Capital Conversations (Spring 2019): Seniors, Exploitation and Red Flags

  |  May 6, 2019

Estimates are that older Americans lose approximately $2.9 billion a year to a growing assortment of financial exploitation schemes and frauds, according to the 2019 Fraud Book recently released by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. Criminals, foreign and domestic, are targeting seniors with the goal of depriving them of their savings, including retirement savings. Over the years, a number of our clients have asked that question and been surprised at the answer. Read more. Read More

Market View (April 2019) – Rules vs. Principles: A Talk by Andrew Fastow

  |  April 17, 2019

The CFA Society of New Mexico recently hosted a fireside chat by Andrew Fastow, the former CFO of Enron. Mr. Fastow began the time by acknowledging that what he did was wrong, unethical, and illegal. He also took full responsibility for his actions and apologized.

For the rest of his talk, however, Mr. Fastow did not focus on Enron, but rather the way we work to rationalize questionable behavior. Mr. Fastow led us through a few thought exercises that might appear to be unethical, but upon further examination and with a little more information were actually examples of routine business practices. Read more. Read More

Planning Matters (March 2019) – Time Is Running Out for Certain Social Security Claiming Strategies

  |  March 31, 2019

he universe of potential Social Security retirement benefit claimants is divided into two groups that are separated by one date: January 2, 1954. All individuals who were born on or after that date are limited to one Social Security benefit claim when it comes time to file for benefits. Married (or formerly married) workers born prior to that date have the potential ability to claim one Social Security benefit while allowing the second, the larger benefit, to grow by up to 32% before claiming it. The first benefit in question is called the spousal benefit and it has a special application for households with claimants born prior to January 2, 1954. Read more. Read More

Market View (January 2019) – This Might Sting a Little

  |  January 30, 2019

“This might sting a little,” “You might feel some discomfort,” “You might experience some pain,” these phrases are meant to prepare and supposedly ease imminent pain from a needle or other medical procedure, but somehow they often do not. I suspect that as you read those phrases you almost immediately remembered an unpleasant experience. Read more. Read More

Capital Conversations (Fall 2018) – Investing Doesn’t Stop When You Retire

  |  November 5, 2018

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, people (mainly men) worked for one company their entire professional career, saved for their retirement, retired at age 65, received a gold watch and a pension, and then did not live very long after that. Does that sound familiar to you? It was certainly the story for my father and both of my grandfathers.

Oh, how times have changed. Read more. Read More

Market View (October 2018) – Volatility: Déjà vu All Over Again

  |  October 12, 2018

In the first two week of October 2018, we have seen a fairly rapid decline in market values. At the time of this writing, the S&P 500 has declined about 6.2% during the month of October with developed international equities performing in a similar fashion and emerging market equities performing worse. Ostensibly, it is valuations, rising interest rates and trade tariffs that are to blame. We added “déjà vu all over again” to the title, because we were in a similar situation as our February 2018 newsletter. Read more. Read More

Planning Matters (September 2018) – Risk Management and Retirement Planning

  |  September 26, 2018

Last quarter, this newsletter focused on the Retirement Planning section of REDW Stanley’s Wealth Management map. We looked at the inter-relationships between various aspects of financial planning and how retirement planning can span decades and often dominate other planning goals.

At the bottom of the diagram are three additional sections we refer to as the lenses through which we view the decisions that are made in the main planning areas. Because we at REDW Stanley are fiduciaries, we must first act in our client’s best interest. Then we measure and account for the tax impact of planning decisions, and finally, we factor in how those decisions affect risk.

When risk is considered, the following are possible responses... Read more. Read More

Capital Conversations (Summer 2018) – So … What’s a Blockchain?

  |  August 6, 2018

Curious about blockchain? Like bitcoin, it’s a new digital technology term you may have heard bandied about recently. You may have even heard it described as a secure method for people and organizations to transact business with each other without requiring a trusted, central institution to verify the information. With a blockchain, there is no central authority, like a bank, involved in the transaction. What does that mean? Read more. Read More

Planning Matters (June 2018) – A Deeper Dive into Our Map of Financial Advice, Planning and Wealth Management

  |  June 29, 2018

This month, we are focusing our attention on the Retirement Planning section of REDW Stanley's Universe of Financial Advice, Planning and Wealth Management map. We’re starting here because most of the planning advice we are asked to provide centers on retirement-related issues. Whether you are near or far from the subject, most people have long range goals that revolve around retirement. Read more. Read More