A rule requiring financial advisors to act in their clients’ best interests with regard to retirement accounts has been ended by a U.S. court. The “fiduciary advice rule” made investment advice standards for retirement savings tougher, requiring investment professionals to put clients’ interests ahead of their own with regard to retirement accounts. Read more. Read More

To achieve your financial goals, your financial plan should be reviewed periodically to ensure it accounts for personal as well as macro-economic changes. This could not be more relevant given the recent passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In fact, a recent poll conducted by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) found that “three in five Americans said they’re very or somewhat likely to change their personal financial plans” as a result of the new federal tax law.

As you discuss your specific needs with your personal financial planner, the following article from the Journal of Accountancy details three strategies you may want to consider.

If you have any questions regarding the article or other issues related to your financial plan, please contact Paul Madrid at REDW Stanley. Read More

President Trump certainly elicits strong emotions from a large percentage of the population. In the days following the election, many equity markets went up in value. Generally, the policies of the new President were viewed as positive for economic growth. As economic data continued to improve since November of 2016 both domestically and globally, capital markets continued to improve. With the new Congress, we have begun to learn that legislative change does not necessarily go easily.

Politics, policies, and economic growth certainly intersect, and it is easy to allow one’s political leanings to overly influence investing decisions or outlook. What then are the broad principles that should be used in evaluating policies? Read more. Read More

Central banks around the world took the stage during the Third Quarter of 2016 with the U.S. Federal Reserve having prominence. As various Fed Governors gave speeches, each talk was dissected to see if the Federal Reserve would raise rates in September. Ultimately, they did not, but since they did not change their language for another increase in rates this year, the expectation is that they will raise rates in December. Read more. Read More

So what happened during the second quarter 2016? Well, the elephant in the room was the United Kingdom’s (UK) referendum to leave the European Union (EU), also known as the Brexit. The referendum was set by British Prime Minister David Cameron to appease a national populist movement concerned by fears that the UK was losing its national sovereignty to the European Union. 

Global equity markets declined sharply on the news. Media experts opined that the vote would spark a chain reaction of adverse events that would lead to the eventual breakup of the European Union. However, two days after the vote, cooler heads prevailed and equity markets started to recover from their initial reaction. How the vote will ultimately affect European, British, and Global markets remains to be seen, as events are very much in a state of flux and new nuances of the Brexit seem to appear daily. Read more. Read More

What a year for 2015! From seeing the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years to hitting all-time highs in the U.S. equity markets, the year marked some great and historic moments.  One very notable moment that we can all relate to was the price of a gasoline at the pumps – we saw the price per gallon fall (and stay) below $2.00.  Although low gasoline prices are great for us (the consumer), it did create some issues for the oil markets, many oil related companies and their employees, as well as state coffers. As a result, we saw the energy sector, along with a slowdown in China, have a negative effect on global markets. 

As these events began to unfold throughout the year, we saw volatility return to the markets as U.S. equity markets peaked in May and within a few months, we experienced our first equity market correction since 2011. Read more. Read More