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The Economy is going down and the stock market is going up what’s that all about?

First you have to understand the Economy is not the Stock Market. The economy is loosely defined as the activity related to the production, consumption and trade of all goods in services. So, in simple terms, it is you going to work, making something or providing a service, earning a paycheck and then using that paycheck to purchase goods and services provided by someone else. Multiply that by all the other people, companies, non-profits and government entities out there and you have an economy. The Stock Market is a market where you can buy or sell stock (or shares) of companies. In the simplest sense their prices are decided by what a willing buyer and seller agree to. People are often setting the price they are willing to pay based on how they think the company will perform in the future, so it may not be as important to them how the company (or economy) is doing right now as long as they are convinced it will do better in the future. They are buying on the belief the company ...
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We will get through this crisis!

First, I want to apologize if my last post and title seemed insensitive or a bit flippant. Covid 19 is a very real Pandemic and many people will get sick and die. This a very serious situation. The Economy is being affected in ways we really don’t understand yet. These are scary times and everyone should be concerned about both their physical as well as financial will being. I have no doubt that as a nation we will pull through this but I am not going to sugar coat it. This early in the pandemic and economic crises it caused, if anyone that tells you how soon this will be over, or even how it will end they are simply lying. There is too much unknown at the moment . I urge everyone to follow the advice of the health care experts and keep themselves as safe as possible. As for your financial will being I will provide some guidance best as I can from time to time starting with this article. If you have a financial adviser talk to them, if you don’t but have a long term plan stick wit...
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The sky is falling and everyone is going to die because of the Coronavirus! Should I sell all my stock?

You will likely start hear all types of ads and scare stories about the dangers of the “Market Roller Coaster” or the “Wall street Casino”. The ads are put out by groups trying to sell you something and convince you it is better and safer than the stock maker. It not better nor safer over the long run. Let’s break down both those analogies and see where they are flawed . Like a Roller Coaster the Stock Market has a lot of ups and downs. Both of them it can be quite dangerous to get off before the ride is over . You would not jump off a Roller Coaster in the middle of a ride and you should not jump out of the stock market in the middle of your plan. Besides the ups and downs and danger of leaving the ride early the analogy ends. Roller coaster are for thrills seekers, investing in the stock market is actually the secure thing to do over the long run. Roller coasters almost always end at the same point they start. The stock market when invested for the long run and pursuant to a pl...
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Are Collectibles a good investment?

I am often asked this question, or put in a position of having to answer this question by people that tell me their collections are part of their investment strategy or estate plan. For everyone that has ever asked me the question or suggested to me that their “collections” were part of their investment strategy the answer was an unequivocal no. Kind of like any luxury, if you have to ask the question you can’t afford it. If you have to ask if your collection should be considered part of you financial plan, you probably don’t understand enough about investing in collectibles to make it a good investment for you. Yes there are rare exceptions of collections that may be considered and investment. The operative word is rare! We will get into what collectibles could be considered an investment shortly, along with some of the pros and cons of that type investment. But investment grade collectibles are not what most people have in their collections at home. So I want to start by addres...
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Paying for College, before during and after going to college.

In an earlier post I talked about whether investing in a college education is still worth it but I only talked a little about how to pay for it. This article is designed more for those who have decided it is a worthwhile investment but are trying to decide how to pay for it. First you have to decide who is paying for it, the parents or the student , or some combination of the two. Everyone’s beliefs differ on how much of this responsibility should fall on the parents and how much of it should fall on the children. The government clearly thinks middle class and above parents should be contributing to the cost of a child’s higher education as all financial aid is based in large part on the parent’s income and net worth. Some parents feel they have no obligation, while others feel 100% responsible regardless of whether they can afford it or not. Regardless of your personal feelings and ability to contribute to your child’s education it is important that you are honest with yourself...
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Pay less tax with better planning

Nobody wants to pay more tax then they have to, unfortunately very few people take the time to figure out the best legal ways to lower their life time tax bill. Most people have very little control over the timing of their earned income (pay check) so they think there is little they can do about their taxes. Everybody, however, has considerable control over what accounts they can put money into, and when they can take money out of those accounts. Doing it correctly can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes over your lifetime. In some of my earlier articles I talked about retirement and other accounts and the importance of investing in them to shelter or delay taxes on as much money as possible. But here is a quick refresher on what these are. There are individual accounts otherwise known as IRAs and there are employer sponsored plans, generically referred to as 401Ks. Your employer sponsored plan may be called something different such as a 403B if you work for a nonpr...
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