2020

This is our next blog in a series about how to plan and care for our aging loved ones. In this article, we list and briefly describe the legal documents that you should have for your senior loved ones. As always, we recommend having them in place well before they are needed. Legal Documents: Advance Health Care Directive – Also known as a living will, this provides instructions on what kind of medical treatment is wanted, or not wanted, if our loved ones become ill or incapacitated. Durable Financial Power of Attorney – This document names someone responsible for asset…

Please find the next blog in our monthly series that provides a review of the prior month’s market data, the state of the economy, and the global financial markets. Global Economy: While economic data continues to reflect the extreme impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, global markets remained tilted toward optimism in May. With a sense of hope in gradual re-openings and underlying trends, volatility continued its decline and investors re-risked portfolios despite pressured US-China relations and evidence of social turmoil. The bull case rests on the efficacy of fiscal and monetary policy support, the pace of economic recovery mimicking that…

Please find the next blog in our monthly series that provides a review of the prior month’s market data, the state of the economy, and the global financial markets. Global Economy: Relative to the historic second half of March, markets appeared comparatively calm throughout April. Alongside that reduction in volatility was a very strong comeback in markets across the risk spectrum, with US equities generally leading the way. The tidal wave of COVID-19 infections that started in China continues to roll through the US and other countries while an undercurrent of optimism is helping to buoy the markets. Uncertainties around…

According to a 2019 Senate committee report, older adults lose an estimated $2.9 billion each year to financial scams. Law enforcement struggles to fight these scams because they are being executed from foreign call centers beyond their scope. From the report, the most common scam involved individuals impersonating someone from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) attempting to con seniors by telling them they owe money trying to get personal and financial information. Other prevalent scams this report mentions are robocalls, sweepstakes and lottery scams, computer tech-support scams, elder financial abuse, grandparent scams, romance scams, Social Security impersonations, impending lawsuit scams…

The situation with COVID 19 evolves daily. Recent reports indicate that many business are set to re-open in the next couple weeks. As this happens we think it is critical to remind our clients, friends, and family over the age of 70 just how risky the health situation remains. As I’m sure we have all seen in the news, people over the age of 70 are the most at risk for having complications from the virus. From the data so far, we know this age group makes up the largest percentage requiring hospitalization, being admitted to the intensive care unit and those…

Business owners are visionaries. They possess the ability to see a future they want, define a plan to get there, and gather the necessary resources. Currently, we are all in a time where this is being challenged. During this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic time, we believe business owners will define themselves by how they respond to this adversity. We believe stage one is play defense and protect what you can. Our thoughts and advice are: Conserve Cash         Accounts receivable management – You need to be on the phone with people who owe you money now. Collect as much as you can…

Background Coming out of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2009, developed market central banks utilized Quantitative Easing (QE) as a way to stimulate their respective economies. Generally through the purchase of sovereign bonds, the central banks were able to reduce interest rates along the yield curve, essentially making it less desirable to hold safe haven investments and consequently more attractive to favor risk assets. This action, in conjunction with reductions in key policy rates, encouraged investment and helped to revive economic growth. The new “normal” has been characterized by easy access to money via the bond market. Inflation has…

Please find the next blog in our monthly series that provides a review of the prior month’s market data, the state of the economy, and the global financial markets. Global Economy: In some sense, the world was more united than it has been in a long time in March. As COVID-19 moves like a tidal wave across the globe, all countries are at different but inevitable stages in addressing the abrupt social and economic impacts of this external health shock. Whereas China has most of its production facilities back on-line, the U.S. has at least another month of recommended social…