The Recent French Election Preventing future terrorist attacks was apparently not on the minds of the French people as they went to the polls and voted for Emmanuel Macron as the country’s next president. Macron had run on a pro-Europe, pro-EU platform, but it was his opponent who ran on the need for stricter vetting… Continue Reading The Recent French Election

French Elections; What Does It Mean? France has had more than its share of terrorist events and that fact has crept into the country’s politics. It has propelled one of two parties competing for the presidency into prominence for the post. Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen made it through round one to fight it… Continue Reading French Elections; What Does It Mean?

Geopolitical Instability; What Does It Mean For Markets? Investors can be nervous people. That goes double for institutional investors; the people who manage big pension funds, mutual funds, foundations or the funds in insurance companies. When you are responsible for managing billions of dollars, in some cases, you worry about a hiccup of any geopolitical… Continue Reading Geopolitical Instability; What Does It Mean For Markets?

Tax Preparation And Why It’s Important For Retirement Taxes are much like rust; once they are allowed to erode, they just keep on eroding. As an investor, both fees and taxes can erode the potential future balance of a savings or retirement account. For this reason, strategies should always include tax considerations. Especially for those… Continue Reading Why Tax preparation is important for retirement

New Fed rate hike market reaction? The past couple of years witnessed more speculation about interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve than what was the reality. Many of the pundits were convinced we would see four increases during 2016 and they were wrong. The thinking has shifted in 2017 as some of the precursors… Continue Reading New Fed rate hike market reaction?

The U.S. Trade Deficit; Should There Be Concern? In recent years, the growth of manufacturing in China, as well as some emerging economies. This allowed that sector to be dominated outside the U.S. Cheap labor, and a preponderance of manufacturing facilities has moved much of the production of products outside the U.S. and often to… Continue Reading The U.S. Trade Deficit; Should There Be Concern?

National Debt Ceiling Being Raised Can you imagine that you have run up the balances on your credit cards to their maximums and you call the issuer of each credit card and announce; “I have decided that you need to raise my spending limit.” You know the response; “We make that decision; not you.” The… Continue Reading National Debt Ceiling Being Raised

The Importance of Tax Preparation For Retirement While many retirement plans do not require taxes during the accumulation phase, as the old saying goes; “nothing can be certain except death and taxes.” At some point, taxes are paid on income. The benefit of many retirement plans is that they are tax-deferred. During retirement planning, many… Continue Reading The Importance of Tax Preparation For Retirement

How Trump’s Infrastructure Spending could boost the U.S. Economy In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt moved quickly to put into place a series of experimental public works projects which became known as the New Deal. One in four Americans was out of work at the time. In May of that year, he signed the Tennessee Valley… Continue Reading Infrastructure Spending could boost the U.S. Economy