Articles
Welcome to our research center! We've put together a library of information on important financial topics that we believe you'll find helpful.
Simply click on one of the general financial topics below and you'll find a selection of easy-to-understand information sheets about related financial concepts and strategies. This information is updated regularly to reflect the latest facts, figures, legislation, and economic trends.
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Quarterly Recap
- 2nd Quarter 2012
- 1st Quarter 2012
- 4th Quarter 2012 Outlook
- 3rd Quarter 2012
- 4th Quarter 2012
- 1st Quarter 2013
- 2013 Mid-Year Market Outlook
- Quarterly Recap - 2nd Quarter 2013
- 2013 Fourth Quarter Market Outlook
- Quarterly Recap - 3rd Quarter 2013
- Quarterly Recap - 4th Quarter 2013
- Annual Market Recap - 2013
- Quarterly Recap 1st Quarter - 2014
- Market Outlook - Mid-Year 2014
- 2014 Fourth Quarter Market Outlook
- Quarterly Recap - 3rd Quarter 2014
- Market Outlook - 2015
- Quarterly Recap - 4th Quarter 2014
- Annual Market Recap - 2014
- 2nd Quarter 2015 Market Outlook
- Quarterly Recap 1st Quarter - 2015
Market Commentary
- 2012 Outlook
- January 11th 2012
- February 1st 2012
- March 5th 2012
- March 22nd 2012
- April 12th 2012
- April 19th 2012
- May 2nd 2012
- May 30th 2012
- June 20th 2012
- July 26th 2012
- August 7th 2012
- November 7th 2012
- December 13th 2012
- April 2nd 2013
- May 2nd 2013
- June 28th 2013
- July 7th 2013
- July 7th 2013 Long Version
- August 22nd 2013
- September 9th 2013
- September 24th 2013
- October 3rd 2013
- October 10th 2013
- November 12th 2013
- February 5th 2014
- February 18th 2014
- March 3rd 2014
- March 17th 2014
- April 7th 2014
- April 16th 2014
- May 1st 2014
- May 13th 2014
- May 30th 2014
- July 30th 2014
- August 1st 2014
- August 5th 2014
- September 3rd 2014
- September 4th 2014
- September 19th 2014
- September 18th 2014
- September 26th 2014
- October 10th 2014
- October 15th 2014
- October 27th 2014 #1
- October 27th 2014 #2
- November 6th 2014
- November 14th 2014
- November 26th 2014
- December 15th 2014
- December 19th 2014
- December 26th 2014
- January 9th 2015
- January 16th 2015
- Feburary 5th 2015
- March 3rd 2015
- March 11th 2015
- April 9th 2015
- May 4th 2015
Monthly Market Monitor
- January 2012
- February 2012
- April 2012
- May 2012
- July 2012
- August 2012
- October 2012
- November 2012
- February 2013
- April 2013
- July 2013
- August 2013
- October 2013
- November 2013
- January 2014
- February 2014
- April 2014
- May 2014
- July 2014
- August 2014
- October 2014
- November 2014
- January 2015
- February 2015
- April 2015
- May 2015
Estates & Trusts
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What Key Estate Planning Tools Should I Know About?
Wills and trusts allow you to spell out how you would like your property distributed, but they also go beyond that.
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How Can a Living Trust Help Me Control My Estate?
A living trust can help control the distribution of your estate upon death.
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What Are the Pitfalls of Probate?
The probate process can be lengthy and complex. There are strategies you can use to help avoid the probate process.
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How Can My Gift Benefit Me and the Charity?
To retain the tax advantages associated with charitable giving, your gift must be made to a qualified organization.
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How Can I Control the Distribution of My Estate?
If you haven't taken steps already, consider planning now for the distribution of the assets of your estate.
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How Will I Pay Estate Taxes?
If you believe your estate will be subject to estate taxes, consider how your heirs will pay the bill.
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Can I Benefit from an A-B Trust?
An A-B trust can be an effective way to help reduce estate taxes and preserve family assets for heirs.
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What Gifting Strategies Are Available to Me?
Compare the advantages and disadvantages of different gifting strategies available for planned giving.
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Could My Family Benefit from a Family Limited Partnership?
One estate planning strategy that families with closely held businesses could consider is the family limited partnership.
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What Is the Best Form of Property Ownership for Me?
Sole ownership, joint tenancy, tenancy in common, and community property have special benefits for property owners.
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What Is the History of the Federal Estate Tax?
Careful estate planning is still one of the most important ways to manage and protect your assets for your heirs.
Retirement
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What Is a SIMPLE?
The SIMPLE plan may appeal to small business owners as it is easy to set up, administer, and allows for a tax deduction.
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What Is an IRA Rollover?
If you leave a job or retire, you should consider your options regarding your employer retirement plan assets.
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What Is a Roth 401(k)?
A Roth 401(k) is funded with after-tax money, and allows for tax- and penalty-free withdrawal of earnings if requirements are met.
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What Is a Profit-Sharing Plan?
Profit-sharing plans give employees a share in the profits of a company and can help to fund their retirements.
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What Is a Money Purchase Pension Plan?
A money purchase plan is a retirement plan where employer contributions are based on a fixed percentage of compensation.
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What Is a 403(b) Plan?
A 403(b) plan is a tax-deferred retirement savings plan that can only be offered by a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity.
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Why Do People Buy Annuities?
Annuities, an insurance-based financial vehicle, can provide many benefits that retirement investors might want.
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What Is a Split-Annuity Strategy?
A split-annuity strategy can generate immediate income while potentially stretching some retirement savings.
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What Are Annuity Living Benefits?
Living benefits can help protect variable annuity owners from running out of money in retirement.
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How Much Do I Need to Save?
Many realize it’s important to save for retirement, but knowing exactly how much to save is another issue altogether.
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A New Chapter for Retirement
With the changing pension landscape, it is important to take charge of your own retirement security.
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What Is a 1035 Exchange?
A Section 1035 exchange is a tax-free exchange of an existing annuity contract or life insurance policy for a new one.
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Unforgettable Birthdays
There are key dates after you turn 59½ that can impact your taxes, Medicare eligibility, and retirement benefits.
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Should You Bank Your Retirement on Your Business?
Allocating too much of your retirement investments to one company, even your own, can be a risky proposition.
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What Is a 401(k) Plan?
401(k) employer-sponsored retirement plans have many benefits, including that the funds accumulate tax-deferred.
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Save Now or Save Later?
If you start saving for retirement sooner, the more money you are likely to accumulate and possibly retire sooner.
Tax Planning
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What Is the Estate Tax?
Everything you own, whatever the form of ownership, is subject to federal, and possibly state, estate taxes.
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What Is the Gift Tax?
The federal gift tax applies to gifts of property or money while the donor is living.
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How Much Money Can I Put Into My IRA or Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan?
IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans are subject to annual contribution limits set by the federal government.
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What Is a Required Minimum Distribution?
Required minimum distribution is the annual amount that must be withdrawn from a qualified retirement plan/account.
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What Are the Tax Benefits of Charitable Trusts?
For the grantor, there are a few potential tax benefits that can come with setting up a charitable trust.
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When Must Taxes Be Paid on IRA and Employer-Sponsored Retirement Funds?
With traditional IRAs and most employer-sponsored retirement plans, taxes are not payable until funds are withdrawn.
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How Can I Benefit from Tax-Advantaged Investments?
Many traditional tax-advantaged investment strategies have gone away, but there are still some alternatives.
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What Tax Deductions Are Still Available to Me?
Changes to the tax code have left a few key deductions for itemizers, like medical, dental and some business expenses.
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What Tax-Advantaged Alternatives Are Available?
While stable, CDs can create an income tax bill. Fixed annuities and municipal bonds can offer tax advantages.
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What Is the Most Tax-Efficient Way to Take a Distribution From a Retirement Plan
Consider a trustee-to-trustee transfer to an IRA versus a lump-sum distribution from a workplace retirement plan.
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Is There Such a Thing as a Tax-Free Investment?
It's important to understand tax-exempt vehicles when establishing a comprehensive tax planning strategy.
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How Can I Keep More of My Mutual Fund Profits?
Want to keep more of your mutual fund profits? You may be interested in strategies to help lower your tax liability.
Investing
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What Are Dividends?
It is important to understand how dividends (taxable payments to shareholders) fit with your long-term goals.
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What Is an Exchange-Traded Fund?
ETFs have unique attributes and attempt to track all types of indexes, industries, or commodities.
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How Are Growth and Value Stocks Different?
The labels growth and value reflect different approaches that can be used when making investment decisions.
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How Are Mutual Funds Taxed?
Mutual fund taxes can be cumbersome, but there are ways to help mitigate the amount of taxes you may owe.
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What Is Stock?
Before investing in stocks, it is important to understand some of the basics and the risks involved in owning stocks.
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What Are Zero-Coupon Bonds?
Zero-coupon bonds represent a type of bond that does not pay interest during the life of the bond.
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What Is Diversification?
An important element to successful investing is to manage investment risk while maintaining the potential for growth.
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What Is a Bond?
A bond is simply evidence of a debt from a government entity or a corporation and represents a long-term IOU.
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What Is a Stock Index?
Stock market indexes can be useful benchmarks for gauging the performance of an investment portfolio over time.
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What Is a Mutual Fund?
A mutual fund is a collection of stocks, bonds, and other securities with certain benefits and risks.
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What Is a Mutual Fund Load?
It’s important to understand mutual fund loads, or sales charges, and exactly what they entail so you can make informed investing decisions.
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What Is the Difference Between a Fixed Annuity and a Variable Annuity?
Both fixed and variable annuities could be appropriate options for an individual interested in purchasing an annuity.
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What Stock and Bond Investing Alternatives Do I Have?
There are other ways to invest in stocks and bonds besides owning individual shares or bonds.
Cash Management
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What Are Some Tips for Managing My Money?
A sound cash management program uses a disciplined approach: accounting, analysis, allocation, and adjustment.
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How Long Will It Take to Double My Money?
Before making investment decisions, it is helpful to determine the real rate of return on the investment.
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How Do Money Market Mutual Funds Work?
Money market funds can be a highly liquid and effective cash management tool.
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How Can I Better Manage My Short-Term Cash?
There are numerous investment alternatives available to help provide liquidity.
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How Does Inflation Affect Me?
Historically, one of the best ways to fight the effects of inflation has been to utilize growth-oriented investments.
Risk Management
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Why Purchase Life Insurance?
If you have a family who relies on your income, it is important to have life insurance protection.
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Why Are Annuities Considered an Insurance Product?
An annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company to pay you future income in exchange for premiums you pay.
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Do I Need a Business Owner Policy?
A business owner policy is an insurance package that assembles the basic coverages required by a business owner in one bundle.
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What Is Life Insurance for Business Owners?
Company-owned life insurance is one way to help protect a business from financial problems caused by the death of a key employee.
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What Is Split-Dollar Life Insurance?
Split-dollar life insurance is an arrangement to purchase and fund life insurance between two parties.
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What Is Last-Survivor Life Insurance?
Couples who want to help protect their legacy from estate taxes could consider last-survivor life insurance.
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What Is Term Life Insurance?
Term life insurance differs from permanent forms of life insurance in that it offers temporary protection.
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What Is Variable Life Insurance?
Variable life insurance gives you the control to allocate your account value among a variety of investment options.
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How Can I Insure My Future?
To help you choose insurance wisely, determine how much coverage and what kind of policy is best for your situation.
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What Types of Health Coverage Are Available?
There are three basic types of medical insurance plans: fee-for-service, managed care, and high-deductible health plan.
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What Is the Difference Between an HMO and a PPO?
Selecting health insurance is often one of the most important decisions you will make. Do you know the different types?
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Am I Prepared for Long-Term Care Expenses?
The odds of needing long-term care increase as you age. Prior planning can help protect you from financial ruin.
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What Does Medicare Cover?
Medicare is the federal health insurance program for those persons age 65 and over. But what does it cover?