that warrants exploration.
So Many Topics - What to Choose
There really is so much going on to write about during this unprecedented year of the pandemic. As I write this column, we have just (mostly) finished one of the most acrimonious elections in history...
Roth Conversions in Bear Markets
Named after Senator William Roth, the Roth IRA is a unique type of individual retirement arrangement (IRA) that was introduced by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.
My Fourth "Panic Market"
During this coronavirus-induced market crash, the stock market has fallen nearly 30% from its mid-February all-time high. At some point the marking down will cease and those who have been able to take advantage of the lower prices will be happy to have done so.
Why Should We Diversify?
After a year in which the S&P 500 rose over 30% and U.S. stocks continued to outperform their international counterparts, it can be tempting to focus on the best...
When Should You Refinance Your Mortgage?
Since its recent peak of roughly 3.25% in November of 2018, the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note has steadily fallen to a mid-October level of around 1.75%.
Fall Financial To-Do List
Cooler weather, kids back in school, football, and every possible food item becoming pumpkin flavored: all signs that fall is upon us and we are closing in on the last quarter of the year.
The Upside Down World of Investing
We Are Certainly Living in Interesting Times in the Markets! Last month I wrote about the plethora of bonds in the world yielding less than zero. In other words, lenders are actually paying borrowers to borrow money
The Race to Zero and Below
Aka: the “Case of the Missing Interest” or “The Inverted Yield Curve Goes Mainstream” I need to apologize in advance if I overuse superlatives in this post.
Journal of Beliefs
Twenty years ago, I began an exercise designed to help clarify our investment philosophy and further refine the firm’s policies. The task was, each day for a month, to write down one “belief”.
Stick With Your Plan (To the tune of “Up on the Housetop”)
Tax reform enacted, to start the year January markets kicked to high gear February came and stocks quickly fell What to do now, should we buy or sell? Ho, Ho, Ho!
Keeping to our Knitting - Restating of Key Principles
Last month I wrote about the folly of market timing. In particular, I mentioned how many uncertainties seemed to have resolved, yielding perhaps an “all-clear” signal.
The Virtues of Not Having a Market Opinion
Following up on last month’s commentary when I listed some of our key principles, I thought I would delve further into the area of trying to predict the market as I’m often asked what I think is going to happen next.
T’was the Night Before Christmas
T’was the night before Christmas, as I readied for bed, Events of the past year, running all through my head. It is amazing how fast the year has gone by, Like reindeer...
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Frosty the Saver
Frosty the Saver Was a humble happy man With a modest job And 401K and A written financial plan Frosty the Saver Lived well within his means His credit was...
The Grinch
Every Who down in Who-ville saved and invested a lot… But the Grinch, Who lived just north of Who-ville, did NOT! The Grinch hated saving! He preferred to spend...
T’was the Night Before Christmas (2011 Version)
Twas the night before Christmas, a time full of cheer As I started to reflect, on the events of past year It has been a bumpy ride, in the markets and news Bombarded...
When the Dollar Cracks
Weakening U.S. Dollar Might Signal Shifting Winds The U.S. dollar has been quite strong since the high in U.S. stocks set in January of 2018. As the markets are approaching new highs...
