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If you’re in your 20s, rejoice! You’re in a great position to create the life you want, starting with a secure financial future. While it’s common to feel overwhelmed when entering the workforce full time, there are a lot of things you can do fresh out of college that will help you attain your professional and financial goals earlier than you may expect.

Retirement can sneak up on you.

For years it was assumed that tax planning was reserved for the wealthy. While wealthy individuals will see the most benefit from tax planning, with big changes looming for the 2018 tax year, even middle-income earners can reap the benefits of tax planning.  

Of all the things you’ll purchase in your lifetime, it’s likely that your home will be the largest, most expensive purchase you will ever make.

Retirement can sneak up on you.

The markets had a miserable October.  The S&P 500 index went down 16 out of 22 trading days.   Terms such as ‘pullback’, ‘correction’, and ‘bear market’ were used throughout the month.

“What did the market do today?”  That’s a fairly common expression or question thrown around.  The “market”.  What exactly does that mean? I can tell you that the common assumption for this question is that most people are referring to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or simply ‘the Dow’.

The investment community in obsessed with interest rates.   We regularly hear about the Federal Reserve Board (aka The Fed) “raising rates”, referring to the federal funds rate.

“You can’t time the market.” “Don’t chase performance.” “Nobody can predict the future.”

All of these quotes are common sayings that you may hear from your financial advisor from time to time and they’re all quite true, even if they are extremely cliché.  But another axiom that eventually comes out is:

2017 was a banner year for global stock markets.  The headline in today’s (Dec 30^th) Wall Street Journal says “The Dow’s Milestone year”. The Dow Jones was up 25.1% (the 4^th biggest gain in the last 20 years).  Amazon bought Whole Foods this year.  CVS has agreed to buy Aetna.