Why a Year-End Financial Checkup Is Smart

Written by Rob Copeland | 13 December 2018

With the year winding to a close, it's important to take specific steps in regard to your finances. Below are five actions that can help save you significant amounts of money and become more confident about reaching your financial goals.

1. Plan to avoid retirement-account withdrawals that will trigger taxes. Often, end-of-year distributions from IRAs and other retirement accounts will cause Social Security taxes to kick in. That's a scenario that's avoidable with a little planning. For example, if your annual combined income from Social Security, pension benefits, IRA distributions, etc. exceeds $32,000, then you'll owe taxes on your Social Security. Based on the level of your annual combined income, up to 85% of your Social Security proceeds in a given year may be subject to tax.

So if it's December and you're close to that tax threshold, you may want to adjust your plans. For instance, if you plan to withdraw money from your IRA for a new car, you might be better off taking out part of the total now and the rest next year.

2. Harvest tax losses. The end of the year can be a good time to pull the trigger and sell stocks that are down and no longer seem promising. Booking these losses gives you the equivalent of credits that you can use now or in the future to offset the tax consequences of capital gains. A very simple example: You just sold shares of stock A and stock B. Stock A was up 20% from when you bought it, which means you owe tax on the gain. However, stock B was down 20%. Having "harvested" the loss from stock B, you can use it to offset stock A's gain and eliminate the tax liability.

3. Revisit your magic number. If you've put together a retirement plan with a good advisor, you should know exactly how much money you'll need to retire on the date of your choice. Now is a good time to huddle with your advisor and make sure that the amount you're contributing to your retirement plan, and the rate at which it's grown, have you on track to retire when you want to. If your savings are growing ahead of schedule, you might be able to reduce your ongoing contribution amount. If you're behind schedule—or if you foresee weaker investment returns going forward, you may want to increase it.

4. Plan for RMDs. You'll need to start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your IRA by April of the year after you turned 70 ½. If you withdraw less than your RMD, expect to be slapped with a 50% penalty tax on the difference. It's important to note that if you've inherited an IRA account, you may need to start paying RMDs right away even if you're under 70 ½. You should visit your accountant or financial advisor soon so that you understand your obligations.

5. Plan your charitable giving. It's the season for giving. But you always want to give to charity in ways that will be most beneficial to you from a tax standpoint. Your advisor can help you make sure that your gifts are tax deductible. He or she can help with timing as well: For instance, if you've taken a lot of tax writeoffs this year, you may want to wait until next year to make that large donation you've been planning.

I strongly advise that you take some time today to set up a meeting with a professional financial advisor. By reviewing your situation and helping you make smart decisions, they can help ensure your financial wellbeing in 2019 and beyond.

Understanding What Drives the Market

Written by Rob Copeland | 09 November 2018

The stock and bond markets don't move up and down over time for no reason. When they advance or decline, you can be sure that unseen catalysts are at work: Think of the wind hitting the sail of a ship.

Catalysts can be short-term. When President Trump has taken swipes at tech companies, the sector has dipped, at least for short periods. A surprisingly good quarter of earnings can send a company's stock soaring.

More important for most investors, though, are long-term catalysts. A healthy economy like the current one is a powerful catalyst. It can create higher bond yields and push stocks consistently higher. The Federal Reserve raising interest rates in a slowing economy would typically be a negative catalyst; it's one reason that stocks have been volatile over the past few weeks.

So what kind of catalysts will shape the markets in the coming months? I believe they're likely to be positive ones. There's a strong possibility, in my view, that the U.S. and China will reach a trade agreement in the coming months, and that would undoubtedly drive the market higher. I also see stronger-than-expected corporate earnings for at least the next few of quarters, as the lower taxes save businesses money and consumers find they have more money to spend.

Our government will be divided as a result of the midterm elections, which makes it unlikely either party will be able to enact radical legislation capable of moving the market in one direction or the other.

There are risks to any outlook, including this one. There's a chance, for instance, that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates too high, too fast, and touch off a recession. The trade war with China could worsen, creating more drag on both countries' economies. But right now the likelihood of positive catalysts outweighs the risks.

Of course, single catalysts don't often drive markets up or down on their own. A complex web of factors are always at work. This is why it's important to work with an experienced investment advisor. A good advisor can cut through the daily barrage of financial information to pinpoint catalysts and calculate the opportunities and risks they pose for different types of investments.

Now approaching my 20th year as a professional investor, I've navigated through recessions, rising and falling interest rates, wars and political shifts. There isn't a catalyst, positive or negative, that I haven't seen. And I believe that with a thoughtful approach, patient investors can make money in any environment. If you'd like to discuss the market and your investments, don't hesitate to get in touch.

What the Market Plunge Means for Investors

Written by Rob Copeland | 14 October 2018

The stock market just finished a wild week, punctuated by an 830-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrials average on Wednesday. Here's what you need to know.

The volatility was triggered largely by the Federal Reserve's ongoing interest-rate hikes. Investors fear that rising rates will hurt companies' earnings in a few different ways. When consumers with variable loans must pay more interest on the loans, they have less money to spend on new goods and services. That can translate into lower sales for companies that provide everything from cars to computers. Companies are impacted directly because higher interest rates make it more expensive for them to borrow money or refinance old debt. Revenue that would have dropped to their bottom-line profits instead must be diverted to pay that extra interest.

Rising rates are bad for bond investors too. That's because the issuance of new bonds at the higher rates decrease the value of the old, lower-interest bonds investors may already own. As those longer-term bonds fall in value, investors who sell their holdings before they mature will have to eat a loss. If for example you own 10-year bonds paying 5%, and rates go to 7%, you'll lose 10% of the market value of that investment unless, of course, you hold it to maturity.

Rising rates also dampen the value of real estate because as mortgage lenders charge higher and higher rates, fewer buyers can afford to borrow.

While this rising interest rate environment will be tricky, there will continue to be opportunities for investors. But buyers will have to be more selective: Buying a broad index mutual fund or ETF largely worked as stocks rose in tandem over the past decade or so.

Certain banks, for instance, may do well as rates rise; higher long-term interest rates equate to higher profit margins on loans. And with Republicans in control in Washington, banks are less heavily regulated, which could help profits.

Rising rates could also cause more companies to merge. Mergers generally create cost savings, which boosts profits and raises stock prices.

A word of caution: There are no gimmes in Markets like the current one. Skilled, stock pickers are needed to find the diamonds in the rough. You should work with an investment advisor who is not only knowledgeable but also experienced. Remember, it's been more than 10 years since the last cycle of Federal Reserve interest rate increases ended. The countless advisors who have entered the industry since then have zero knowledge of what it's like to navigate in an environment like this.

Please don't hesitate to contact us with questions about investing and the markets.

What Will Kill the Bull Market?

Written by Rob Copeland | 15 September 2018

We're in the longest bull market in history, but all good things eventually come to an end.

One of the more likely ways that the nine-plus-year bull market might end is a scenario where the Federal Reserve raises interest rates too quickly. Rapidly rising rates would make it harder for consumers to pay off variable rate debt. That pain would ripple through the economy, eventually hurting companies' sales and reversing the direction of the economy and the stock market.
However the stock market suffers a serious reversal, you can rest assured that it will happen eventually. Corrections and even bear markets are entirely normal. Research shows that corrections of at least 10% occur on average 2.27 times per year, and bear markets, where prices fall at least 20%, occur an average of .73 times per year.

Due to the age of the current bull market—more than nine years—many investors have started to think about pulling their money out of stocks at some point before the next big dip. I can't say emphatically enough that doing so is almost always a mistake.

Investors get into trouble when they believe they can "time the market"—getting in before prices rise, and getting out before prices fall. But anticipating changes in the market is extremely difficult because each up and down cycle is different. Too often, investors get out of the market too soon, only to watch it continue to rise, or they get out too late, having locked in losses. And they almost always get back into the market well after it's been rising, which means they've lost out on gains.

Market timing helps to explain why individual investors tend to badly underperform the market. For the 10 years through 2017, the average stock fund investor earned 4.8%, while the S&P 500 returned 8.50%, according to research firm Dalbar. That's a huge gap in performance.

The key to successful long-term investing isn't trying to predict when you should buy or sell. It's exercising patience and discipline. Successful investing starts with developing a diversified portfolio that is right for your personal goals, time horizon and comfort level with investment risk. Then, it's primarily a matter of letting the markets do their work. Yes, there will be short-term ups and downs. But over the long term, stocks have always gone higher, benefiting investors who are wise enough to ride them out.

Please contact us if you'd like to learn more about the keys to successful investing.