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’Tis the Season

The period between Thanksgiving and the end-of-year holiday season would seem like a sleepy time for financial planners, but in fact it is anything but. You might be surprised at how much activity takes place on behalf of you and your investments in the final month of the year.

For instance? Even though this has been a good year in the markets, not all investments will have gained value. This is the last opportunity to harvest any losses we find in taxable accounts, by selling investments that have gone down and “booking” the loss. Then we can look for investments that have gained value, sell some of those to offset the losses, and thereby save capital gains taxes in the future. Up to $3,000 of ordinary income can be offset by investment losses as well.

This is also the time of year when mutual fund companies post, in advance, the amount of ordinary income and capital gain distributions they will make to their shareholders. Since the value of the shares drops by the amount that is distributed, this would seem like a non-event performance-wise. But in fact some mutual funds are poised to make 20% or even 30% distributions, and this cash is immediately taxable, unlike gains in the share values, which are only realized when you decide to sell. By selling funds before the distributions, and buying them back later, we can reduce your tax bill this year.

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Financial Planning is...

Financial Planning is the comprehensive analysis and evaluation of an individual's current financial state and needs used in the development of a strategy to successfully meet your financial goals in the future. Professionals, like Mike, utilize their knowledge of client's future life goals, transfer plans (in life and death) and future expense needs to develop comprehensive Financial Plans.

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Don’t Try to Catch a Falling Knife

There has been much discussion over the last month and half about Bear Markets, Sell-offs, the Global economy and a possible Recession. The vast majority of analysts believe we are not in a recession (neither the U.S., China, nor Europe) and that most economic indicators seem to point to the fact that overall the U.S. economy is strong. In fact, most analysts indicate that there is only a 20 -30% chance of a recession in the making for the U.S. In addition, trucking and retail industries are showing signs of stabilization indicating that things did not get worse in January. The factors that are seemingly the 'cause' of this downturn are angst surrounding global growth, politics, oil and Euro banking woes and each day one or another have been blamed for the sell-off during this downturn. However, none of them should be a catalyst for the down market indicating a true disconnect between reality and what investors in the market are thinking. It is important to note that when investors are buying in huge rallies it's traditionally thought the market has created a herd mentality however, when they are selling in bulk during downturns there is an assumption they are right.

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