Current Market Conditions and Short-Term Expectations: Whenever the major US stock indexes reach new highs, or tumble unexpectedly, we hear from a few of our clients with worries about the near future. The S&P 500 (a broad index representing the largest US-based companies) hit new all-time highs in late…
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As we expected, the “final” revisions made to the tax code by the “Tax Cut and Jobs Act” passed into law last December weren’t quite as final as supposed. There are a handful of provisions that didn’t turn out the way the Congressional Republicans intended, so they are trying to…
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It’s hard to avoid hearing the rumbling sound coming from Wall Street over the last couple of weeks. Even news outlets that don’t normally mention market news have spent at least a few minutes on the wild ups and downs – okay, mostly downs – of the major indexes. And…
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There were a couple of interesting articles in the investment industry press yesterday that I feel the urge to share with everyone. First is “Ignore the Gurus“, by Scott MacKillop from Wealth Management magazine. My favorite pull-quote: “The guru Hall of Fame is an empty room.” It seems that market…
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Tax “Reform” and the Impact on Your Finances Through much of 2017, there were hints at and whispers about the possibility of dramatic changes to the American tax code. “A complete overhaul” – “More significant than the Reagan-era reforms” – “The biggest re-envisioning of the tax laws in a…
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Eighteen months ago I embarked on a campaign to get healthy. I had been quite a bit overweight, but mostly healthy, for most of my adult life. A few sudden setbacks changed all of that, and made me re-evaluate my health. I made some changes in my eating habits and…
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Late in the day on Thursday, September 7, 2017, news reports began circulating of a data breach at Equifax, the credit data company. Apparently hackers found a security weakness on some of the web apps the Equifax had been using, and were able to steal at least some potentially compromising…
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Last week we saw our Commander In Chief, Trump, unilaterally decide that Transgender individuals were no longer fit to serve in the military. Too expensive he said. Unequivocally untrue, but what isn’t that comes out of this administration these days? The backlash was immediate. The call from GLBTQ organizations was…
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On Thursday, June 8th, the House of Representatives passed the “Financial CHOICE Act”. We believe that this is a remarkably bad bill, and hope that the Senate manages to prevent its adoption. Call your Senators today, and ask them to block any Senate version of this bill! Why are we…
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Monday, March 27, 2017 — 6pm, Mountain Time — Attention Clients: I just received a strange and confusing letter in the mail — and apparently at least some of you did, as well — from First Affirmative Financial Network (FAFN). We just wanted to reassure you that there…
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One of the ways that we try to “give to what matters most” is to serve our community, to help build a better future. On January 11, 2017, Mayor Javier Gonzales officially appointed me to the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission during the evening’s City Council meeting. As a volunteer advisory…
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Last week, just before heading off to Florida for the weekend, President Trump took a couple of executive actions designed to begin the process of cutting regulation on banks and Wall Street firms. Dodd-Frank The first of these orders, “On Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System”…
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