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How To Go To College Debt Free
College can be very expensive and the reality of graduating with $80k or more in student loan debt hits hard for many students entering college. With rising costs many students are looking for ways to get through college debt free....
Read MoreShould you pay your student loans or wait for student loan forgiveness?
During his run for office, President Joe Biden pledged his support to forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loans for all borrowers(1). Now, several months into his presidency, we have yet to see a meaningful forgiveness of student...
Read MoreWays to Save for College
The reality of graduating with $80k or more in student loan debt hits hard for many students entering college. Taking on more debt to pay for a college education is hurting families and students all over the United States. With rising...
Read MoreHow to Manage Your 401(k) When You Switch Jobs
In the past, boomers and generation Xers often held on to jobs for 10 or more years. Some professionals stayed with the same company for most of their working lives. The Great Recession changed this for many. Now, people have become...
Read MoreInvesting in an Election Year
The world's events always affect the markets, and making smart investment choices requires you to look at what's happening around the world. But what about during an election year? How should you invest while the country is deciding...
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Buying Your First Home
For many people, buying their first home represents the biggest financial commitment they'll ever make. Before making such a big decision, you should consider carefully a variety of factors and whether home ownership is right for you....
Read MoreHow to Protect Your Wealth as You Get Older
As you get older and closer to retirement, your financial practices need to shift slightly as you transition from working and saving to relying on your nest egg. As you approach this stage of your life, you need to take steps to...
Read MoreHow Financial Planning Helps You Work Towards Your Self-Improvement Goals
Many self-improvement goals focus on stability and personal growth — and financial goals are often no different. From buying your first home to saving for retirement, planning your finances can also help you work toward your...
Read MoreYear-End Tax Planning
As the end of the year approaches, it's time to consider strategies that could help you reduce your tax bill. But most tax tips, suggestions, and strategies are of little practical help without a good understanding of your current tax...
Read MoreBack to School: Getting Your Financial House in Order
The abrupt end to the 2019-2020 school year in many parts of the U.S. left parents and students alike struggling to establish healthy routines. As many students prepare to head back to the classroom (or the remote classroom) this fall,...
Read MoreSetting a Retirement Savings Goal
Many Americans realize the importance of saving for retirement, but knowing exactly how much they need to save is another issue altogether. With all the information available about retirement, it is sometimes difficult to decipher what...
Read More3 Mistakes to Avoid Before Taking Required Minimum Distributions
Uncle Sam wants your money. He has bills to pay, just like you. And he's been waiting patiently for decades for you to hand over his share of your tax-deferred retirement dollars. He expects some folks to be stubborn about it, so he...
Read MoreWhy A Potential Democrat Sweep May Not Be A Market Worry
Market Blog Based on the latest polling data, there’s growing consensus that former Vice President Joe Biden potentially may win the election and Democrats possibly may sweep Congress. Some might think this could be a negative...
Read MoreRetirement Income Investing: Beyond Annuities
One of the challenges of investing during retirement is providing for annual income while balancing that need with other considerations, such as liquidity, how long you need your funds to last, your risk tolerance, and anticipated...
Read MoreTeaching Money Mindfulness to Your Children
Teaching Money Mindfulness to Your Children At some point in a child's development, all parents wonder: how can I best teach my child the value of money? Parents who grew up in more modest circumstances than their own children can...
Read MoreHow Much Annual Income Can Your Retirement Portfolio Provide?
Your retirement lifestyle will depend not only on your assets and investment choices, but also on how quickly you draw down your retirement portfolio. The annual percentage that you take out of your portfolio, whether from returns or...
Read MoreSocially Responsible Investing
Investing with an eye toward promoting social, political, or environmental concerns (or at least not supporting activities you feel are harmful) doesn’t mean you have to forgo pursuing a return on your money. Socially...
Read MoreHandling Market Volatility
Conventional wisdom says that what goes up must come down. But even if you view market volatility as a normal occurrence, it can be tough to handle when your money is at stake. Though there's no foolproof way to handle the ups and...
Read MoreHow Our Economy Can Bounce Back
This week's market update explores recent retail sales, US-China trade, small businesses, and what it will take for our economy to bounce back.
Read MorePulse Check: Should You Ignore the Economic Data and Pullback Odds Are Increasing
More bad economic data A record 20.5 million people lost their jobs in April, well above the previous record of 2 million during World War II. This is further confirmation of how quickly our economy stopped, and the LPL strategists...
Read MoreResilience, Perseverance, and Innovation
Stocks hit a rough patch the last week of April, as the historic rally could be tiring. The news was heavy and the economic data continued to be very weak, but central banks are doing all they can to help weather the storm. Central...
Read MoreCoping With Market Volatility in Uncertain Times
As the United States desperately tries to flatten the contagion curve for the coronavirus, many state governors have mandated the closure of an unprecedented number of businesses and issued stay-at-home orders to their citizens. The...
Read MoreHow a Financial Professional Can Guide You Through Choppy Seas
In these trying times, even those with veins of steel can find themselves nervous about the market's direction and what it could mean for one's financial future. And the unprecedented nature of the novel coronavirus—and its...
Read MoreHave Stay-At-Home Growth Stocks Peaked?
Over the past couple of weeks, we have thankfully witnessed new cases of COVID-19 in the US trending lower. Increasingly, we are also seeing governors implementing plans to re-open their state economies in phases. If the US economy...
Read MoreWhen Will The Recession Officially Start?
With 22 million jobs lost in the past four weeks, a record drop in retail sales, and huge drops in industrial production and housing starts, it is safe to say we are likely in a recession. Even the Federal Reserve (Fed) in the recent...
Read MorePutting Things in Perspective
The economic data keeps getting worse, yet stocks have been in the midst of one of the greatest multi-week rallies ever. As the LPL Chart of the Day shows, the S&P 500 Index gained 27.2% in the 15 days after the March 23 lows, the...
Read MoreBig Annual Declines Are Rare
Stocks have rallied nicely off the March 23 lows on the back of a bold policy response from the Federal Reserve (Fed) and lawmakers in Washington, DC, which was followed by signs that a peak in growth of COVID-19 cases may come soon....
Read MoreIs a Depression Coming?
“Could there be another depression” is one of the top questions we’ve received over the past week. “Yes, we are in a recession and many are worried if things may get much worse before they get better,”...
Read More5 Ways to Build A Better Tax Plan
You just finished your taxes, but it's not too early to make plans for next year. It's important that as you build your plan, you think about some strategies to reduce or defer your taxes now or in the future. Here are some strategies...
Read MoreRetirement Plans and Estate Planning
When you die, what will happen to your retirement plan benefits? In general, your retirement plan benefits pass to the beneficiaries you designate on the plan beneficiary designation form. Your benefits will generally be subject to...
Read MoreWhat Is in the $2 Trillion Relief Package?
The United States has more cases of the coronavirus than any other country, and in an attempt to stop the spread of this disease, states have closed schools and businesses throughout the country. These unprecedented shutdowns have...
Read MoreMarket Volatility Stresses Liquidity
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented volatility in recent weeks that has investors and traders scrambling to assess the economic and market impact of the aggressive containment measures. This past week the CBOE Volatility...
Read MoreHow Quickly Can Stocks Recover From COVID-19?
The market volatility continues, as the S&P 500 Index has closed either up or down 4% or more for a record 7 consecutive days. With the S&P 500 Index down 30% from the highs, it has officially moved into a bear market. Yesterday, we...
Read MoreLow Valuations Imply Better Long-Term Performance
The dizzying volatility over the past few weeks has left all of our heads spinning as we wait for containment efforts in the United States and elsewhere to help slow new cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus). Public health is of course our...
Read MoreStocks Down in January and February Have Bulls Worried
The hits keep coming, as the Federal Reserve (Fed) did an intra-meeting cut yesterday, causing stocks to sell off hard on concerns the economy is on more fragile footing than most think. Read First Emergency Rate Cut By the Fed Since...
Read MoreFamily Business—Laying the Groundwork for Potential Success
Is your growing business still a one-person operation? As your company continues to grow and the workload increases, it is easy to find yourself wearing too many hats and not having enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that...
Read MoreFinancial Planning Tips for Small Business Owners
When you're a small business owner, you need to pay extra careful attention to both your business and personal finances. Your financial planning strategies should simultaneously encourage the success of your business while also working...
Read MoreWhat's the difference between growth investing and value investing?
When you invest for growth, you are typically seeking capital appreciation over the long term. You will likely choose investments that you believe will exhibit a faster-than-average increase in share price over the coming years. Growth...
Read MoreCoronavirus Pullback Continues
The global equity weakness continued yesterday, with consecutive 3% drops for the S&P 500 Index for the first time since August 2015. It might be hard to believe, but exactly one week ago today the S&P 500 was making a new all-time...
Read MoreEarnings Season Observations
The recent news that technology giant Apple would miss its fourth quarter 2020 revenue targets has understandably increased investor anxiety surrounding the potential economic impact of the coronavirus (now called COVID-19). Lost in...
Read MoreCloser Look At February
A late month selloff in January saw the S&P 500 Index close marginally lower for the month. But stocks have taken off in February, with the S&P 500 up nearly 4% this month, as US economic data remains strong and fears over the...
Read MoreManufacturing on the Mend
Monday’s strong manufacturing report caught our attention, even as the coronavirus outbreak dominated the financial media. At 50.9, the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing purchasing managers’ index...
Read MoreMarket and Investment Evaluation Methods
Doing your homework Before investing in publicly traded securities, it would be wise to do some research--at least enough to understand just what you're investing in. An educated investment decision involves some knowledge of the stock...
Read MoreFive Keys to Investing For Retirement
Making decisions about your retirement account can seem overwhelming, especially if you feel unsure about your knowledge of investments. However, the following basic rules can help you make smarter choices regardless of whether you...
Read MoreUnderstanding the Net Investment Income Tax
If your income hits a certain level, you may face an additional wrinkle in calculating your taxes: the net investment income tax (also referred to as the unearned income Medicare contribution tax). This 3.8% Medicare tax applies to...
Read MoreViral Outbreak Ends Period of Market Calm
Fears that the deadly coronavirus would spread further around the globe intensified Monday and led to the biggest one-day drop in the S&P 500 Index since October 8, 2019. In fact, it was the first time the index moved 1% in either...
Read MoreAnother Look At Election Years
Last week in our LPL Research blog, we took a closer look at how stocks have performed during an election year. We found that since 1940, the S&P 500 Index hasn’t been lower during an election year when an incumbent president has...
Read MoreInvesting for Major Financial Goals
Go out into your yard and dig a big hole. Every month, throw $50 into it, but don't take any money out until you're ready to buy a house, send your child to college, or retire. It sounds a little crazy, doesn't it? But that's what...
Read MoreChoosing an Income Tax Filing Status
Selecting a filing status is one of the first decisions you'll make when you fill out your federal income tax return, so it's important to know the rules. And because you may have more than one option, you need to know the advantages...
Read MoreWhy The First Five Days Of 2020 Could Have Bulls Smiling
The first five days of 2020 are in the books. Although the headlines have been quite scary, equities have picked up right where they left off last year. In fact, after the first five trading days of the new year, the S&SP 500 Index is...
Read MoreInvestment Planning: The Basics
Why do so many people never obtain the financial independence that they desire? Often it's because they just don't take that first step — getting started. Besides procrastination, other excuses people make are that investing is...
Read MoreThe Spirit of Giving
With the season of happiness (now) and in the spirit of giving, you could give yourself a truly meaning gift; the gift of more life and meaning. Beginning today, you can add months, years, and maybe even a decade or more to the...
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