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Plan Your Finances as You Would Your Exercise

You exercise to benefit from your sweat equity in the future, right? Waking up early in the dark mornings of winter toexercise comes hard. Once your workout ends, though,you often begin the day with the payoff of a tremendousenergy...

Insights week ending February 12

MARKETS ADD TO LAST WEEK’S HUGE GAINS AS MOST COMPANIES SURPASSEARNINGS EXPECTATIONS AND OIL CONTINUES TO MOVE UP • The week started off as a continuation of lastweek’s spectacular run, then lost steam for theremaining...

Federal Tax Filing Season Starts Soon

The IRS has announced that the federal income tax filing season for tax year 2020 returns begins onFriday, February 12, 2021. Although tax seasons frequently begin in late January, the additional time willallow the IRS to update its...

GameStop and a Modern-Day David vs. Goliath

Is this the new Occupy Wall Street movement with a massive sling shot? Wall Street bets against companies all the time,thinking that they are overvalued, destined to fail, orboth. The reality is that at any given time, the bigcompanies...

8 Point Financial Planning Checklist

The end of the year is when a lot of deadlines come up.So, as we head into the new year, now is a great time to make sure your financial planis still on track.And it’s wise to use a checklist to see where you are and what you...

Market Insights

Construction Spending Up Construction spending is viewed as a good indicator of theeconomy's momentum because both individuals,businesses and our governments generally only putmoney into construction when they are confident to...

Tips for Women to Build Financial Independence

Every woman needs to balance her financial past with her financial future Traditionally, women have been the caretakers of both theolder and younger generations of their families. Butproviding care for family members is...

The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus

The Fed’s “ZIRP” Might be Around Well Into 2023 If the economy continues to recover into 2021 and themajor U.S. stock markets continue to hit new recordhighs, interest rates will go up, right? Probably not. Inflation...

Workers are looking for Direction from Management

... And any Map is better than no map Over eight months ago, with haste and necessity,workers and organizations across the globe were throwninto “the great remote work experiment.” What was arguably an adequate short-term...

DoorDash IPO: The Last e-Commerce Frontier?

The DASH takes off even before its IPO debut, leaping an astonishing 85% It will be debated from Wall Street to Main Street andeverybody will have an opinion. Is DoorDash the nextFacebook, Twitter or Google? Or the next Pets...

ACT BEFORE YEAR END TO MINIMIZE YOUR TAX BURDEN

Some people think they can wait until March to worryabout taxes. Wrong. The end of the year is a perfect timeto make some last-minute efforts to reduce your tax burden. It is said that giving is better than receiving. In the case of...

Retirement Planning: The Basics

You may have a very idealistic vision of retirement — doing all of the things that you never seem to have time to do now. But how do you pursue that vision? Social Security may be around when you retire, but the benefit that you...

Shipping and vaccinating Everyone; Hard and Expensive

Infectious diseases do not respect borders. An estimated 3 billion people in low-income countriesacross Africa, Asia and Latin America are likely to lackaccess to a COVID-19 vaccine for years after it becomesavailable. In poor nations,...

POSITIVE VACCINE NEWS PUSHES EQUITY MARKETS

• It was another big week for U.S. stock markets,although the tech-laden NASDAQ did notparticipate in the jumps as much as the other U.S.equity markets • The small-cap Russell jumped 6.1% this week,which is on the heels of...

Thinking about Social Security at 62?

Get advice on the benefits of postponing until your full retirement age. Social Security is an asset that is taken for granted by many folks. If you are tempted to take Social Security early,when first eligible at age 62, think again:...

Manufacturing Slowing Down Nationwide, But Not in Texas

According to the National Association of Manufacturers, inthe United States manufacturing companies: • Account for 11.39% of the total output in the economy; • Employ 12.8 million employees with an averageannual compensation...

Housing Continues Its Rapid Ascent  Despite Exploding Lumber Prices

Monthly Housing Starts Leap Again The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department ofHousing and Urban Development compile new residentialconstruction statistics every month and separate the data byBuilding Permits, Housing Starts and...

11 Common Estate Planning Mistakes

Whether your estate plan is simple or complex, many details can get overlooked and may undermine your plan’s effectiveness. The following is a list of the most common estate planning mistakes to avoid: Titling property jointly...

Four Common 401(k) Mistakes to Avoid

While there is no one-size fits all, avoiding these mistakes is a good start A lot of 401(k) investors end up making the samemistakes when choosing their investments. Theresults are low returns and unbalanced portfolios.Avoiding these...

Poll workers on Election Day

.... younger – and probably more diverse – due to COVID-19 Election officials are busily trying to recruit younger volunteers to staff the United States’ roughly 230,000 polling sites on Election Day in November. Many...

Billions of Snowflakes in Summer

Billions of Snowflakes in Summer & Eye-Popping Housing Stats What is the Real Valuation of Snowflake? Technically, it was still summer when shares of Snowflake, a cloud data warehousing company, dizzily zoomed upward on their first day...

Market Insights- Week ending 09/18/2020

U.S. STOCK MARKETS MIXED AS SMALL-CAPS OUTPACE LARGER-CAPSAND VALUE NAMES OUTPACE GROWTH NAMES It was a mixed week for U.S. stocks, as smallcaps snapped a two week losing streak and thelarger caps extended their losing streak to...

Unlocking two myths about divorce that might help reduce stress

Divorce Rates Spike During COVID Pandemic Divorce lawyers, marriage counselors and the U.S.court systems are bracing for a surge in divorce filingsonce quarantine restrictions are lifted. And while itmight be months or years until we...

Should Equity Investors Worry About September?

September has historically been the worst month of the year for investors So much for the notion of “Sell in May and Go Away.” If you subscribed to that so-called market strategy in 2020, here is what you would have missed:...

The Tax Advantages of Purchasing Annuities

As you are planning for your retirement, you may be considering purchasing an annuity, which can provide you with a steady flow of income for a limited period of time, or for the rest of your life. While there are many factors to weigh...

Flirting again with record Highs

Did you miss the second fastest bear-market recovery of the past 50 years? We might look back and marvel how during the dogdays of August 2020, the stock market reached a newhigh not seen since pre-COVID.Remember when the S&P 500...

Making Sense of the Payroll Tax Executive Order

Why you need to be careful not to start spending your payroll tax money After negotiations for another stimulus bill stalled for twoweeks, President Trump issued an executive ordersuspending the collection of Social Security payroll...

Let's Talk Retirement

RETIREMENT PLANNING NEWS & THOUGHTS Has COVID–19 Forced You to Consider Delaying Your Retirement? Recent surveys have indicated that many of us are rethinking our retirement plans because of COVID–19. In fact, one survey...

The Persistent Hope of Baseball’s Opening Day

COVID-19 will bring to baseball what it brought to the stock market: volatility Thursday, July 23rd was Opening Day for the 2020 season of Major League Baseball, the latest opening day in history. Unlike past Opening Days, only 4 teams...

American Resilience

Small Businesses and the Impact of COVID-19 Over 30 million jobs are vulnerable – and the number might be higher

Weekly Market Matters 07/10/2020

Large-Caps Outperform Smaller-Caps While NASDAQ Leaps to Another Record High • The large-cap U.S. stock markets turned in solid performance on the week, with the S&P 500 advancing 1.8% and the DJIA moving up 1.0% • The...

Mid-Week Market Matters

Best quarterly performance in decades as pending home sales index surges The Art & Science of Rebalancing There is no question that COVID-19 has caused untold damage to your retirement portfolio. Whether you are a few years away from...

Weekly Market Matters 06-26-2020

S&P 500 Falls Back into Correction Territory asCOVID-19 Worries Jump and Social Unrest Increases • The week started off strong as U.S. stockmarkets rose while volatility declined, but thelatter part of the week saw markets...

American Resilience

Why are “Expert” Predictions and Polls So Wrong? How investors should receive data, polls and consensus expectations. On Friday, June 5th, the Department of Labor reported that non-farm payrolls added 2.5 million jobs...

Weekly Market Matters

• The U.S. stock markets started the week off well but then ran into a Wall of Worries and recorded their worst weekly losses since March • The small-cap Russell 2000 suffered the most, dropping 7.9%, followed by the 5.6%...

U.S. Markets Jump for the Third Week in a Row

U.S. Markets Jump for Third Week in a Row as the U.S. Economy Stunningly Adds 2.5 Million Jobs in the Month of May • U.S. stock markets roared forward after a widely unexpected May Employment Situation Report suggested the worst...

COVID Forcing Companies to Withdraw Guidance

What should investors think when companies can’t estimate their earnings? Five years after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the beginning of the Great Depression, Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, both professors from Columbia...

12 Estate Planning Must-Do's

Many of you already have estate documents, probably executed many years ago. You need an estate attorney to look over your documents every 10 years or so. Here are a dozen points to review. 1. Do you have a will and powers of attorney...

Covid-19 and the Impact on Our Sports World

“Buying local” just might help revive the massive $470 billion sports industry We love sports for the excitement. We love sports for the drama. And we love sports because it allows us to be with friends and family. But the...

Watch out for Coronavirus Scams

Fraudsters and scam artists are always looking for new ways to prey on consumers. Now they are using the same tactics to take advantage of consumers' heightened financial and health concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. Federal,...

The National Housing Market and Covid 19

Understanding leading and lagging indicators to make informed decisions For many of us, our house is our biggest investment and asset. Consider these facts: • According to the National Association of Realtors, the median...

Global Performance for the First Quarter 2020

Almost everything was red as the first quarter was one for the record books The first quarter of 2020 is over and it was ugly, as just about all asset classes, styles and global markets dropped. In the U.S., investors saw the Dow Jones...

The Coronavirus Bear and It's Place in History

Helping investors better understand bear markets, corrections and crashes The pace with which the Coronavirus bear toppled the longest-running bull market in history was startling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average officially entered...

CARES Act

CARES Act Provides Relief to Individuals and Businesses On Friday, March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signedinto law. This $2 trillion emergency relief package is intended to assist...

While Coronavirus Rages, Bitcoin has made a Leap Towards the Mainstream

Anyone holding bitcoin would have watched the market with alarm in recent weeks. The virtual currency, whose price other cryptocurrencies like ethereum and litecoin largely follow, plummeted from more than US$10,000 (£8,206) in...

An Important Message from American Portfolios' CEO

Mere weeks in, and 2020 will most certainly be remembered as an unprecedented year. It is times like these when, as corporate leaders, setting an example for attentive and decisive action on behalf of the people it employs and serves...

Fed Cuts Rates to Near Zero

On a Sunday, The Fed Cuts Rates to Near Zero The ninth surprise rate cut in history is the second due to the coronavirus In a dramatic and emergency action to support the U.S. economy during the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal...

Mike and Dan get very....very real This Week on "The Planning for Prosperity Radio Show."

Mike and Dan get Very, Very Real

Be Careful that you don’t turn a Temporary Decline into a Permanent Loss

Worst One-Day Point Drop in History for the DJIA Be careful that you don’t turn a temporary decline into a permanent loss On Thursday, February 27, 2020, stocks around the world fell sharply amidst a huge spike in volatility as...

Divorce and Estate Planning

How does Divorce affect Estate Planning? Wills for both spouses are often drawn up sometime during the marriage--particularly if there are children involved. When divorce is contemplated, the selection of beneficiaries and executors...

How often do I Need to review my Estate Plan

Although there's no hard-and-fast rule about when you should review your estate plan, the following suggestions may be of some help: • You should review your estate plan immediately after a major life event • You'll probably...

60% of you don't even have a Will, let alone have your medical wishes clarified....

If something were to happen to you, would you family know where to find your important documents? Millions of Americans have failed to prepare their financial and medical documents. As part of a comprehensive wealth management program,...

Your Financial Future

Your Financial Future

The Coronavirus and the Stock Markets

Full CornonaVirus article

Planning for Prosperity WGY 103.1

Educational Series Update This week's Special Guest John Daley joins Dan to provide an Education Series Update. Listen in

The Secure Act Radio Show

Click here; Dan and Mike Will educate you on what you need to know

10 Ways the Secure Act Will Impact Your Retirement Savings

Secure Act Full Article (Click this link )

Planning for Prosperity ESPN 104.5

Tune in this Saturday @ 8:00am. Dan and Mike will be discussing College football preview, and NFL review. This weeks Radio Show..take a listen

Important Information When Giving Thanks This Holiday Season

Read Full Article here; Year End Giving

2019 Year-End Tax Planning Basics

Read the article: 2019 Year-End Tax Planning Basics

How Often Should I Review My Estate Plan?

Read the Article : Estate Planning

Women and Money: Taking Control of Your Finances

Click here for "Women and Money: Taking Control of Your Finances"

4 Things Women Should Know About Social Security

Read the Article; 4 Things Women Should Know about Social Security

20 Answers You Need Before You Retire

Read the Article: 20 Answers You Need Before You Retire

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Policy Reviews

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Market Month for October 2019

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Your Financial Future

Concierge Service: Coordinate with other advisors such as your attorney and accountants. Hold regular meetings and ensure that all planning is well coordinated and implemented. Maintain copies of documents such as insurance policies,...