To Inform: When a client turns 65, a furry giant suddenly appears in their life – the “Medicare Bear.” It seems simple to understand, but in all reality it’s big, confusing, filled with surprises, and can flash its teeth at you if you take a wrong step. Our job in helping our clients live their […]
To Inform: Markets have surpassed most people’s expectations this year. In the immediate aftermath of the April tariff announcements, many economists were predicting a recession and with it, poor stock market performance. With the gift of hindsight, we can see where those predictions went wrong. The tariff announcements proved to be a starting point in […]
To Inform: Investors are seeming jittery right now. This week I received a few communications from clients wanting to hear our take on a potential major market decline. One client said, “I’m feeling a little jumpy!” Another client sent me an ominous looking chart showing trend lines going back the Great Depression in 1929 with […]
To Inform: Over the past week I’ve had several conversations with clients, colleagues, prospects, all of them getting at a question that seems to be on everyone’s mind – how sustainable is the market recovery? In one of these conversations, we talked about tariffs and how they haven’t yet had the impact people were expecting. […]
To Inform: October is National Estate Planning Awareness Month, a nationwide initiative established by Congress in 2008 to help individuals and families understand the importance of creating or updating an estate plan. At The Joseph Group, we recognize that estate planning can feel overwhelming or easy to postpone. It’s common to think of it as […]
To Inform: Stock market performance over the last few years has favored large technology stocks but in recent months we have seen some life in small company stocks (companies generally under $3 billion in size), and it has our attention. With the caveat three months does not make a long-term trend, here is a chart […]
To Inform: Many of us have heard the phrase, “control what you can control”. In many different aspects of life, this nugget of wisdom can help clear our thinking and direct our action. There are many things we can’t control when it comes to investing and financial markets. We are at the mercy of investor […]
To Inform: When considering what to write about, my mind often turns to what is in the headlines. No one wants to hear about how the Cleveland Guardians overcame a 15.5 game deficit against the Tigers to win the American League Central Division on Sunday only to be bounced from the playoffs by the same […]
To Inform: The Joseph Group’s Investment Committee met this week. Among the agenda items was a regular exercise where members rank their asset allocation views (underweight/neutral/overweight) across the five primary asset classes we use in constructing client portfolios. It’s always an interesting exercise, and usually one that stimulates interesting debate. One asset class discussed was […]
To Inform: Earlier this week the Federal Reserve (in surprise to virtually no one) cut interest rates by 0.25%, taking the upper band of the Fed Funds range from 4.50% down to 4.25%. The Fed Funds rate influences short-term interest rates for things like money market funds so cash savers should expect to see lower […]