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3 Small Moves that Make a Big Difference in Retirement

Saving for retirement doesn’t happen overnight. It’s an ongoing process that requires monitoring and tweaking your plan over many years to help ensure you have enough to meet your retirement goals. Sometimes relatively small adjustments to your plan can make a huge impact on your ability to save, such as choosing to invest in low-cost index funds or increasing retirement savings by just 1% per year. Here’s a closer look at three savings-boosting strategies you can implement. Make a Minor…
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A Beginner’s Guide to Alternative Investments

Alternatives are investment options beyond the typical stocks, bonds and cash found in most portfolios. They can be tangible assets like precious metals, or they could be financial assets like private equity or hedge funds. Alternatives tend to be riskier than traditional assets, which means investors usually have to meet certain criteria to access them. Here’s a closer look at alternatives and some of the most common options available. What is an alternative investment? An alternative investment is a financial…
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Women Face Challenges in a Post-Pandemic World

The COVID-19 economic crisis tested the mettle of all Americans, particularly working mothers. Research shows that the pandemic’s impacts on women have been far-reaching and potentially long-lasting. Now that the U.S. economy is picking up steam, it may be more important than ever for women to re-examine their retirement planning strategies. Effects of the COVID-19 Economy The COVID-19 recession had a disproportionate impact on working women because sectors that typically employ them — including retail, hospitality, and health care —…
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Stock Market Risks in the Spotlight

During March 2021, the widening availability of COVID-19 vaccinations, signs of improving economic conditions, and a third, $1.9 trillion stimulus package brought about more optimistic growth projections. Even though a healthy economy could be good news for many businesses and the financial markets, rising inflation expectations caused a multi-week sell-off in U.S. government bonds that pushed up longer-term yields and sent the Nasdaq Composite Index into correction territory on March 8, 2021.1 Promising a patient approach, the Federal Reserve stated…
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International Investing: Opportunity Overseas?

For the past decade, U.S. stocks have outperformed foreign stocks by a wide margin, due in large part to the stronger U.S. recovery after the Great Recession. In general, U.S. companies have been more nimble and innovative in response to changing business dynamics, while aging populations in Japan and many European countries have slowed economic growth.1 Despite these challenges, some analysts believe that foreign stocks may be poised for a comeback as other countries recover more quickly from the effects…
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A Steady Strategy

One of the most fundamental truths of investing is that you can’t time the market. As legendary investor and economist Bernard Baruch put it, “Don’t try to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. It can’t be done except by liars.”1 Even so, it’s natural to wince a little when you buy an investment only to see the price drop, or sell only to see the price rise. And no matter how much you try to make objective…
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Changing Your State of Domicile

Whether relocating from a high-income tax state to a low-income tax state or moving to another state with increased asset protection, property owners, especially those of high net-worth, should consider certain factors for establishing domicile. Many residents of Minnesota love to move to Florida. They love the warm weather during the long winter, the ocean, the beaches and also the tax advantages. Minnesota is a high-income tax state. One of the highest. Florida as no state income taxes. Changing your…
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Watch Out for These Financial Pitfalls in the New Year

As people move through different stages of life, there are new financial opportunities and potential pitfalls around every corner. Here are common money mistakes to watch out for at every age. Your 20s & 30s Being financially illiterate. By learning as much as you can about saving, budgeting, and investing now, you could benefit from it for the rest of your life. Not saving regularly. Save a portion of every paycheck and then spend what’s left over — not the…
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Four Steps to Rebuilding Your Business

Few business owners have escaped the financial effects of stay-at-home orders, new safety protocols, and consumer fears related to the pandemic. Even if you took advantage of temporary federal, state, or local relief funds to help you stay afloat during the worst months, you could be expecting significantly lower sales and profits for 2020 overall. The short- and mid-term outlook for small businesses is still uncertain and varies by region and industry. In fact, challenging economic conditions could persist locally…
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Seeking Sun or Savings? Explore a Retirement Move

Many people intend to retire in the place they call home, where they have established families and friendships. But for others, the endof a career brings the freedom to choose a new lifestyle in a different part of the country — or the opportunity to preserve more wealth and protect it from taxes. This big life decision is not all about money or the weather. Quality-of-life issues matter, too, such as proximity to family members and/or a convenient airport, access…
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