Give your Retirement Plan a Midyear Checkup - we can help!

This month is the 10 year anniversary of the event that marked the beginning of the global financial crisis and the “Great Recession”. It is tempting to look for indicators that the environment today may be similar or different from the period leading up to the financial crisis. But as we have said before, financial markets have a habit of behaving unpredictably in the short run, and there are important lessons that we, as investors, might be well-served to remember.

For long-term investors, return and return go hand in hand. Finding a balance between these two concepts is the basis for how to allocate your investment portfolio, and how to understand your portfolio performance relative to various market benchmarks.

The economists from Dimensional Funds, one of the mutual fund companies we work with, have recently published research exploring the connection between rising interest rates and stock prices.

As we conclude our Estate Planning series, we’d like to discuss the most common mistake people make: Not having an estate plan at all!

One subject we are often asked about is the idea of avoiding "death taxes" also known as the federal estate tax. The federal estate tax can apply when an individual dies and leaves assets to heirs. Although the estate tax can be a burden, a bigger issues at play for most people is smart tax planning.

Over the next few months we'll be touching on the most common mistakes people make in regards to estate planning. Estate planning is a very important piece of your financial plan. One of the most common mistakes people make with their estate planning is not keeping beneficiary information current.

As we approach the end of 2016, we at Stone Asset Management want to remind you that efficient tax planning is one of the best ways to meet your savings and investment goals.