Previous Webinars
Navigating Through Transitions (10/21/2024)
Review Topics Covered
TURNS IN THE ROAD - Navigating Through Transitions:
ELECTIONS & THE STOCK MARKET
One common concern of investors during an election year is how the stock market will be impacted by a change in America’s president. In past election years, the S&P 500 Index has seen more positive performance than negative. Here we look at S&P 500 Index performance during presidential election years, which have historically provided positive gains for stocks.
Historically, following a U.S. presidential election, the S&P 500 Index has shown higher returns in the year after a new president is elected compared to when the incumbent president is reelected.
FALLING RATES & INFLATION
In recent months, inflation has been steadily falling towards 2%, which is the Fed’s target level they feel best supports sustainable economic growth.
EQUITY INDEX CONCENTRATION AND MARKET BREADTH
The top 5 names in the S&P 500 make up nearly 30% of the index’s weight given the appreciation of FAANG/MAG7 names over the last several years. Although it’s uncertain whether this index concentration is transitory or signifies a shift towards a new normal, there are still many potential benefits to investing in equities, such as diversification, inflation hedge opportunity, and attractive long-term performance.
A BROAD MARKET PERSPECTIVE
Investing in the stock market can be volatile, which may tempt some investors to pull out of the market to avoid the bad days. However, it is impossible to predict when good and bad days will happen. This chart shows the potential effect that pulling out of the stock market could have on a portfolio. An investor does not have to miss many good days to feel the financial impact over time. We believe investors will be rewarded for sticking with their investment plan.
Why Bond? (3/19/2024)
Review Topics Covered
Putting recent bond market volatility in perspective.
Recognizing the potential opportunity
Why bonds make sense in the current market environment:
Greater Yield and Total return potential: Yields are at the most attractive levels since the Global. Financial Crisis and offer a viable alternative to stocks. Yield-to-worst has generally provided a good approximation of future potential returns. Across fixed income sectors, today’s higher yields present investors with a potentially attractive entry point.
Market Dynamics Present Favorable Backdrop for Fixed
Income: Fed Pause: Fixed income has historically delivered strong risk-adjusted returns following the last rate increase of a
hiking cycle. Deep discounts: Investment grade bonds are trading at steep discounts, with low historic defaults. Inverted yield curve: Bonds have delivered consistently strong returns after U.S. Treasury yield curve inversions.
Diversification: U.S. household allocations to equity risk near all-time highs. We expect bonds to resume their role as a source of portfolio diversification and a hedge for downside risk in equities.
Understanding Long-Term Care (9/22/2023)
We are living longer than ever. On average, someone age 65 today can expect to live to age 84.2 for men and age 86.8 for women. While the need for long-term care often happens gradually over time, it can also happen suddenly and can leave you or your loved one in a sticky situation without having the proper finances or plan for long-term care in place.
Review Topics Covered
- What is long-term care (LTC)?
- Popular types, costs, and ways to pay for care
- Hybrid life insurance + LTC vs. traditional LTC
- Claims payments: Cash indemnity vs. reimbursement
- Managing long-term care needs
- Long-term care: A case study
Understanding Medicare From A to D (6/22/2023)
With more than 55 million Americans relying on Medicare for health care coverage, have you ever been curious about Medicare and how it can affect your future? With three different types of Medicare services including Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance), Part B (Medical Insurance), and Part D (prescription drug coverage), there are a lot of questions that can arise about what service you can be covered by and what is included within each type of coverage.
Review Topics Covered
- Understanding Medicare basics
- Understanding Medicare coverage and costs
- Description of Medicare drug coverage: Part D
- Identification of the differences between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage
- Summarization of Medicare coordination benefit rules
SECUREing Your Retirement 2.0 (3/29/2023)
Have you heard about the new SECURE Act that can affect your retirement planning? The SECURE Act 2.0 was passed into law as part of an omnibus spending bill signed by President Biden and builds upon some of the changes created in the original SECURE Act and is expected to have major impacts across the retirement landscape.
Review Topics Covered
- Changes to the required beginning date for Required Minimum Distributions
- Elimination of RMD’s for Roth accounts in qualified plans
- Creation of SIMPLE and SEP Roth IRA’s
- Creation of 529 to Roth IRA transfers
- New post-death transfer options for Spouse beneficiaries of retirement accounts
- Changes to Catch up contributions for retirement plans
- Relaxation of certain 72t rules
A Guide To Protecting Your Identity (11/4/2022)
Do you ever wonder if your identity is fully protected online? Studies
show that identity theft is a growing problem in the U.S. and around the world. with 5.7 million Americans reporting fraud and identity theft
reports in 2021, we want to give you the most up-to-date information on how to protect you and your family.
Review Topics Covered
- Know: Understand your vulnerabilities
- Monitor: Online and personal information
- Defend: Learn how to defend against identity threats
Investment Themes (8/30/2022)
Many of you may be wondering, is more uncertainty and volatility likely to be ahead? This presentation is a great opportunity to understand the current market conditions and future market forecasts from one of the leading money managers, Fidelity Investments.
Review Topics Covered
- Our current equity market situation
- How consumers play a key role in determining the economic path
- What to consider when it comes to portfolio allocation
Common Sense In An Era Of Excess (3/31/2022)
Many have wondered over the past two years how volitile the markets have been and what it will lead to for your investments. We help you learn how to keep a cool head and have commen sense in an erea of excess market expansion and decline!
Review Topics Covered
- Where the markets have been in excess before including the Dotcom Bubble (1998 - 2000)
- The Great Financial Crisis (2007 - 2009)
- Today’s Speculative Mania (2020 - ?)
- Where common sense falls into place during a time of market excess based on previous market information and statistics.